chaseharmon/MIT_Course_Catalog · Datasets at Hugging Face

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20.EPW	UPOP Engineering Practice Workshop	Provides sophomores across all majors with opportunities to develop and practice communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills to become successful professionals in the workplace, particularly in preparation for their summer industry internship. This immersive, multi-day Team Training Workshop (TTW) is comprised of experiential learning modules focused on expanding skills in areas that employers report being most valuable in the workplace. Modules are led by MIT faculty with the help of MIT alumni and other senior industry professionals. Skills applied through creative simulations, team problem-solving challenges, oral presentations, and networking sessions with prospective employers. Enrollment limited to those in the UPOP program.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring	Undergraduate	1-0-0 [P/D/F]	2.EPE	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S900	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S901	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S940	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring	Undergraduate	rranged	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S947	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring	Graduate	rranged	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S948	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring	Graduate	rranged	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S949	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring	Graduate	rranged	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.S952	Special Subject in Biological Engineering	Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.	true	Fall, Spring	Graduate	rranged [P/D/F]	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.THG	Graduate Thesis	Program of research leading to the writing of an SM or PhD thesis; to be arranged by the student and the MIT faculty advisor.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Graduate	rranged	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.THU	Undergraduate BE Thesis	Program of research leading to the writing of an SB thesis; to be arranged by the student under approved supervision.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.UR	Undergraduate Research Opportunities	Laboratory research in the fields of bioengineering or environmental health. May be extended over multiple terms.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer, Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged [P/D/F]	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
20.URG	Undergraduate Research Opportunities	Emphasizes direct and active involvement in laboratory research in bioengineering or environmental health. May be extended over multiple terms.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.00	Introduction to Anthropology: Comparing Human Cultures	Through the comparative study of different cultures, anthropology explores fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Seeks to understand how culture shapes societies, from the smallest island in the South Pacific to the largest Asian metropolis, and affects the way institutions work, from scientific laboratories to Christian mega-churches. Provides a framework for analyzing diverse facets of human experience, such as gender, ethnicity, language, politics, economics, and art.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.01	How Culture Works	Introduces diverse meanings and uses of the concept of culture with historical and contemporary examples from scholarship and popular media around the globe. Includes first-hand observations, synthesized histories and ethnographies, quantitative representations, and visual and fictionalized accounts of human experiences. Students conduct empirical research on cultural differences through the systematic observation of human interaction, employ methods of interpretative analysis, and practice convincing others of the accuracy of their findings.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.157	The Meaning of Life	Examines how a variety of cultural traditions propose answers to the question of how to live a meaningful life. Considers the meaning of life, not as a philosophical abstraction, but as a question that individuals grapple with in their daily lives, facing difficult decisions between meeting and defying cultural expectations. Provides tools for thinking about moral decisions as social and historical practices, and permits students to compare and contextualize the ways people in different times and places approach fundamental ethical concerns.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.103[J]	The Science of Race, Sex, and Gender	Examines the role of science and medicine in the origins and evolution of the concepts of race, sex, and gender from the 17th century to the present. Focus on how biological, anthropological, and medical concepts intersect with social, cultural, and political ideas about racial, sexual, and gender difference in the US and globally. Approach is historical and comparative across disciplines emphasizing the different modes of explanation and use of evidence in each field.	false	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	STS.046[J], WGS.225[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.104	Memory, Culture, and Forgetting	Introduces scholarly debates about the sociocultural practices through which individuals and societies create, sustain, recall, and erase memories. Emphasis is given to the history of knowledge, construction of memory, the role of authorities in shaping memory, and how societies decide on whose versions of memory are more "truthful" and "real." Other topics include how memory works in the human brain, memory and trauma, amnesia, memory practices in the sciences, false memory, sites of memory, and the commodification of memory.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	2-0-7	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.111[J]	For Love and Money: Rethinking the Family	Cross-cultural case studies introduce students to the anthropological study of the social institutions and symbolic meanings of family, gender, and sexuality. Investigates the different forms families and households take and considers their social, emotional, and economic dynamics. Analyzes how various expectations for, and experiences of, family life are rooted in or challenged by particular conceptions of gender and sexuality. Addresses questions surrounding what it means to be a "man" or a "woman," as well as a family member, in different social contexts.	false	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	WGS.172[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.120	American Dream: Exploring Class in the US	Examines the "American Dream" — the belief that all individuals and groups can succeed in the US through hard work and determination — in light of decreasing social mobility, increasing inequality, and shifting patterns of immigration. Focuses on how people use storytelling — such as oral narrative, memoirs, home movies, family photo albums, and novels — to reflect on their day-to-day experience of social class in the United States. Considers how social class intersects with other aspects of identity, such as race, ethnicity, and gender. Students undertake research projects and class assignments using oral histories, interviews, and analysis of archival records.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.127[J]	Power: Interpersonal, Organizational, and Global Dimensions	The study of power among individuals and within organizations, markets, and states. Using examples from anthropology and sociology alongside classical and contemporary social theory, explores the nature of dominant and subordinate relationships, types of legitimate authority, and practices of resistance. Examines how people are influenced in subtle ways by those around them, who makes controlling decisions in the family, how people get ahead at work, and whether democracies, in fact, reflect the will of the people. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	11.045[J], 15.302[J], 17.045[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.129	Power: Interpersonal, Organizational, and Global Dimensions	The study of power among individuals and within organizations, markets, and states. Using examples from anthropology and sociology alongside classical and contemporary social theory, explores the nature of dominant and subordinate relationships, types of legitimate authority, and practices of resistance. Examines how people are influenced in subtle ways by those around them, who makes controlling decisions in the family, how people get ahead at work, and whether democracies, in fact, reflect the will of the people. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.130[J]	Introduction to Latin American Studies	Examines contemporary Latin American culture, politics, and history. Surveys geography, economic development, and race, religion, and gender in Latin America. Special emphasis on the Salvadoran civil war, human rights and military rule in Argentina and Chile, and migration from Central America and Mexico to the United States. Students analyze films, literature, visual art, journalism, historical documents, and social scientific research.	false	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	17.55[J], 21G.084[J], 21H.170[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	CI-H
21A.131[J]	Latinx in the Age of Empire	Analyzes the histories and presence of the Latinx population in the context of US territorial expansion, foreign intervention and economic policy toward Latin America. Combines both historical and anthropological approaches to analyze local conditions that lead people to migrate within the broader forces of international political economy. Pays attention to the historical context in the home countries, especially as impacted by US policy. Explores Latinx community dynamics, politics of migrant labor, relational formations of race and transnational forms of belonging. Historically and ethnographically seeks to understand structures of criminalization, activist practices of resistance and the development of deportation regimes.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21H.270[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	False
21A.132[J]	Race and Migration in Europe	Addresses the shifting politics of nation, ethnicity, and race in the context of migration and globalization in Germany and Europe. Provides students with analytical tools to approach global concerns and consider Europe and Germany from cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. Familiarizes students with the ways in which histories of migration, travel, and colonial encounters shape contemporary Europe. Introduces the concepts of transnationalism, diasporic cultures, racism, ethnicity, asylum, and mobility via case studies and materials, including film, ethnography, fiction, and autobiography. Taught in English. Limited to 18.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.058[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	CI-H
21A.133	Latin American Migrations (New)	Examines economic, cultural, political, and social dimensions of past and present migrations from Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean to, from, and within the United States. Explores Latina/o community dynamics, politics of migrant labor, relational formations of race, and transnational forms of belonging. Students analyze ethnographies, films, visual arts, journalism, and music to study migration using central analytic concepts from anthropology, sociology, ethnic studies, and Latinx studies.	false	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.135[J]	Africa and the Politics of Knowledge	Considers how, despite its immense diversity, Africa continues to hold purchase as both a geographical entity and meaningful knowledge category. Examines the relationship between articulations of "Africa" and projects like European imperialism, developments in the biological sciences, African de-colonization and state-building, and the imagining of the planet's future. Readings in anthropology and history are organized around five themes: space and place, race, representation, self-determination, and time. Enrollment limited.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.025[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.136[J]	Global Africa: Creative Cultures	Examines contemporary and historical cultural production on and from Africa across a range of registers, including literary, musical and visual arts, material culture, and science and technology. Employs key theoretical concepts from anthropology and social theory to analyze these forms and phenomena. Uses case studies to consider how Africa articulates its place in, and relationship to, the world through creative practices. Discussion topics largely drawn from Francophone and sub-Saharan Africa, but also from throughout the continent and the African diaspora. Taught in English. Limited to 18.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.026[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.137[J]	African Migrations	Examines West African migration to France and to the United States from the early 20th century to the present. Centering the experiences of African social actors and historicizing recent dynamics, students consider what migration across these three regions reveals about African projects of self-determination, postcolonial nation-building, and global citizenship. Students also comparatively analyze the workings of contemporary French and American societies, in particular, the articulations of race and citizenship in the two nations. Taught in English. Limited to 18.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.028[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.138[J]	Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa (New)	Provides an overview of key issues and themes in the study of women and gender relations in the Middle East and North Africa. Includes readings from a variety of disciplines, e.g., history, anthropology, sociology, literature, religious studies, and media studies. Addresses themes such as the relationship between the concepts of nation and gender; women's citizenship; Middle Eastern women's activism and the involvement of their Western "sisters" to this movement; gendered interpretations of the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad; and the three H's of Orientalism (hijab, harem, and hamam).	false	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21H.263[J], WGS.220[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	False
