News & Stories

3 Questions: The future of international education

Evan Lieberman is the Total Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa in the MIT Department of Political Science. He conducts research in the field of comparative politics, with a focus on development and ethnic conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. He directs the Global Diversity Lab (GDL) and was recently named faculty director of the MIT […]

Student-led MIT course provides an inside look at K-pop

Jeana Choi and Lisa Yoo had already bonded over their appreciation for Korean music when they decided to organize a K-pop course at MIT during the Institute’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) this January. Both graduating fifth-year master’s students in electrical engineering and computer science, Choi and Yoo became friends in class 21M.294 (Popular Musics of […]

Preparing global online learners for the clean energy transition

After a career devoted to making the electric power system more efficient and resilient, Marija Ilic came to MIT in 2018 eager not just to extend her research in new directions, but to prepare a new generation for the challenges of the clean-energy transition. To that end, Ilic, a senior research scientist in MIT’s Laboratory […]

At MIT, learning about the language, history, and art of Arabic

A recent MIT event put into focus the ways in which the Institute is celebrating and supporting the education of Arabic language, art, and history. On Dec. 9, students had the opportunity to learn about the history and art of Arabic calligraphy from a local expert, Hajj Wafaa. A freelance calligrapher, Wafaa has taught Arabic […]

MIT in the media: 2021 in review

From Institute-wide efforts to address the climate crisis to responding to Covid-19, members of the MIT community made headlines this year for their innovative work in a variety of areas. Faculty, students, and staff were on the front lines of addressing many pressing issues this year, raising their voices and sharing their findings. Below are […]

The power of economics to explain and shape the world

Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo sympathizes with students who have no interest in her field. She was such a student herself — until an undergraduate research post gave her the chance to learn first-hand that economists address many of the major issues facing human and planetary well-being. “Most people have a wrong view of what […]

Embarking upon a leadership journey

Current developments in the Middle East continue to challenge people in the region and open windows to make a sustainable impact. Challenges like water access, health care, IT, vocational training, and others can be addressed collaboratively with entrepreneurial and novel problem-solving capabilities. To do so, future leaders need to understand the challenges through a regional […]

Education in Latin America after the pandemic

In early 2020, Covid-19 forced countries across Latin America to take measures to keep children, young people, and adults away from schools. Many countries have declared educational quarantines as part of efforts to stop the pandemic, but more than a year-and-a-half later, governments are already thinking, what is next? While the pandemic may not be […]

Refugee learners aim to lift up their communities

The MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT) recently celebrated the graduation of its third Certificate in Computer and Data Science cohort in an online ceremony. ReACT is a yearlong online learning program that creates education-to-employment pathways for talented refugees and displaced populations. The graduating cohort of 50 learners represented 22 countries worldwide — by far the […]

English Language Studies joins Comparative Media Studies/Writing

English Language Studies (ELS), MIT’s unit for supporting the language needs of the Institute’s large bilingual and international populations, has officially moved to be under the umbrella of Comparative Media Studies/Writing (CMS/W). With this addition, all of MIT’s Institute-wide writing and communications instruction are now under one academic roof. Professor Eric Klopfer, head of Comparative […]