Created to prepare students for late-breaking changes on the world stage, the SHASS initiatives offer rich and unusual opportunities for learning. In Comparative Media Studies, for example, students undertake a multi-disciplinary investigation of communications technologies, while in the landmark MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), they prepare to live, work, and collaborate globally. All SHASS initiatives offer inventive vehicles for learning that give students, faculty, and researchers a provocative lens on the wider world. Some are degree programs; others are more open-ended vehicles for exploration.

Comparative Media Studies
A new model for research and education across media, CMS examines media technologies and their cultural, social, aesthetic, political, ethical, legal, and economic implications.

MISTI
Educating tomorrow's leaders for an increasingly interconnected world requires new knowledge and skills. Students participating in MISTI learn to live, work, communicate, and innovate outside their home countries.

Graduate Program in Science Writing
A one-year master's degree program for English majors, scientists, journalists, and freelance writers, the Graduate Program in Science Writing is designed for anyone who wishes to contribute to the public understanding of science, medicine, and technology.

MIT Poverty Action Laboratory
Launched in 2003, the Poverty Action Laboratory approaches research on poverty from a scientific perspective, providing crucial data about the impact of development projects and a better understanding of the forces that drive world poverty.

CALTECH-MIT Voting Technology Project
To prevent a recurrence of the voting problems that threatened the 2000 U.S. presidential election, MIT President Charles Vest and Caltech President David Baltimore created this initiative to evaluate and set uniform standards for reliable voting systems.

Center for Bicultural/Bilingual Studies
With a focus on the intersection between the politics of language and culture and the new global realities of the 21st century, the CBBS examines the history and ramifications of present translingual, transnational, and transcultural phenomena.

HyperStudio
The HyperStudio - Laboratory for Digital Humanities explores the potential of new media technologies for the enhancement of teaching, learning, and research in the humanities and social sciences. HyperStudio's team works in close collaboration with faculty across the school to conceptualize, develop, and deploy media-rich digital projects on core humanities subjects.

Interested in supporting these or other SHASS programs and initiatives?