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

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Concentration Requirement

The HASS concentration requirement encourages students to develop a more mature understanding of a field in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. This experience is not as intensive as majoring or minoring in a field, but it does provide a good understanding of subject matter and methodologies used outside the natural sciences and engineering.

The concentration is comprised of three or four subjects in a single field. In consultation with a concentration advisor, the student develops a program of related subjects to insure an increased knowledge in that particular field.

HASS concentration guidelines
Filing concentration paperwork
Filing concentration completion form
The concentration advisor
Expanding a concentration into a minor
Revision of concentration program
Special concentration

HASS Concentration Guidelines

The subjects used for a HASS concentration must all be taken for a letter grade. Students may NOT use their Junior/Senior Pass/D/Fail option for a concentration class. Classes taken Freshman year under Freshman Pass/No Record are considered to be taken for a letter grade, and may be counted towards a concentration.
A HASS Concentration may include only one HASS-D subject that counts toward the HASS-D requirement. You may include more than one only if the additional HASS-D class will NOT count as a HASS-D in your Degree audit.
A HASS Concentration consists of a minimum of three classes (some fields require three, and some four), and must be approved by a Concentration Advisor. (See "The Concentration Advisor" below.)
A HASS Concentration may include classes taken outside of MIT, at the discretion of the Concentration Advisor. N.B.: You may concentrate in a language not taught at MIT. See the Concentration Advisor for "Other Languages" for details.
You should submit the HASS Concentration Proposal Form (signed by the Concentration Advisor) by the end of your sophomore year (see "The Concentration Proposal Form" below).
You must submit the HASS Concentration Completion Form (signed by the Concentration Advisor) by the end of the first week of classes of your final term at MIT or you will be charged a $40 late fee by the Registrar's Office (see "The Concentration Completion Form" below).
You may Concentrate and Minor in the same field (see "Expanding a Concentration into a Minor" below).

Filing Concentration Paperwork

Pick up a blank HASS Concentration Proposal Form. This form is available from the HASS Education Office(14N-410), the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (7-104), the Student Services Center (11-120), or from Concentration Offices and Advisors.
Visit the Concentration Advisor to work out subjects to be used to fulfill the concentration.
The Concentration Advisor must sign the proposal form, indicating approval of the program.
Submit the yellow (canary) copy to the HASS Education Office (14N-410). Distribute the other copies as indicated at the bottom of the form. This form should be submitted by the end of the sophomore year.

As soon as you have an unofficial transcript which shows that you have passed all of the subjects listed on your Proposal Form, you are ready to have completion certified. You must have this form filed by the end of the first week of classes of the term in which you intend to graduate, or you will be charged a late fee by the Registrar's Office.

Filing the Concentration Completion Form

Pick up the white copy of the Proposal Form from the Concentration Office and take it, along with an unofficial transcript and blank concentration completion form, to the concentration advisor. The concentration advisor will then certify completion of the requirement.
Submit the yellow (canary) copy of the signed Concentration Completion Form to the HASS Education Office, 14N-410. Distribute the remaining copies as indicated on the bottom of the form. This form must be submitted by the end of the first week of classes in your final term at MIT ($40 late fee).
If you are not completing your Concentration until the final term before graduation, you still must have a Completion Form signed by the end of the first week of classes of your final term. Note the subject(s) you are taking in your final term on the Completion Form in the space provided. Take an unofficial transcript and a copy of your Registration sheet or a Status-of-Registration Form to the Concentration Advisor, who will sign that the Concentration is complete pending satisfactory completion of the particular subject(s) for which you are currently registered. The Registrar will keep track of your status in that subject from then on, and will record that the Concentration is completed in full when a passing grade has been reported.

The Concentration Advisor
Ideally, during your two or more years as a Concentrator, you'll have had a chance to talk more than once with your Concentration Advisor, not just about forms and signatures but about the quality of your ongoing program. In that same spirit, the final meeting with your Concentration Advisor should be an opportunity to sum up your experience and pass along any views you may have as to how the Concentration in your field might be strengthened.

Expanding a Concentration into a Minor
Students may elect to expand a three-to four-subject concentration into a six-subject Minor. It is perfectly appropriate to concentrate and minor in the same field and to use the same classes for both. The advisors for the Concentration and Minor may be different, so students wishing to expand their concentration should check the list of HASS Minor Advisors.Students minoring in a field must still file concentration forms. Both the Concentration Proposal and Completion Forms must be filed by every MIT undergraduate.

Revision of Concentration Program
All changes or revisions to a concentration program must be approved by the Concentration Advisor. To revise or change a program, pick up the white copy of the original Concentration Proposal at the concentration field office and take it to the Concentration Advisor. If the change is appropriate, the Concentration Advisor will endorse and date the modifications. To switch to a different concentration, inform the concentration office for the concentration being dropped and then follow the procedures outlined above to file a proposal for the new concentration.

Special Concentration
In rare cases, the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science may approve a special interdisciplinary concentration combining subjects from different fields. Proposals for such concentrations should be submitted through the MIT HASS Education Office in 14N-410.