21A.141[J]	Images of Asian Women: Dragon Ladies and Lotus Blossoms	Explores some of the forces and mechanisms through which stereotypes are built and perpetuated. In particular, examines stereotypes associated with Asian women in colonial, nationalist, state-authoritarian, and global/diasporic narratives about gender and power. Students read ethnography, fiction, and history, and view films to examine the politics and circumstances that create and perpetuate the representation of Asian women as dragon ladies, lotus blossoms, despotic tyrants, desexualized servants, and docile subordinates. Students are introduced to debates about Orientalism, gender, and power.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.048[J], WGS.274[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.143[J]	Gender and Japanese Popular Culture	Examines relationships between identity and participation in Japanese popular culture as a way of understanding the changing character of media, capitalism, fan communities, and culture. Emphasizes contemporary popular culture and theories of gender, sexuality, race, and the workings of power and value in global culture industries. Topics include manga (comic books), hip-hop and other popular music, anime and feature films, video games, contemporary literature, and online communication. Students present analyses and develop a final project based on a particular aspect of gender and popular culture. Several films screened outside of regular class meeting times. Taught in English.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.039[J], WGS.154[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	False
21A.150	Teaching and Learning: Cross-Cultural Perspectives	Explores the diverse ways that people teach and learn in different countries, disciplines, and subcultures (computer gamers, magicians, jazz musicians, etc.). Compares schooling to other forms of knowledge transmission, from initiation and apprenticeship to recent innovations in online education. Students discuss various learning theories and apply them to a variety of in-class activities using qualitative methods to conduct original research on topics of their choice. Limited to 15.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.155	Food, Culture, and Politics	Explores connections between what we eat and who we are through cross-cultural study of how personal identities and social groups are formed via food production, preparation, and consumption. Organized around critical discussion of what makes "good" food good (healthy, authentic, ethical, etc.). Uses anthropological and literary classics as well as recent writing and films on the politics of food and agriculture. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.461	What Is Capitalism?	Introduces academic debates on the nature of capitalism, drawing upon the ideas of scholars as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Examines anthropological studies of how contemporary capitalism plays out in people's daily lives in a range of geographic and social settings, and implications for how we understand capitalism today. Settings range from Wall Street investment banks to auto assembly plants, from family businesses to consumer shopping malls. Enrollment limited.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	CI-H
21A.301	Disease and Health: Culture, Society, and Ethics	From a cross cultural and global perspective, examines how medicine is practiced, with particular emphasis on biomedicine. Analyzes medical practice as a cultural system, focusing on the human and social side of things. Considers how people in different societies think of disease, health, body, and mind. Enrollment limited.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.302[J]	Dilemmas in Biomedical Ethics: Playing God or Doing Good?	An introduction to the cross-cultural study of biomedical ethics. Examines moral foundations of the science and practice of western biomedicine through case studies of abortion, contraception, cloning, organ transplantation and other issues. Evaluates challenges that new medical technologies pose to the practice and availability of medical services around the globe, and to cross-cultural ideas of kinship and personhood. Discusses critiques of the biomedical tradition from anthropological, feminist, legal, religious, and cross-cultural theorists.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	11.133[J], WGS.271[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.303[J]	The Anthropology of Biology	Applies the tools of anthropology to examine biology in the age of genomics, biotechnological enterprise, biodiversity conservation, pharmaceutical bioprospecting, and synthetic biology. Examines such social concerns such as bioterrorism, genetic modification, and cloning. Offers an anthropological inquiry into how the substances and explanations of biology — ecological, organismic, cellular, molecular, genetic, informatic — are changing. Examines such artifacts as cell lines, biodiversity databases, and artificial life models, and using primary sources in biology, social studies of the life sciences, and literary and cinematic materials, asks how we might answer Erwin Schrodinger's 1944 question, "What Is Life?", today.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	STS.060[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.311	The Social Lives of Medical Objects	Explores the theories and assumptions built into objects meant to improve health. Students read and discuss case studies that follow the often unexpected ways intended intervention objects are designed and developed, globally travel, and at times become part of people's everyday lives. Studies include a broad range of medical materials and development technologies, such as penicillin, anti-malarial drugs, water pumps, air filters, prosthetic limbs, glucose meters, scales, DDT insecticides, bednets, and micro-nutrient pills. Limited to 20.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.312	Planetary Change and Human Health	Explores intersections between health of the planet and the health of human beings. Drawing upon case studies of growing ecological crisis around the world, topics include the human health implications of global climate change, sea level rise, weather disasters and fossil fuel pollution; connections between the health of plants, animals, microbes, and people; shifting industrial food systems and human nutrition; representations of race and indigeneity amid struggles for environmental justice; waste disposal and nuclear afterlives; and debates surrounding controversial issues such as geoengineering and climate AI. Students practice inserting environmental sciences in dialogue with toolkits from the social sciences and humanities to explore the uneven social worlds that shape how science gets traction (or not) in policy and law. Limited to 25 students.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.319[J]	History and Anthropology of Medicine and Biology	Explores recent historical and anthropological approaches to the study of medicine and biology. Topics might include interaction of disease and society; science, colonialism, and international health; impact of new technologies on medicine and the life sciences; neuroscience and psychiatry; race, biology and medicine. Specific emphasis varies from year to year.	true	Fall	Graduate	3-0-9	Permission of instructor	STS.330[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.400	The Stakes of International Development	Offers an anthropological perspective on international development. Students consider development, not in policy or technical terms, but through its social and political dynamics and its impacts on daily life. Examines the various histories of, and meanings given to, international development as well as the social organization of aid agencies and projects. Follows examples of specific projects in various parts of the world. Examples: water projects for pastorialists in Africa, factory development in Southeast Asia, and international nature parks in Indonesia.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.402[J]	City Living: Ethnographies of Urban Worlds	Introduces the ways in which anthropologists have studied cities. Addressing the question of what constitutes the boundaries of life in the city, students familiarize themselves with key themes - such as the relation between city and countryside, space and place, urban economies, science, globalization, migration, nature/culture, kinship, and race, gender, class and memory - that have guided anthropological analyses of cities across the world. Via engagement with case studies and their own small fieldwork projects, students gain experience with different ethnographic strategies for documenting urban life. Taught in English. Limited to 25 across 21A.402 and 21G.419.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.029[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.404	Living Through Climate Change	Uses anthropological approaches to better understand those social and political forces shaping climate change as well as proposed solutions, including those leveraging technical and scientific tools. Examines how climate change is bound up, historically and today, with other processes — including land dispossession, pollution, resource insecurity, industrial agriculture, eroding infrastructure, racial housing discrimination, and job loss. Explores perspectives on social justice, community engagement, and lived experiences of climate change — and their implications for science, engineering, and industry. Engages ethnographic case studies that address unequal climate impacts, the effects of policy, and ongoing mitigation efforts unfolding in agriculture, coastal engineering, architecture, urban planning, global migration, and historical repair. Includes a couple of mandatory field trips during class time.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.407[J]	Gender, Race, and Environmental Justice	Provides an introduction to the analysis of gender in science, technology, and environmental politics from a global perspective. Familiarizes students with central objects, questions, and methods in the field. Examines existent critiques of the racial, sexual and environmental politics at stake in techno-scientific cultures. Draws on material from popular culture, media, fiction, film, and ethnography. Addressing specific examples from across the globe, students also explore different approaches to build more livable environments that promote social justice. Taught in English. Limited to 18.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21G.057[J], STS.022[J], WGS.275[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.409[J]	Ethics of Intervention	An historical and cross-cultural study of the logics and practices of intervention: the ways that individuals, institutions, and governments identify conditions of need or states of emergency within and across borders that require a response. Examines when a response is viewed as obligatory, when is it deemed unnecessary, and by whom; when the intercession is considered fulfilled; and the rationales or assumptions that are employed in assessing interventions. Theories of the state, globalization, and humanitarianism; power, policy, and institutions; gender, race, and ethnicity; and law, ethics, and morality are examined.	true	Fall	Graduate	3-0-9	Permission of instructor	11.238[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.410	Environmental Struggles	Offers an international perspective on the environment. Using environmental conflict to consider the stakes that groups in various parts of the world have in nature, while also exploring how ecological and social dynamics interact and change over time, subject considers such controversial environmental issues as: nuclear contamination in Eastern Europe; genetic bioprospecting in Mexico; toxic run-off in the rural US; the Bhopal accident in India; and the impact of population growth in the Third World.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.411[J]	People and Other Animals	Historical exploration of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet-keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	2-0-10	null	21H.380[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.419[J]	People and Other Animals	Historical exploration of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet-keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Fall	Graduate	2-0-10	null	21H.980[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.429[J]	Environmental Conflict	Explores the complex interrelationships among humans and natural environments, focusing on non-western parts of the world in addition to Europe and the United States. Use of environmental conflict to draw attention to competing understandings and uses of "nature" as well as the local, national and transnational power relationships in which environmental interactions are embedded. In addition to utilizing a range of theoretical perspectives, subject draws upon a series of ethnographic case studies of environmental conflicts in various parts of the world.	true	Fall	Graduate	3-0-9	Permission of instructor	STS.320[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.151	Language, Communication, and Culture	Provides an introduction to linguistic anthropology, which deals with the role of language in social, cultural, and political processes. Considers language as more than just a neutral conduit for exchanging information, but rather as a factor shaping and shaped by interpersonal relationships, national identity, and perception of the world. Drawing on case studies and first-hand observations, students apply methods for analyzing communication and miscommunication in everyday conversation, professional discourse, verbal performance, online interaction, political rhetoric, and more.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.500[J]	Technology and Culture	Examines the intersections of technology, culture, and politics in a variety of social and historical settings ranging from 19th-century factories to 21st-century techno dance floors, from Victorian London to anything-goes Las Vegas. Discussions and readings organized around three questions: what cultural effects and risks follow from treating biology as technology; how computers have changed the way we think about ourselves and others; and how politics are built into our infrastructures. Explores the forces behind technological and cultural change; how technological and cultural artifacts are understood and used by different communities; and whether, in what ways, and for whom technology has produced a better world. Limited to 50.	true	Fall, Spring	Undergraduate	2-0-7	null	STS.075[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.501[J]	Art, Craft, Science	Examines how people learn, practice, and evaluate traditional and contemporary craft techniques. Social science theories of design, embodiment, apprenticeship learning, skill, labor, expertise, and tacit knowledge are used to explore distinctions among art, craft, and science. Also discusses the commoditization of craft into market goods, collectible art, and tourism industries. Ethnographic and historical case studies include textiles, Shaker furniture, glassblowing, quilting, cheesemaking, industrial design, home and professional cooking, factory and laboratory work, CAD/CAM. Demonstrations, optional field trips, and/or hands-on craft projects may be included. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	false	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	STS.074[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.502	Fun and Games: Cross-Cultural Perspectives	Considers the cultural organization of play in different communities and societies. Explores why all people play, how different cultures experience fun, and what particular games mean, if anything. Surveys major theories of play in relation to a variety of play phenomena, such as jokes, video games, children's fantasies, sports, and entertainment spectacles. As a final project, students develop their own case study.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.503[J]	The Human Past: Introduction to Archaeology (New)	From an archaeological perspective, examines ancient human activities and the forces that shaped them. Draws on case studies from the Old and/or New World. Exposes students to various classes of archaeological data, such as stone, bone, and ceramics, that help reconstruct the past.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	3.986[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	CI-H
