Perspectives on Energy

Energy permeates every single discipline at MIT. The only way to teach energy is to integrate it across all the schools, all the departments, and all the programs that MIT offers. The Energy Studies Minor does this through a set of subjects that provide single-discipline, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary perspectives on energy. Entering students are offered a variety of hands-on subjects and opportunities to engage in the complex reality of energy. This is followed by a set of foundational subjects in the domains of energy science, technology and social science. Students deepen and integrate these perspectives through a variety of electives, and may pursue a capstone experience to bring the all parts of their energy studies together.

Rather than providing a single perspective, MIT chooses to engage students in the sciences, social sciences and engineering disciplines as they apply to energy and provide a variety of venues where students can build their own integrative perspectives. The goal of MIT’s Energy Studies Minor is to create multi-dimensional people: with deep expertise in a major discipline relevant to energy and cross-cutting and integrated understanding of other key disciplines and perspectives as they apply to energy.