Published monthly during the School terms, and once in the summer, Said and Done is a photo-rich digest from MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, integrating feature articles with news and research to give a distilled overview of the school's endeavors. For the complete online edition, visit Said and Done. Highlights of the September 2014 edition include:
LINGUISTICS
Steriade elected a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America
The honor recognizes a lifetime of accomplishment and intellectual leadership. MIT Professor of Linguistics Donca Steriade is the fifth member of the MIT faculty to be named an LSA Fellow, joining her colleagues Irene Heim and David Pesetsky, and Institute Professors emeritus Morris Halle and Noam Chomsky. Of the 110 LSA Fellows named since the honor was initiated in 2006, 30 — slightly more than a quarter — are MIT Linguistics PhDs.
Announcement | MIT News Archive: Steriade and Morris Halle
HISTORY
Wilder receives the 2014 Michael Harrington Book Award
The American Political Science Association awarded MIT Professor of History Craig Steven Wilder the 2014 Michael Harrington Award, given for an outstanding book that demonstrates how scholarship can be used in the struggle for a better world.
About the Award | Wilder webpage
LITERATURE
Why study medieval literature at MIT? Reason #1: Time Travel
In this 3-minute video, Arthur Bahr, MIT Associate Professor of Literature, transports viewers into an earlier version of our world, recites Old English, and identifies sources that inspired Tolkein.
Video
HISTORY + INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
The history man | Francis Gavin
Nuclear security expert Francis Gavin brings the lens of history to the study of international politics.
Story by Peter Dizikes, MIT News
NEW MIT SHASS PUBLICATIONS
Bookshelf
"#!" (pronounced "shebang"), by Nick Montfort (Counterpath, 2014); "Aboutness," by Stephen Yablo (Princeton University Press, 2014); "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," by Kathleen Thelen (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
Take a look
PHILOSOPHY
Likely the funniest hour you will ever spend listening to a discussion on normative philosophy
MIT SHASS Associate Professor of Philosophy Caspar Hare on "Ask the Expert"
Listen
POLITICAL SCIENCE | INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Bringing big data to bear on international trade | In Song Kim
MIT Assistant Professor of Political Science Kim finds that the way firms lobby government on trade policy — pushing for more protectionism or more liberalization — depends on how unique their products are.
Story by Eric Smalley
LITERATURE
Inspired readings | Arthur Bahr
MIT Professor of Literature Bahr makes medieval literature come alive.
Story by Peter Dizikes, MIT News
HISTORY OF SCIENCE + PHYSICS
Is time travel possible? What shape is the universe? What's the deal with wormholes?
MIT historian of science and physicist David Kaiser anchors the inaugural "Ask Me Anything" column for Hippo Reads, an academia-centered online magazine.
Forthcoming MIT Music & Theater Arts Events
Fall events include musical performances by Eviyan, the Jupiter Quartet, the Mysore Brothers, Seth Josel, the Ellipsis Trio, Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, the MIT Symphony Orchestra, and others, plus a theater production of "Philoctetes" by John Jesurun, the McArthur-winning contemporary author and director.
ECONOMICS
Making the case for Keynes | Peter Temin
Temin's new book explains how the ideas of John Maynard Keynes relate to today's global economy, and makes the case that Keynesian deficit spending by governments is necessary to reignite the levels of growth that Europe and the world had come to expect prior to the economic downturn of 2008.
Story by Peter Dizikes, MIT News
HISTORY + ECONOMICS
Tech Lessons from the Dark Ages
The so-called "Dark Ages" (476-1000 A.D) generated great technological advances. MIT historian Anne McCants explains.
Article in Forbes
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Strategy, Doctrine, Organizing Principle
MIT Professor of Political Science Barry Posen and Andrew Ross of the Naval War College capture the debate on U.S. intervention in times of crisis in a 50-page article in International Security, the most prestigious outlet in the field for rigorous analysis.
Story at The Huffington Post
SHASS ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Coco Fusco and Marjorie Liu
A New York-based interdisciplinary artist and writer, Fusco will serve as a visiting associate professor in Comparative Media Studies/Writing. Marjorie Liu, an attorney and bestselling author of 17 novels, will teach the "Genre Writing Workshop" in Comparative Media Studies/Writing.
More + brief biographies at CMS/Website
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