21A.504[J]	Cultures of Computing	Examines computers anthropologically, as artifacts revealing the social orders and cultural practices that create them. Students read classic texts in computer science along with cultural analyses of computing history and contemporary configurations. Explores the history of automata, automation and capitalist manufacturing; cybernetics and WWII operations research; artificial intelligence and gendered subjectivity; robots, cyborgs, and artificial life; creation and commoditization of the personal computer; the growth of the Internet as a military, academic, and commercial project; hackers and gamers; technobodies and virtual sociality. Emphasis is placed on how ideas about gender and other social differences shape labor practices, models of cognition, hacking culture, and social media.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	STS.086[J], WGS.276[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.505[J]	The Anthropology of Sound	Examines the ways humans experience sound and how perceptions and technologies of sound emerge from cultural, economic, and historical worlds. Consider how the sound/noise/music boundaries have been imagined, created, and modeled across sociocultural and historical contexts. Learn how environmental, linguistic, and musical sounds are construed cross-culturally as well as the rise of telephony, architectural acoustics, sound recording, multi-channel and spatial mix performance, and the globalized travel of these technologies. Questions of sound ownership, property, authorship, remix, and copyright in the digital age are also addressed.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	CMS.406[J], STS.065[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.506	The Anthropology of Politics: Persuasion and Power	Introduces the ethnographic study of politics, i.e., what anthropologists understand to be "political" in various social and economic systems, from small-scale societies to liberal democratic states. Examines politics across three contemporary contexts: electoral politics, public spheres, and bureaucracies and humanitarian governance. Students consider and analyze how questions of authority, coercion, and violence have been theorized to relate to the political, and how some aspects of social life are regimented in explicitly non-political ways.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.507[J]	Resonance: Sonic Experience, Science, and Art	Examines the sonic phenomena and experiences that motivate scientific, humanistic, and artistic practices. Explores the aesthetic and technical aspects of how we hear; measure or describe vibrations; record, compress, and distribute resonating materials; and how we ascertain what we know about the world through sound. Although the focus is on sound as an aesthetic, social, and scientific object, the subject also investigates how resonance is used in the analysis of acoustics, architecture, and music theory. Students make a sonic artifact and written report reflecting research as a final requirement. Students taking graduate version complete assignments aligned with their graduate research.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	4.648[J]	false	false	false	False	Arts	False
21A.508	Culture and Ethics in Science Fiction Worlds	Examines the ethical and controversial aspects of technology's impacts on society, as approached through the lens of science fiction and media. From novels such as Kindred to films like Sleep Dealer, the social inequalities and political complexities portrayed in science fiction worlds offer a launch point to discuss the uneasy aspects and uneven reach of science, technology, and medicine. Covers issues including gene editing, data privacy, border surveillance, human experimentation, environmental crises, war industries, and the impacts of AI.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.509[J]	Art, Craft, Science	Examines how people learn, practice, and evaluate traditional and contemporary craft techniques. Social science theories of design, embodiment, apprenticeship learning, skill, labor, expertise, and tacit knowledge are used to explore distinctions among art, craft, and science. Also discusses the commoditization of craft into market goods, collectible art, and tourism industries. Ethnographic and historical case studies include textiles, Shaker furniture, glassblowing, quilting, cheesemaking, industrial design, home and professional cooking, factory and laboratory work, CAD/CAM. Demonstrations, optional field trips, and/or hands-on craft projects may be included. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Fall	Graduate	3-0-9	null	STS.474[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.511	Hacking from the South	Using anthropological perspectives to propose critically reflexive modes of participation in existing socio-technical systems, students draw on ethnographic case studies to understand how practices and definitions of "hacking" are grounded in specific political and cultural contexts. With a focus on the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, Oceania), examines the relationship between international development and technological empowerment by interrogating assumptions associated with particular locations and peoples, especially those constructed as peripheral to geographic centers of power. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.513	Drawing Human Experience	Introduces fundamental techniques of drawing with traditional media and their application as tools of anthropological inquiry. Examines what the human impulse to draw reveals about connections between mind, hand, and eye. Explores ideas, refines perceptions, and communicates insights through both abstract and figurative drawing. Each student completes a portfolio of original drawings with accompanying written analysis. Limited to 20 due to space constraints.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-3-6	null	null	false	false	false	False	Arts	False
21A.519[J]	Resonance: Sonic Experience, Science, and Art	Examines the sonic phenomena and experiences that motivate scientific, humanistic, and artistic practices. Explores the aesthetic and technical aspects of how we hear; measure or describe vibrations; record, compress, and distribute resonating materials; and how we ascertain what we know about the world through sound. Although the focus is on sound as an aesthetic, social, and scientific object, the subject also investigates how resonance is used in the analysis of acoustics, architecture, and music theory. Students make a sonic artifact and written report reflecting research as a final requirement. Students taking graduate version complete assignments aligned with their graduate research.	true	Fall	Graduate	3-0-9	null	4.649[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.520	Magic, Science, and Religion	Explores the origins of magic, science, and religion as forms of belief within and across cultures. Addresses the place of rationality and belief in competing sociocultural theories, with a focus on analyzing modern perspectives. Examines how cases of overlap between magic, science, and religion raise new questions about modernity and human nature.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.525	Oceans and Us (New)	Explores how people have understood and encountered the ocean, cross-culturally, as a site of danger, pleasure, travel, food-procurement, commerce, and tourism. Topics include imperial voyaging, piracy, the invention of seaside vacations, the politics of fishing, the culture of onboard living in surface and submarine ships, the rise of undersea entertainment and documentary, regimes of managing maritime spaces and species, and the emergence of the ocean as an object of global ecological concern, particularly around climate change and sea level rise.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.529	Virtual and Other Realities	Explores virtual worlds created in cyberspace, non-internet ritual spaces, science laboratories, tech companies, and artistic performances from an anthropological perspective. Students acquire analytical tools for thinking about immersive experiences of being someone else, and the socio-economic, political, and technological contexts behind creating specific types of parallel worlds. Examines and contextualizes the ways in which scientists, designers, shamans, ritual specialists, and corporations imagine, respond to, and steer people's desires and needs. Considers debates on the future of imagination, sensory experiences, and creativity in technology. Limited to 20. This class is designed as a seminar class for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.539	Hacking from the South (New)	Using anthropological perspectives to propose critically reflexive modes of participation in existing socio-technical systems, students draw on ethnographic case studies to understand how practices and definitions of "hacking" are grounded in specific political and cultural contexts. With a focus on the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, Oceania), examines the relationship between international development and technological empowerment by interrogating assumptions associated with particular locations and peoples, especially those constructed as peripheral to geographic centers of power. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.550[J]	DV Lab: Documenting Science through Video and New Media	Uses documentary video making as a tool to explore everyday social worlds (including those of science and engineering), and for thinking analytically about media itself. Students make videos and engage in critical analysis. Provides students with instruction on how to communicate effectively and creatively in a visual medium, and how to articulate their own analyses of documentary images in writing and spoken word. Readings drawn from documentary film theory, anthropology, and social studies of science. Students view a wide variety of classic documentaries and explore different styles. Lab component devoted to digital video production. Includes a final video project. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 12.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-3-6	null	STS.064[J]	false	false	false	False	Arts	CI-H
21A.559	DV Lab: Documenting Science through Video and New Media	Uses documentary video making as a tool to explore everyday social worlds (including those of science and engineering), and for thinking analytically about media itself. Students make videos and engage in critical analysis. Provides students with instruction on how to communicate effectively and creatively in a visual medium, and how to articulate their own analyses of documentary images in writing and spoken word. Readings drawn from documentary film theory, anthropology, and social studies of science. Students view a wide variety of classic documentaries and explore different styles. Lab component devoted to digital video production. Includes a final video project. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 12.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-3-6	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.802	Seminar in Ethnography and Fieldwork	Introduction to ethnographic practices: the study of and communicating about culture. Subject provides instruction and practice in writing, revision of fieldnotes, and a final paper. Preference to Anthropology majors and minors.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21A.809	Designing Empirical Research in the Social Sciences	Foundations of good empirical research in the social sciences. Introduction to the basic assumptions and underlying logic of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Explores a variety of approaches to research design, evaluates the products of empirical research, and practices several common techniques. Discusses several major theoretical paradigms used as interpretive frameworks for social science research. Students develop a proposal for their own research project.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-0-9	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.819	Ethnographic Research Methods	Training in the design and practice of qualitative research. Organized around illustrative texts, class exercises, and student projects. Topics include the process of gaining access to and participating in the social worlds of others; techniques of observation, fieldnote-taking, researcher self-monitoring and reflection; methods of inductive analysis of qualitative data including conceptual coding, grounded theory, and narrative analysis. Discussion of research ethics, the politics of fieldwork, modes of validating researcher accounts, and styles of writing up qualitative field research.