Victorian Literature

Victorian Literature Very frequently, we are asked about the humanities and arts at MIT. I think people are understandably concerned about whether you can continue to pursue interests in the humanities at MIT I mean, the name of the school is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after all. Even as I was considering colleges a decade ago, I had this same concern. So how do we answer these concerns? Yesterday, the Admissions Officers had an opportunity to meet with Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts Social Sciences (HASS) Philip Khoury, to help us talk about and address the quality of MITs programs. Like I said, I was concerned about this myself before I came to MIT, but now, I dont have much of a problem telling students just how awesome the humanities and arts are here. I had great teachers, took interesting classes, and saw many great performances. But even I certainly learned a lot from Dean Khourys talk with us. For example, do you know that we have one of the best faculties in the country in Victorian literature? Or in the history of Islamic architecture? Not to mention in music composition, and in ethnomusicology? So I asked Dean Khoury the obvious question how come no one knows this? The answer was as surprising as it was sensible. National department recognition is largely focused on the reputation of faculties that have not only undergraduate but also graduate departments. MIT does not have graduate programs in many of its humanities and arts disciplines (including Literature and Music). Hence, these programs at MIT, as well as at many very good and highly-regarded liberal arts schools, fly a bit below the national radar. What does this mean for you? For one thing, it means youll have MITs world-class faculty members like Pulitzer Prize winners John Harbison and John Dower all to yourselves, as they have no graduate student commitments. Relatedly, they have no graduate students to be Teaching Assistants, so they will be your only teacher in their subjects. But perhaps the most important thing is that youre not necessarily sacrificing your interests in the humanities and arts when you come to MIT. With top-notch faculties, 500 HASS classes a year (as much as many liberal arts colleges), and students who are genuinely interested in the HASS subjects they take, youll have a great experience here, even outside of the usual science engineering. Another important point Khoury made was that the analytical, research ideal extends to HASS. Professors not only are great teachers but are also highly regarded scholars in their field. And, yes, you can do a UROP in HASS. Currently, UROP students are being actively sought in departments including Literature, Anthropology, Comparative Media Studies, Foreign Languages Literatures, Art History, and Writing Humanistic Studies, and there are many more opportunities than only those. Ive have a number of friends who have UROPed in HASS, and all have had good experiences. Finally, you should know that it is very likely that while you are at MIT, a beautiful and cutting edge Laboratory for the Performing Arts will be built. The building is described: An innovative structure designed with MITs performing arts capabilities and priorities in mind, it will be an ideal locale for the experimentation, hard work and group interaction that is at the core of much true creativity and thus in the great tradition of MIT labs through the decades. What more can I tell you about the humanities and arts at MIT?