What must the US do to sustain its democracy?
MIT scholars discuss what is needed for the country to support its longstanding form of government.
Department
History
Case studies show climate variation linked to rise and fall of medieval nomadic empires
Recent virtual lecture explores how paleoclimatology provides important context for examining the activities of past human societies.
Mary Frances Wagley, dedicated educator and the first woman to join the MIT Corporation, dies at 93
One of few female students in the 1940s, Wagley was also the Alumni Association’s first female president.
Democracy in distress?
Experts analyze a global trend: democratic governments that collapse from within while maintaining a veneer of legitimacy.
Examining the French stage during the Enlightenment and French Revolution
Bilingual, interactive online publication asks how politics, economics, and social conflict shaped the Comédie-Française theater troupe’s repertory and impacted its finances.
Exploring the lives of MIT pioneers through drama
In researching and writing a new play, undergraduates delved into the rise of several of MIT’s history-making students.
The meanings of masks
New ways to think about and practice protective masking, from faculty in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
How hunting helped shape elite society
MIT historian’s new book examines the political value early medieval European kings and nobles found in a royal ritual.
Winners of 2020 Teaching With Digital Technology Award recognized for their innovations
Thirty-one MIT instructors honored for digital teaching excellence in extraordinary circumstances.
3 Questions: Thomas Levenson on a finance scandal for the ages
MIT professor’s new book, “Money for Nothing,” digs into the origins and relevance of Britain’s South Sea Bubble.
3 Questions: Historian Emma Teng on face masks as 公德心
“Doing something for the community good is good for me also” is known as gongdexin (in Mandarin), kootokushin (in Japanese), and kongdokshim (in Korean).
The Philippines, the US, and a century of military alliance
Christopher Capozzola’s new book examines how military engagement has shaped social connections between the two nations.
When the chemical industry met modern architecture
PhD student Jessica Varner traces the way synthetic building materials have transformed our environment.
3 Questions: John Leonard on the future of autonomous vehicles
MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future examines job changes in the AV transition and how training can help workers move into careers that support mobility systems.
3 Questions: Anne McCants on climate change in history
How, in the nadir of the Little Ice Age, did the Dutch generate a golden age?