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-6-3	Permission of instructor	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.829[J]	Ethnography	Practicum style course introduces students to ethnographic methods and writing in global health research. Organized around interviewing and observational assignments. Students develop a bibliography of anthropological and ethnographic writing relevant to their project, and write a short paper about integrating ethnographic methods into a future research project. Preference to HASTS students; open to others with permission of instructor.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-0-9	Permission of instructor	STS.360[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.859[J]	Social Theory and Analysis	Major theorists and theoretical schools since the late 19th century. Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Bourdieu, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, Foucault, Gramsci, and others. Key terms, concepts, and debates.	true	Spring	Graduate	3-0-9	null	STS.250[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.901	Independent Study in Anthropology	Opportunity for independent study, guided research, practicum, or field work under regular supervision by a faculty member. Projects require prior approval of the instructor and Head of the Anthropology Program. Normal maximum is 6 units; exceptional 9- or 12-unit projects occasionally approved.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	Two subjects in Anthropology	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.902	Independent Study in Anthropology	Opportunity for independent study, guided research, practicum, or field work under regular supervision by a faculty member. Projects require prior approval of the instructor and Head of the Anthropology Program. Normal maximum is 6 units; exceptional 9- or 12-unit projects occasionally approved.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	Two subjects in Anthropology	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.929	Graduate Independent Study	Opportunity for study or projects at an advanced level with an Anthropology faculty member.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Graduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.939	Graduate Independent Study	Opportunity for study or projects at an advanced level with an Anthropology faculty member.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Graduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.949	Graduate Independent Study	Opportunity for study or projects at an advanced level with an Anthropology faculty member.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Graduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.989[J]	HASTS Dissertation Writing Workshop (New)	Bi-weekly seminar for students in the doctoral program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology & Society (HASTS) who have completed research and are in the process of writing their dissertations. Each class focuses on a particular element of the writing: organizing chapters, engaging the secondary literature, the art of the vignette, etc. Depending on student needs, some classes may be tailored to anthropological writing or to historical writing. Students are given ample opportunity to workshop draft passages and chapters. For PhD students only. PhD students outside the HASTS program require permission of instructor.	true	Fall	Graduate	1-0-5	null	21H.960[J], STS.860[J]	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.S01	Special Subject in Anthropology	Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.S02	Special Subject in Anthropology	Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.S10	Special Graduate Subject in Anthropology	Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.	true	Spring	Graduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.S11	Special Graduate Subject in Anthropology	Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.	true	Fall	Graduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.THT	Anthropology Pre-Thesis Tutorial	Students writing a thesis work with an advisor to develop research topics, review relevant research and scholarship, frame research questions, choose an appropriate methodology for data collection and analysis, and draft the introductory and methodology sections of their theses. Includes substantial practice in writing (with revision) and oral presentations.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.THU	Undergraduate Thesis in Anthropology	Completion of work on the senior major thesis under supervision of a faculty thesis advisor. Includes oral presentation of thesis progress early in the term, assembling and revising the final text, and a final meeting with a committee of faculty evaluators to discuss the successes and limitations of the project.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	21A.THT	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.UR	Undergraduate Research	Individual participation in an ongoing research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged [P/D/F]	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21A.URG	Undergraduate Research	Individual participation in an ongoing research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.	true	Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer	Undergraduate	rranged	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21G.013	Discovering Multilingual Boston: Voices of Immigrant Communities	This discovery subject will expose first-year students to the 21G curriculum through exposure to the importance of global languages in our local community. Introduces Boston's multilingual richness and vibrant immigrant communities through an exploration of the city's diverse cultures and neighborhoods. Readings and films provide an overview of Boston's recent immigrant profile, document key issues within immigrant communities, and provide testimonies of lived experience. Field trips and guest speakers allow students to learn from organizations working with immigrants in Boston neighborhoods. Students have the option to produce a blog to document their findings and report on an immigrant community, struggle, or testimony. Class meets every other week over the course of the term. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students. Limited to 16; preference for first-year students.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	1-0-2 [P/D/F]	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21G.014	Introduction to Russian Politics and Society	Introduces students to contemporary Russia through analysis of major political, social, and cultural trends and addresses how they have developed due to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Considers the role of identity, state propaganda, civil society — including those in exile — and music both as an instrument of political power and popular resistance. Study materials include academic and media articles, recent documentaries, and video interviews with prominent figures in Russian science and culture. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first year students. Limited to 15.	false	Fall	Undergraduate	1-0-2 [P/D/F]	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21G.015	Introduction to Buddhism, Mindfulness, and Meditation	Companion to the Fitness and Meditation class offered through MIT's Wellness program. Introduces students to the basic ideas of Buddhism, the history of Buddhism's transmission through East Asia, and core aspects of the philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism, including the role of meditation and mindfulness in Buddhist practice. Meets with the MIT Wellness Fitness and Meditation class; students must enroll in both to receive credit. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students. Limited to 18.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	1-0-0 [P/D/F]	null	null	false	false	false	False	False	False
21G.011	Topics in Indian Popular Culture	Overview of Indian popular culture over the last two decades, through a variety of material such as popular fiction, music, television and Bombay cinema. Explores major themes and their representations in relation to current social and political issues, elements of the formulaic masala movie, music and melodrama, ideas of nostalgia and incumbent change in youth culture, and questions of gender and sexuality in popular fiction. Taught in English. Enrollment limited.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	null	false	false	false	False	Humanities	CI-H
21G.022[J]	International Women's Voices	Introduces students to a variety of fictional works by contemporary women writers. International perspective emphasizes the extent to which each author's work reflects her distinct cultural heritage and to what extent, if any, there is an identifiable female voice that transcends national boundaries. Uses a variety of interpretive perspectives, including sociohistorical, psychoanalytic, and feminist criticism, to examine texts. Authors include Mariama Ba, Isabel Allende, Anita Desai, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Alifa Riyaat, Yang Jiang, Nawal Al-Saadawi, and Sawako Ariyoshi. Taught in English.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21L.522[J], WGS.141[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	False
21G.024[J]	The Linguistic Study of Bilingualism	Development of bilingualism in human history (from Australopithecus to present day). Focuses on linguistic aspects of bilingualism; models of bilingualism and language acquisition; competence versus performance; effects of bilingualism on other domains of human cognition; brain imaging studies; early versus late bilingualism; opportunities to observe and conduct original research; and implications for educational policies among others. Students participate in six online web meetings with partner institutions. Taught in English. Enrollment limited.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	24.900 or 24.9000	24.906[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	CI-H
21G.025[J]	Africa and the Politics of Knowledge	Considers how, despite its immense diversity, Africa continues to hold purchase as both a geographical entity and meaningful knowledge category. Examines the relationship between articulations of "Africa" and projects like European imperialism, developments in the biological sciences, African de-colonization and state-building, and the imagining of the planet's future. Readings in anthropology and history are organized around five themes: space and place, race, representation, self-determination, and time. Enrollment limited.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21A.135[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21G.026[J]	Global Africa: Creative Cultures	Examines contemporary and historical cultural production on and from Africa across a range of registers, including literary, musical and visual arts, material culture, and science and technology. Employs key theoretical concepts from anthropology and social theory to analyze these forms and phenomena. Uses case studies to consider how Africa articulates its place in, and relationship to, the world through creative practices. Discussion topics largely drawn from Francophone and sub-Saharan Africa, but also from throughout the continent and the African diaspora. Taught in English. Limited to 18.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21A.136[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21G.028[J]	African Migrations	Examines West African migration to France and to the United States from the early 20th century to the present. Centering the experiences of African social actors and historicizing recent dynamics, students consider what migration across these three regions reveals about African projects of self-determination, postcolonial nation-building, and global citizenship. Students also comparatively analyze the workings of contemporary French and American societies, in particular, the articulations of race and citizenship in the two nations. Taught in English. Limited to 18.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21A.137[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21G.029[J]	City Living: Ethnographies of Urban Worlds	Introduces the ways in which anthropologists have studied cities. Addressing the question of what constitutes the boundaries of life in the city, students familiarize themselves with key themes - such as the relation between city and countryside, space and place, urban economies, science, globalization, migration, nature/culture, kinship, and race, gender, class and memory - that have guided anthropological analyses of cities across the world. Via engagement with case studies and their own small fieldwork projects, students gain experience with different ethnographic strategies for documenting urban life. Taught in English. Limited to 25 across 21A.402 and 21G.419.	true	Fall	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	21A.402[J]	false	false	false	False	Social Sciences	False
21G.030[J]	Introduction to East Asian Cultures: From Zen to K-Pop	Examines traditional forms of East Asian culture (including literature, art, performance, food, and religion) as well as contemporary forms of popular culture (film, pop music, karaoke, and manga). Covers China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with an emphasis on China. Considers women's culture, as well as the influence and presence of Asian cultural expressions in the US. Uses resources in the Boston area, including the MFA, the Children's Museum, and the Sackler collection at Harvard. Taught in English.	false	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	WGS.236[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	False
21G.036[J]	Advertising and Media: Comparative Perspectives	Compares modern and contemporary advertising culture in China, the US, and other emerging markets. First half focuses on branding in the old media environment; second half introduces the changing practice of advertising in the new media environment. Topics include branding and positioning, media planning, social media campaigns, cause marketing 2.0, social TV, and mobility marketing. Required lab work includes interactive sessions in branding a team product for the US (or a European country) and China markets. Taught in English and requires no knowledge of Chinese. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.	true	Spring	Undergraduate	3-0-9	null	CMS.356[J]	false	false	false	False	Humanities	False

