School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences : Undergraduate Studies : HASS Requirement

/ HASS Requirement

The MIT faculty considers a firm grounding in the humanities, arts, and social sciences to be a necessary ingredient in the strength of each undergraduate's total academic program. The humanities, arts, and social sciences (HASS) requirement, along with the science requirement, provides a firm foundation for further exploration of a wide variety of topics.

The objectives of the HASS requirement are to develop

skills in communication, both oral and written;
knowledge of human cultures, past and present, and of the ways in which cultures have influenced one another;
awareness of concepts, ideas, and systems of thought that underlie human activities;
understanding of the social, political, and economic framework of different societies;
sensitivity to modes of communication and self-expression in the arts.

Work in these areas will, where appropriate, display a special concern for relating science and technology to society.

The School of the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) is responsible for administering the HASS requirement, and most subjects that are used to satisfy the requirement are taught within SHASS. However, a significant number of subjects that meet the requirement are also taught in the Urban Studies and Planning and Architecture departments, which are in the School of Architecture and Planning. A small number of classes that fulfill the HASS requirement are taught in the schools of Engineering and Science.

The HASS requirement consists of three elements:

The Eight-Subject Requirement
Each candidate for a bachelor's degree must have completed a minimum of eight HASS subjects (of at least nine units each) in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. These subjects are spread across distribution, concentration, and elective subjects. Subjects must be taken for a letter grade in order to be counted toward the HASS requirement. Students may NOT use their Junior/Senior Pass/D/Fail option. Classes taken Freshman year under Freshman Pass/No Record are considered to be taken for a letter grade, and may be counted towards the HASS requirement.

Distribution Requirement
Three subjects must be taken among a set of classes designated as HASS-Distribution (HASS-D) subjects. HASS-D subjects are intended for students who have never pursued a particular field and might never again. These subjects give students exposure to particular fields that they often develop into a HASS concentration or other elective work. Because of the importance of foreign language competency, it is also possible to use some Level III or Level IV foreign language subjects toward the distribution requirement.

Concentration Requirement
Three or four HASS subjects must be in a field of concentration of the student's choosing. The concentration provides a taste of what it is like to pursue an area of the humanities, arts, and social sciences beyond the elementary level.