20.EPW

UPOP Engineering Practice Workshop

Provides sophomores across all majors with opportunities to develop and practice communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills to become successful professionals in the workplace, particularly in preparation for their summer industry internship. This immersive, multi-day Team Training Workshop (TTW) is comprised of experiential learning modules focused on expanding skills in areas that employers report being most valuable in the workplace. Modules are led by MIT faculty with the help of MIT alumni and other senior industry professionals. Skills applied through creative simulations, team problem-solving challenges, oral presentations, and networking sessions with prospective employers. Enrollment limited to those in the UPOP program.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring

Undergraduate

1-0-0 [P/D/F]

2.EPE

null

false

False

20.S900

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.S901

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

20.S940

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring

Undergraduate

rranged

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.S947

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring

Graduate

rranged

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.S948

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring

Graduate

rranged

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.S949

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring

Graduate

rranged

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.S952

Special Subject in Biological Engineering

Detailed discussion of selected topics of current interest. Classwork in various areas not covered by regular subjects.

true

Fall, Spring

Graduate

rranged [P/D/F]

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.THG

Graduate Thesis

Program of research leading to the writing of an SM or PhD thesis; to be arranged by the student and the MIT faculty advisor.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Graduate

rranged

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

20.THU

Undergraduate BE Thesis

Program of research leading to the writing of an SB thesis; to be arranged by the student under approved supervision.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

20.UR

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Laboratory research in the fields of bioengineering or environmental health. May be extended over multiple terms.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer, Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged [P/D/F]

null

false

False

20.URG

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Emphasizes direct and active involvement in laboratory research in bioengineering or environmental health. May be extended over multiple terms.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.00

Introduction to Anthropology: Comparing Human Cultures

Through the comparative study of different cultures, anthropology explores fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Seeks to understand how culture shapes societies, from the smallest island in the South Pacific to the largest Asian metropolis, and affects the way institutions work, from scientific laboratories to Christian mega-churches. Provides a framework for analyzing diverse facets of human experience, such as gender, ethnicity, language, politics, economics, and art.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.01

How Culture Works

Introduces diverse meanings and uses of the concept of culture with historical and contemporary examples from scholarship and popular media around the globe. Includes first-hand observations, synthesized histories and ethnographies, quantitative representations, and visual and fictionalized accounts of human experiences. Students conduct empirical research on cultural differences through the systematic observation of human interaction, employ methods of interpretative analysis, and practice convincing others of the accuracy of their findings.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.157

The Meaning of Life

Examines how a variety of cultural traditions propose answers to the question of how to live a meaningful life. Considers the meaning of life, not as a philosophical abstraction, but as a question that individuals grapple with in their daily lives, facing difficult decisions between meeting and defying cultural expectations. Provides tools for thinking about moral decisions as social and historical practices, and permits students to compare and contextualize the ways people in different times and places approach fundamental ethical concerns.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.103[J]

The Science of Race, Sex, and Gender

Examines the role of science and medicine in the origins and evolution of the concepts of race, sex, and gender from the 17th century to the present. Focus on how biological, anthropological, and medical concepts intersect with social, cultural, and political ideas about racial, sexual, and gender difference in the US and globally. Approach is historical and comparative across disciplines emphasizing the different modes of explanation and use of evidence in each field.

false

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

STS.046[J], WGS.225[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.104

Memory, Culture, and Forgetting

Introduces scholarly debates about the sociocultural practices through which individuals and societies create, sustain, recall, and erase memories. Emphasis is given to the history of knowledge, construction of memory, the role of authorities in shaping memory, and how societies decide on whose versions of memory are more "truthful" and "real." Other topics include how memory works in the human brain, memory and trauma, amnesia, memory practices in the sciences, false memory, sites of memory, and the commodification of memory.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

2-0-7

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.111[J]

For Love and Money: Rethinking the Family

Cross-cultural case studies introduce students to the anthropological study of the social institutions and symbolic meanings of family, gender, and sexuality. Investigates the different forms families and households take and considers their social, emotional, and economic dynamics. Analyzes how various expectations for, and experiences of, family life are rooted in or challenged by particular conceptions of gender and sexuality. Addresses questions surrounding what it means to be a "man" or a "woman," as well as a family member, in different social contexts.

false

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

WGS.172[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.120

American Dream: Exploring Class in the US

Examines the "American Dream" — the belief that all individuals and groups can succeed in the US through hard work and determination — in light of decreasing social mobility, increasing inequality, and shifting patterns of immigration. Focuses on how people use storytelling — such as oral narrative, memoirs, home movies, family photo albums, and novels — to reflect on their day-to-day experience of social class in the United States. Considers how social class intersects with other aspects of identity, such as race, ethnicity, and gender. Students undertake research projects and class assignments using oral histories, interviews, and analysis of archival records.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.127[J]

Power: Interpersonal, Organizational, and Global Dimensions

The study of power among individuals and within organizations, markets, and states. Using examples from anthropology and sociology alongside classical and contemporary social theory, explores the nature of dominant and subordinate relationships, types of legitimate authority, and practices of resistance. Examines how people are influenced in subtle ways by those around them, who makes controlling decisions in the family, how people get ahead at work, and whether democracies, in fact, reflect the will of the people. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

11.045[J], 15.302[J], 17.045[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.129

Power: Interpersonal, Organizational, and Global Dimensions

The study of power among individuals and within organizations, markets, and states. Using examples from anthropology and sociology alongside classical and contemporary social theory, explores the nature of dominant and subordinate relationships, types of legitimate authority, and practices of resistance. Examines how people are influenced in subtle ways by those around them, who makes controlling decisions in the family, how people get ahead at work, and whether democracies, in fact, reflect the will of the people. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

21A.130[J]

Introduction to Latin American Studies

Examines contemporary Latin American culture, politics, and history. Surveys geography, economic development, and race, religion, and gender in Latin America. Special emphasis on the Salvadoran civil war, human rights and military rule in Argentina and Chile, and migration from Central America and Mexico to the United States. Students analyze films, literature, visual art, journalism, historical documents, and social scientific research.

false

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

17.55[J], 21G.084[J], 21H.170[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

CI-H

21A.131[J]

Latinx in the Age of Empire

Analyzes the histories and presence of the Latinx population in the context of US territorial expansion, foreign intervention and economic policy toward Latin America. Combines both historical and anthropological approaches to analyze local conditions that lead people to migrate within the broader forces of international political economy. Pays attention to the historical context in the home countries, especially as impacted by US policy. Explores Latinx community dynamics, politics of migrant labor, relational formations of race and transnational forms of belonging. Historically and ethnographically seeks to understand structures of criminalization, activist practices of resistance and the development of deportation regimes.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21H.270[J]

false

False

Humanities

False

21A.132[J]

Race and Migration in Europe

Addresses the shifting politics of nation, ethnicity, and race in the context of migration and globalization in Germany and Europe. Provides students with analytical tools to approach global concerns and consider Europe and Germany from cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. Familiarizes students with the ways in which histories of migration, travel, and colonial encounters shape contemporary Europe. Introduces the concepts of transnationalism, diasporic cultures, racism, ethnicity, asylum, and mobility via case studies and materials, including film, ethnography, fiction, and autobiography. Taught in English. Limited to 18.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.058[J]

false

False

Humanities

CI-H

21A.133

Latin American Migrations (New)

Examines economic, cultural, political, and social dimensions of past and present migrations from Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean to, from, and within the United States. Explores Latina/o community dynamics, politics of migrant labor, relational formations of race, and transnational forms of belonging. Students analyze ethnographies, films, visual arts, journalism, and music to study migration using central analytic concepts from anthropology, sociology, ethnic studies, and Latinx studies.

false

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.135[J]

Africa and the Politics of Knowledge

Considers how, despite its immense diversity, Africa continues to hold purchase as both a geographical entity and meaningful knowledge category. Examines the relationship between articulations of "Africa" and projects like European imperialism, developments in the biological sciences, African de-colonization and state-building, and the imagining of the planet's future. Readings in anthropology and history are organized around five themes: space and place, race, representation, self-determination, and time. Enrollment limited.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.025[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.136[J]

Global Africa: Creative Cultures

Examines contemporary and historical cultural production on and from Africa across a range of registers, including literary, musical and visual arts, material culture, and science and technology. Employs key theoretical concepts from anthropology and social theory to analyze these forms and phenomena. Uses case studies to consider how Africa articulates its place in, and relationship to, the world through creative practices. Discussion topics largely drawn from Francophone and sub-Saharan Africa, but also from throughout the continent and the African diaspora. Taught in English. Limited to 18.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.026[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.137[J]

African Migrations

Examines West African migration to France and to the United States from the early 20th century to the present. Centering the experiences of African social actors and historicizing recent dynamics, students consider what migration across these three regions reveals about African projects of self-determination, postcolonial nation-building, and global citizenship. Students also comparatively analyze the workings of contemporary French and American societies, in particular, the articulations of race and citizenship in the two nations. Taught in English. Limited to 18.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.028[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.138[J]

Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa (New)

Provides an overview of key issues and themes in the study of women and gender relations in the Middle East and North Africa. Includes readings from a variety of disciplines, e.g., history, anthropology, sociology, literature, religious studies, and media studies. Addresses themes such as the relationship between the concepts of nation and gender; women's citizenship; Middle Eastern women's activism and the involvement of their Western "sisters" to this movement; gendered interpretations of the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad; and the three H's of Orientalism (hijab, harem, and hamam).

false

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21H.263[J], WGS.220[J]

false

False

Humanities

False

21A.141[J]

Images of Asian Women: Dragon Ladies and Lotus Blossoms

Explores some of the forces and mechanisms through which stereotypes are built and perpetuated. In particular, examines stereotypes associated with Asian women in colonial, nationalist, state-authoritarian, and global/diasporic narratives about gender and power. Students read ethnography, fiction, and history, and view films to examine the politics and circumstances that create and perpetuate the representation of Asian women as dragon ladies, lotus blossoms, despotic tyrants, desexualized servants, and docile subordinates. Students are introduced to debates about Orientalism, gender, and power.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.048[J], WGS.274[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.143[J]

Gender and Japanese Popular Culture

Examines relationships between identity and participation in Japanese popular culture as a way of understanding the changing character of media, capitalism, fan communities, and culture. Emphasizes contemporary popular culture and theories of gender, sexuality, race, and the workings of power and value in global culture industries. Topics include manga (comic books), hip-hop and other popular music, anime and feature films, video games, contemporary literature, and online communication. Students present analyses and develop a final project based on a particular aspect of gender and popular culture. Several films screened outside of regular class meeting times. Taught in English.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.039[J], WGS.154[J]

false

False

Humanities

False

21A.150

Teaching and Learning: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Explores the diverse ways that people teach and learn in different countries, disciplines, and subcultures (computer gamers, magicians, jazz musicians, etc.). Compares schooling to other forms of knowledge transmission, from initiation and apprenticeship to recent innovations in online education. Students discuss various learning theories and apply them to a variety of in-class activities using qualitative methods to conduct original research on topics of their choice. Limited to 15.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.155

Food, Culture, and Politics

Explores connections between what we eat and who we are through cross-cultural study of how personal identities and social groups are formed via food production, preparation, and consumption. Organized around critical discussion of what makes "good" food good (healthy, authentic, ethical, etc.). Uses anthropological and literary classics as well as recent writing and films on the politics of food and agriculture. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.461

What Is Capitalism?

Introduces academic debates on the nature of capitalism, drawing upon the ideas of scholars as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Examines anthropological studies of how contemporary capitalism plays out in people's daily lives in a range of geographic and social settings, and implications for how we understand capitalism today. Settings range from Wall Street investment banks to auto assembly plants, from family businesses to consumer shopping malls. Enrollment limited.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

CI-H

21A.301

Disease and Health: Culture, Society, and Ethics

From a cross cultural and global perspective, examines how medicine is practiced, with particular emphasis on biomedicine. Analyzes medical practice as a cultural system, focusing on the human and social side of things. Considers how people in different societies think of disease, health, body, and mind. Enrollment limited.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.302[J]

Dilemmas in Biomedical Ethics: Playing God or Doing Good?

An introduction to the cross-cultural study of biomedical ethics. Examines moral foundations of the science and practice of western biomedicine through case studies of abortion, contraception, cloning, organ transplantation and other issues. Evaluates challenges that new medical technologies pose to the practice and availability of medical services around the globe, and to cross-cultural ideas of kinship and personhood. Discusses critiques of the biomedical tradition from anthropological, feminist, legal, religious, and cross-cultural theorists.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

11.133[J], WGS.271[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.303[J]

The Anthropology of Biology

Applies the tools of anthropology to examine biology in the age of genomics, biotechnological enterprise, biodiversity conservation, pharmaceutical bioprospecting, and synthetic biology. Examines such social concerns such as bioterrorism, genetic modification, and cloning. Offers an anthropological inquiry into how the substances and explanations of biology — ecological, organismic, cellular, molecular, genetic, informatic — are changing. Examines such artifacts as cell lines, biodiversity databases, and artificial life models, and using primary sources in biology, social studies of the life sciences, and literary and cinematic materials, asks how we might answer Erwin Schrodinger's 1944 question, "What Is Life?", today.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

STS.060[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.311

The Social Lives of Medical Objects

Explores the theories and assumptions built into objects meant to improve health. Students read and discuss case studies that follow the often unexpected ways intended intervention objects are designed and developed, globally travel, and at times become part of people's everyday lives. Studies include a broad range of medical materials and development technologies, such as penicillin, anti-malarial drugs, water pumps, air filters, prosthetic limbs, glucose meters, scales, DDT insecticides, bednets, and micro-nutrient pills. Limited to 20.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.312

Planetary Change and Human Health

Explores intersections between health of the planet and the health of human beings. Drawing upon case studies of growing ecological crisis around the world, topics include the human health implications of global climate change, sea level rise, weather disasters and fossil fuel pollution; connections between the health of plants, animals, microbes, and people; shifting industrial food systems and human nutrition; representations of race and indigeneity amid struggles for environmental justice; waste disposal and nuclear afterlives; and debates surrounding controversial issues such as geoengineering and climate AI. Students practice inserting environmental sciences in dialogue with toolkits from the social sciences and humanities to explore the uneven social worlds that shape how science gets traction (or not) in policy and law. Limited to 25 students.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.319[J]

History and Anthropology of Medicine and Biology

Explores recent historical and anthropological approaches to the study of medicine and biology. Topics might include interaction of disease and society; science, colonialism, and international health; impact of new technologies on medicine and the life sciences; neuroscience and psychiatry; race, biology and medicine. Specific emphasis varies from year to year.

true

Fall

Graduate

3-0-9

Permission of instructor

STS.330[J]

false

False

21A.400

The Stakes of International Development

Offers an anthropological perspective on international development. Students consider development, not in policy or technical terms, but through its social and political dynamics and its impacts on daily life. Examines the various histories of, and meanings given to, international development as well as the social organization of aid agencies and projects. Follows examples of specific projects in various parts of the world. Examples: water projects for pastorialists in Africa, factory development in Southeast Asia, and international nature parks in Indonesia.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.402[J]

City Living: Ethnographies of Urban Worlds

Introduces the ways in which anthropologists have studied cities. Addressing the question of what constitutes the boundaries of life in the city, students familiarize themselves with key themes - such as the relation between city and countryside, space and place, urban economies, science, globalization, migration, nature/culture, kinship, and race, gender, class and memory - that have guided anthropological analyses of cities across the world. Via engagement with case studies and their own small fieldwork projects, students gain experience with different ethnographic strategies for documenting urban life. Taught in English. Limited to 25 across 21A.402 and 21G.419.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.029[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.404

Living Through Climate Change

Uses anthropological approaches to better understand those social and political forces shaping climate change as well as proposed solutions, including those leveraging technical and scientific tools. Examines how climate change is bound up, historically and today, with other processes — including land dispossession, pollution, resource insecurity, industrial agriculture, eroding infrastructure, racial housing discrimination, and job loss. Explores perspectives on social justice, community engagement, and lived experiences of climate change — and their implications for science, engineering, and industry. Engages ethnographic case studies that address unequal climate impacts, the effects of policy, and ongoing mitigation efforts unfolding in agriculture, coastal engineering, architecture, urban planning, global migration, and historical repair. Includes a couple of mandatory field trips during class time.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.407[J]

Gender, Race, and Environmental Justice

Provides an introduction to the analysis of gender in science, technology, and environmental politics from a global perspective. Familiarizes students with central objects, questions, and methods in the field. Examines existent critiques of the racial, sexual and environmental politics at stake in techno-scientific cultures. Draws on material from popular culture, media, fiction, film, and ethnography. Addressing specific examples from across the globe, students also explore different approaches to build more livable environments that promote social justice. Taught in English. Limited to 18.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21G.057[J], STS.022[J], WGS.275[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.409[J]

Ethics of Intervention

An historical and cross-cultural study of the logics and practices of intervention: the ways that individuals, institutions, and governments identify conditions of need or states of emergency within and across borders that require a response. Examines when a response is viewed as obligatory, when is it deemed unnecessary, and by whom; when the intercession is considered fulfilled; and the rationales or assumptions that are employed in assessing interventions. Theories of the state, globalization, and humanitarianism; power, policy, and institutions; gender, race, and ethnicity; and law, ethics, and morality are examined.

true

Fall

Graduate

3-0-9

Permission of instructor

11.238[J]

false

False

21A.410

Environmental Struggles

Offers an international perspective on the environment. Using environmental conflict to consider the stakes that groups in various parts of the world have in nature, while also exploring how ecological and social dynamics interact and change over time, subject considers such controversial environmental issues as: nuclear contamination in Eastern Europe; genetic bioprospecting in Mexico; toxic run-off in the rural US; the Bhopal accident in India; and the impact of population growth in the Third World.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.411[J]

People and Other Animals

Historical exploration of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet-keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

2-0-10

null

21H.380[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.419[J]

People and Other Animals

Historical exploration of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet-keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Fall

Graduate

2-0-10

null

21H.980[J]

false

False

21A.429[J]

Environmental Conflict

Explores the complex interrelationships among humans and natural environments, focusing on non-western parts of the world in addition to Europe and the United States. Use of environmental conflict to draw attention to competing understandings and uses of "nature" as well as the local, national and transnational power relationships in which environmental interactions are embedded. In addition to utilizing a range of theoretical perspectives, subject draws upon a series of ethnographic case studies of environmental conflicts in various parts of the world.

true

Fall

Graduate

3-0-9

Permission of instructor

STS.320[J]

false

False

21A.151

Language, Communication, and Culture

Provides an introduction to linguistic anthropology, which deals with the role of language in social, cultural, and political processes. Considers language as more than just a neutral conduit for exchanging information, but rather as a factor shaping and shaped by interpersonal relationships, national identity, and perception of the world. Drawing on case studies and first-hand observations, students apply methods for analyzing communication and miscommunication in everyday conversation, professional discourse, verbal performance, online interaction, political rhetoric, and more.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.500[J]

Technology and Culture

Examines the intersections of technology, culture, and politics in a variety of social and historical settings ranging from 19th-century factories to 21st-century techno dance floors, from Victorian London to anything-goes Las Vegas. Discussions and readings organized around three questions: what cultural effects and risks follow from treating biology as technology; how computers have changed the way we think about ourselves and others; and how politics are built into our infrastructures. Explores the forces behind technological and cultural change; how technological and cultural artifacts are understood and used by different communities; and whether, in what ways, and for whom technology has produced a better world. Limited to 50.

true

Fall, Spring

Undergraduate

2-0-7

null

STS.075[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.501[J]

Art, Craft, Science

Examines how people learn, practice, and evaluate traditional and contemporary craft techniques. Social science theories of design, embodiment, apprenticeship learning, skill, labor, expertise, and tacit knowledge are used to explore distinctions among art, craft, and science. Also discusses the commoditization of craft into market goods, collectible art, and tourism industries. Ethnographic and historical case studies include textiles, Shaker furniture, glassblowing, quilting, cheesemaking, industrial design, home and professional cooking, factory and laboratory work, CAD/CAM. Demonstrations, optional field trips, and/or hands-on craft projects may be included. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

false

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

STS.074[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.502

Fun and Games: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Considers the cultural organization of play in different communities and societies. Explores why all people play, how different cultures experience fun, and what particular games mean, if anything. Surveys major theories of play in relation to a variety of play phenomena, such as jokes, video games, children's fantasies, sports, and entertainment spectacles. As a final project, students develop their own case study.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.503[J]

The Human Past: Introduction to Archaeology (New)

From an archaeological perspective, examines ancient human activities and the forces that shaped them. Draws on case studies from the Old and/or New World. Exposes students to various classes of archaeological data, such as stone, bone, and ceramics, that help reconstruct the past.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

3.986[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

CI-H

21A.504[J]

Cultures of Computing

Examines computers anthropologically, as artifacts revealing the social orders and cultural practices that create them. Students read classic texts in computer science along with cultural analyses of computing history and contemporary configurations. Explores the history of automata, automation and capitalist manufacturing; cybernetics and WWII operations research; artificial intelligence and gendered subjectivity; robots, cyborgs, and artificial life; creation and commoditization of the personal computer; the growth of the Internet as a military, academic, and commercial project; hackers and gamers; technobodies and virtual sociality. Emphasis is placed on how ideas about gender and other social differences shape labor practices, models of cognition, hacking culture, and social media.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

STS.086[J], WGS.276[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.505[J]

The Anthropology of Sound

Examines the ways humans experience sound and how perceptions and technologies of sound emerge from cultural, economic, and historical worlds. Consider how the sound/noise/music boundaries have been imagined, created, and modeled across sociocultural and historical contexts. Learn how environmental, linguistic, and musical sounds are construed cross-culturally as well as the rise of telephony, architectural acoustics, sound recording, multi-channel and spatial mix performance, and the globalized travel of these technologies. Questions of sound ownership, property, authorship, remix, and copyright in the digital age are also addressed.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

CMS.406[J], STS.065[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.506

The Anthropology of Politics: Persuasion and Power

Introduces the ethnographic study of politics, i.e., what anthropologists understand to be "political" in various social and economic systems, from small-scale societies to liberal democratic states. Examines politics across three contemporary contexts: electoral politics, public spheres, and bureaucracies and humanitarian governance. Students consider and analyze how questions of authority, coercion, and violence have been theorized to relate to the political, and how some aspects of social life are regimented in explicitly non-political ways.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.507[J]

Resonance: Sonic Experience, Science, and Art

Examines the sonic phenomena and experiences that motivate scientific, humanistic, and artistic practices. Explores the aesthetic and technical aspects of how we hear; measure or describe vibrations; record, compress, and distribute resonating materials; and how we ascertain what we know about the world through sound. Although the focus is on sound as an aesthetic, social, and scientific object, the subject also investigates how resonance is used in the analysis of acoustics, architecture, and music theory. Students make a sonic artifact and written report reflecting research as a final requirement. Students taking graduate version complete assignments aligned with their graduate research.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

4.648[J]

false

False

Arts

False

21A.508

Culture and Ethics in Science Fiction Worlds

Examines the ethical and controversial aspects of technology's impacts on society, as approached through the lens of science fiction and media. From novels such as Kindred to films like Sleep Dealer, the social inequalities and political complexities portrayed in science fiction worlds offer a launch point to discuss the uneasy aspects and uneven reach of science, technology, and medicine. Covers issues including gene editing, data privacy, border surveillance, human experimentation, environmental crises, war industries, and the impacts of AI.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.509[J]

Art, Craft, Science

Examines how people learn, practice, and evaluate traditional and contemporary craft techniques. Social science theories of design, embodiment, apprenticeship learning, skill, labor, expertise, and tacit knowledge are used to explore distinctions among art, craft, and science. Also discusses the commoditization of craft into market goods, collectible art, and tourism industries. Ethnographic and historical case studies include textiles, Shaker furniture, glassblowing, quilting, cheesemaking, industrial design, home and professional cooking, factory and laboratory work, CAD/CAM. Demonstrations, optional field trips, and/or hands-on craft projects may be included. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Fall

Graduate

3-0-9

null

STS.474[J]

false

False

21A.511

Hacking from the South

Using anthropological perspectives to propose critically reflexive modes of participation in existing socio-technical systems, students draw on ethnographic case studies to understand how practices and definitions of "hacking" are grounded in specific political and cultural contexts. With a focus on the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, Oceania), examines the relationship between international development and technological empowerment by interrogating assumptions associated with particular locations and peoples, especially those constructed as peripheral to geographic centers of power. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.513

Drawing Human Experience

Introduces fundamental techniques of drawing with traditional media and their application as tools of anthropological inquiry. Examines what the human impulse to draw reveals about connections between mind, hand, and eye. Explores ideas, refines perceptions, and communicates insights through both abstract and figurative drawing. Each student completes a portfolio of original drawings with accompanying written analysis. Limited to 20 due to space constraints.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-3-6

null

false

False

Arts

False

21A.519[J]

Resonance: Sonic Experience, Science, and Art

Examines the sonic phenomena and experiences that motivate scientific, humanistic, and artistic practices. Explores the aesthetic and technical aspects of how we hear; measure or describe vibrations; record, compress, and distribute resonating materials; and how we ascertain what we know about the world through sound. Although the focus is on sound as an aesthetic, social, and scientific object, the subject also investigates how resonance is used in the analysis of acoustics, architecture, and music theory. Students make a sonic artifact and written report reflecting research as a final requirement. Students taking graduate version complete assignments aligned with their graduate research.

true

Fall

Graduate

3-0-9

null

4.649[J]

false

False

21A.520

Magic, Science, and Religion

Explores the origins of magic, science, and religion as forms of belief within and across cultures. Addresses the place of rationality and belief in competing sociocultural theories, with a focus on analyzing modern perspectives. Examines how cases of overlap between magic, science, and religion raise new questions about modernity and human nature.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.525

Oceans and Us (New)

Explores how people have understood and encountered the ocean, cross-culturally, as a site of danger, pleasure, travel, food-procurement, commerce, and tourism. Topics include imperial voyaging, piracy, the invention of seaside vacations, the politics of fishing, the culture of onboard living in surface and submarine ships, the rise of undersea entertainment and documentary, regimes of managing maritime spaces and species, and the emergence of the ocean as an object of global ecological concern, particularly around climate change and sea level rise.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.529

Virtual and Other Realities

Explores virtual worlds created in cyberspace, non-internet ritual spaces, science laboratories, tech companies, and artistic performances from an anthropological perspective. Students acquire analytical tools for thinking about immersive experiences of being someone else, and the socio-economic, political, and technological contexts behind creating specific types of parallel worlds. Examines and contextualizes the ways in which scientists, designers, shamans, ritual specialists, and corporations imagine, respond to, and steer people's desires and needs. Considers debates on the future of imagination, sensory experiences, and creativity in technology. Limited to 20. This class is designed as a seminar class for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

21A.539

Hacking from the South (New)

Using anthropological perspectives to propose critically reflexive modes of participation in existing socio-technical systems, students draw on ethnographic case studies to understand how practices and definitions of "hacking" are grounded in specific political and cultural contexts. With a focus on the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, Oceania), examines the relationship between international development and technological empowerment by interrogating assumptions associated with particular locations and peoples, especially those constructed as peripheral to geographic centers of power. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

21A.550[J]

DV Lab: Documenting Science through Video and New Media

Uses documentary video making as a tool to explore everyday social worlds (including those of science and engineering), and for thinking analytically about media itself. Students make videos and engage in critical analysis. Provides students with instruction on how to communicate effectively and creatively in a visual medium, and how to articulate their own analyses of documentary images in writing and spoken word. Readings drawn from documentary film theory, anthropology, and social studies of science. Students view a wide variety of classic documentaries and explore different styles. Lab component devoted to digital video production. Includes a final video project. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 12.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-3-6

null

STS.064[J]

false

False

Arts

CI-H

21A.559

DV Lab: Documenting Science through Video and New Media

Uses documentary video making as a tool to explore everyday social worlds (including those of science and engineering), and for thinking analytically about media itself. Students make videos and engage in critical analysis. Provides students with instruction on how to communicate effectively and creatively in a visual medium, and how to articulate their own analyses of documentary images in writing and spoken word. Readings drawn from documentary film theory, anthropology, and social studies of science. Students view a wide variety of classic documentaries and explore different styles. Lab component devoted to digital video production. Includes a final video project. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 12.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-3-6

null

false

False

21A.802

Seminar in Ethnography and Fieldwork

Introduction to ethnographic practices: the study of and communicating about culture. Subject provides instruction and practice in writing, revision of fieldnotes, and a final paper. Preference to Anthropology majors and minors.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21A.809

Designing Empirical Research in the Social Sciences

Foundations of good empirical research in the social sciences. Introduction to the basic assumptions and underlying logic of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Explores a variety of approaches to research design, evaluates the products of empirical research, and practices several common techniques. Discusses several major theoretical paradigms used as interpretive frameworks for social science research. Students develop a proposal for their own research project.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-0-9

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

21A.819

Ethnographic Research Methods

Training in the design and practice of qualitative research. Organized around illustrative texts, class exercises, and student projects. Topics include the process of gaining access to and participating in the social worlds of others; techniques of observation, fieldnote-taking, researcher self-monitoring and reflection; methods of inductive analysis of qualitative data including conceptual coding, grounded theory, and narrative analysis. Discussion of research ethics, the politics of fieldwork, modes of validating researcher accounts, and styles of writing up qualitative field research.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-6-3

Permission of instructor

null

false

False

21A.829[J]

Ethnography

Practicum style course introduces students to ethnographic methods and writing in global health research. Organized around interviewing and observational assignments. Students develop a bibliography of anthropological and ethnographic writing relevant to their project, and write a short paper about integrating ethnographic methods into a future research project. Preference to HASTS students; open to others with permission of instructor.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-0-9

Permission of instructor

STS.360[J]

false

False

21A.859[J]

Social Theory and Analysis

Major theorists and theoretical schools since the late 19th century. Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Bourdieu, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, Foucault, Gramsci, and others. Key terms, concepts, and debates.

true

Spring

Graduate

3-0-9

null

STS.250[J]

false

False

21A.901

Independent Study in Anthropology

Opportunity for independent study, guided research, practicum, or field work under regular supervision by a faculty member. Projects require prior approval of the instructor and Head of the Anthropology Program. Normal maximum is 6 units; exceptional 9- or 12-unit projects occasionally approved.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

Two subjects in Anthropology

null

false

False

21A.902

Independent Study in Anthropology

Opportunity for independent study, guided research, practicum, or field work under regular supervision by a faculty member. Projects require prior approval of the instructor and Head of the Anthropology Program. Normal maximum is 6 units; exceptional 9- or 12-unit projects occasionally approved.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

Two subjects in Anthropology

null

false

False

21A.929

Graduate Independent Study

Opportunity for study or projects at an advanced level with an Anthropology faculty member.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Graduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.939

Graduate Independent Study

Opportunity for study or projects at an advanced level with an Anthropology faculty member.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Graduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.949

Graduate Independent Study

Opportunity for study or projects at an advanced level with an Anthropology faculty member.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Graduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.989[J]

HASTS Dissertation Writing Workshop (New)

Bi-weekly seminar for students in the doctoral program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology & Society (HASTS) who have completed research and are in the process of writing their dissertations. Each class focuses on a particular element of the writing: organizing chapters, engaging the secondary literature, the art of the vignette, etc. Depending on student needs, some classes may be tailored to anthropological writing or to historical writing. Students are given ample opportunity to workshop draft passages and chapters. For PhD students only. PhD students outside the HASTS program require permission of instructor.

true

Fall

Graduate

1-0-5

null

21H.960[J], STS.860[J]

false

False

21A.S01

Special Subject in Anthropology

Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.S02

Special Subject in Anthropology

Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.S10

Special Graduate Subject in Anthropology

Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.

true

Spring

Graduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.S11

Special Graduate Subject in Anthropology

Seminar or lecture on a topic in anthropology that is not covered in the regular curriculum.

true

Fall

Graduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.THT

Anthropology Pre-Thesis Tutorial

Students writing a thesis work with an advisor to develop research topics, review relevant research and scholarship, frame research questions, choose an appropriate methodology for data collection and analysis, and draft the introductory and methodology sections of their theses. Includes substantial practice in writing (with revision) and oral presentations.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

21A.THU

Undergraduate Thesis in Anthropology

Completion of work on the senior major thesis under supervision of a faculty thesis advisor. Includes oral presentation of thesis progress early in the term, assembling and revising the final text, and a final meeting with a committee of faculty evaluators to discuss the successes and limitations of the project.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

21A.THT

null

false

False

21A.UR

Undergraduate Research

Individual participation in an ongoing research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged [P/D/F]

null

false

False

21A.URG

Undergraduate Research

Individual participation in an ongoing research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

true

Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer

Undergraduate

rranged

null

false

False

21G.013

Discovering Multilingual Boston: Voices of Immigrant Communities

This discovery subject will expose first-year students to the 21G curriculum through exposure to the importance of global languages in our local community. Introduces Boston's multilingual richness and vibrant immigrant communities through an exploration of the city's diverse cultures and neighborhoods. Readings and films provide an overview of Boston's recent immigrant profile, document key issues within immigrant communities, and provide testimonies of lived experience. Field trips and guest speakers allow students to learn from organizations working with immigrants in Boston neighborhoods. Students have the option to produce a blog to document their findings and report on an immigrant community, struggle, or testimony. Class meets every other week over the course of the term. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students. Limited to 16; preference for first-year students.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

1-0-2 [P/D/F]

null

false

False

21G.014

Introduction to Russian Politics and Society

Introduces students to contemporary Russia through analysis of major political, social, and cultural trends and addresses how they have developed due to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Considers the role of identity, state propaganda, civil society — including those in exile — and music both as an instrument of political power and popular resistance. Study materials include academic and media articles, recent documentaries, and video interviews with prominent figures in Russian science and culture. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first year students. Limited to 15.

false

Fall

Undergraduate

1-0-2 [P/D/F]

null

false

False

21G.015

Introduction to Buddhism, Mindfulness, and Meditation

Companion to the Fitness and Meditation class offered through MIT's Wellness program. Introduces students to the basic ideas of Buddhism, the history of Buddhism's transmission through East Asia, and core aspects of the philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism, including the role of meditation and mindfulness in Buddhist practice. Meets with the MIT Wellness Fitness and Meditation class; students must enroll in both to receive credit. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students. Limited to 18.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

1-0-0 [P/D/F]

null

false

False

21G.011

Topics in Indian Popular Culture

Overview of Indian popular culture over the last two decades, through a variety of material such as popular fiction, music, television and Bombay cinema. Explores major themes and their representations in relation to current social and political issues, elements of the formulaic masala movie, music and melodrama, ideas of nostalgia and incumbent change in youth culture, and questions of gender and sexuality in popular fiction. Taught in English. Enrollment limited.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

false

False

Humanities

CI-H

21G.022[J]

International Women's Voices

Introduces students to a variety of fictional works by contemporary women writers. International perspective emphasizes the extent to which each author's work reflects her distinct cultural heritage and to what extent, if any, there is an identifiable female voice that transcends national boundaries. Uses a variety of interpretive perspectives, including sociohistorical, psychoanalytic, and feminist criticism, to examine texts. Authors include Mariama Ba, Isabel Allende, Anita Desai, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Alifa Riyaat, Yang Jiang, Nawal Al-Saadawi, and Sawako Ariyoshi. Taught in English.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21L.522[J], WGS.141[J]

false

False

Humanities

False

21G.024[J]

The Linguistic Study of Bilingualism

Development of bilingualism in human history (from Australopithecus to present day). Focuses on linguistic aspects of bilingualism; models of bilingualism and language acquisition; competence versus performance; effects of bilingualism on other domains of human cognition; brain imaging studies; early versus late bilingualism; opportunities to observe and conduct original research; and implications for educational policies among others. Students participate in six online web meetings with partner institutions. Taught in English. Enrollment limited.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

24.900 or 24.9000

24.906[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

CI-H

21G.025[J]

Africa and the Politics of Knowledge

Considers how, despite its immense diversity, Africa continues to hold purchase as both a geographical entity and meaningful knowledge category. Examines the relationship between articulations of "Africa" and projects like European imperialism, developments in the biological sciences, African de-colonization and state-building, and the imagining of the planet's future. Readings in anthropology and history are organized around five themes: space and place, race, representation, self-determination, and time. Enrollment limited.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21A.135[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21G.026[J]

Global Africa: Creative Cultures

Examines contemporary and historical cultural production on and from Africa across a range of registers, including literary, musical and visual arts, material culture, and science and technology. Employs key theoretical concepts from anthropology and social theory to analyze these forms and phenomena. Uses case studies to consider how Africa articulates its place in, and relationship to, the world through creative practices. Discussion topics largely drawn from Francophone and sub-Saharan Africa, but also from throughout the continent and the African diaspora. Taught in English. Limited to 18.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21A.136[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21G.028[J]

African Migrations

Examines West African migration to France and to the United States from the early 20th century to the present. Centering the experiences of African social actors and historicizing recent dynamics, students consider what migration across these three regions reveals about African projects of self-determination, postcolonial nation-building, and global citizenship. Students also comparatively analyze the workings of contemporary French and American societies, in particular, the articulations of race and citizenship in the two nations. Taught in English. Limited to 18.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21A.137[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21G.029[J]

City Living: Ethnographies of Urban Worlds

Introduces the ways in which anthropologists have studied cities. Addressing the question of what constitutes the boundaries of life in the city, students familiarize themselves with key themes - such as the relation between city and countryside, space and place, urban economies, science, globalization, migration, nature/culture, kinship, and race, gender, class and memory - that have guided anthropological analyses of cities across the world. Via engagement with case studies and their own small fieldwork projects, students gain experience with different ethnographic strategies for documenting urban life. Taught in English. Limited to 25 across 21A.402 and 21G.419.

true

Fall

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

21A.402[J]

false

False

Social Sciences

False

21G.030[J]

Introduction to East Asian Cultures: From Zen to K-Pop

Examines traditional forms of East Asian culture (including literature, art, performance, food, and religion) as well as contemporary forms of popular culture (film, pop music, karaoke, and manga). Covers China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with an emphasis on China. Considers women's culture, as well as the influence and presence of Asian cultural expressions in the US. Uses resources in the Boston area, including the MFA, the Children's Museum, and the Sackler collection at Harvard. Taught in English.

false

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

WGS.236[J]

false

False

Humanities

False

21G.036[J]

Advertising and Media: Comparative Perspectives

Compares modern and contemporary advertising culture in China, the US, and other emerging markets. First half focuses on branding in the old media environment; second half introduces the changing practice of advertising in the new media environment. Topics include branding and positioning, media planning, social media campaigns, cause marketing 2.0, social TV, and mobility marketing. Required lab work includes interactive sessions in branding a team product for the US (or a European country) and China markets. Taught in English and requires no knowledge of Chinese. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

true

Spring

Undergraduate

3-0-9

null

CMS.356[J]

false

False

Humanities

False