MIT
MIT Faculty Newsletter  
contents Vol. XXIV No. 1
September / October 2011

This issue of the Faculty Newsletter features our Editorial, "Political Climate Change Threatens Scientific Endeavors," a remembrance of MIT's continuing role in nuclear disarmament, by Kosta Tsipis, and "Communication," by incoming Faculty Chair Sam Allen.

Spotlight
US News College Rankings
MIT Ranked 3rd in the World,
5th in the U.S.?

Just how definitive are rankings of colleges and universities?
Innovations in Communication Instruction at MIT
Celebrating 10 years of MIT's communication requirement.
 
Editorial
Political Climate Change Threatens Scientific Endeavors
Editorial Subcommittee
Following a summer of record-breaking heat and devastating storms, from tornadoes to hurricanes, students, faculty and staff have all returned to the . . .
Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle:
MIT Faculty and Nuclear Disarmament
Kosta Tsipis
Let me start with an anecdote that encapsulates the debate about the utility of nuclear weapons during the Cold War. In 1991 Mr. Gorbachev . . .
Rise of the Rest, Fall of the Best?
Alice Amsden
MIT is gearing up to attack the country’s serious manufacturing problem: manufacturing accounts for a stagnant share of GDP, less than 15% . . .
From the Faculty Chair
Communication
Samuel M. Allen
When people first learn that one has become Chair of the Faculty the two most common questions are: “What does the Chair of the Faculty do?” and “What . . .
Innovations in Communication Instruction at MIT:
Celebrating Ten Years of the Communication Requirement (CR)
Lorna Gibson, Caspar Hare, John Ochsendorf
This Fall 2011 term marks 10 years since the first entering class was subject to the Communication Requirement (CR). Beginning with the Class of 2005, . . .
HASS Exploration Program: Entering Phase Two
Diana Henderson
Following last spring’s interim report from the Subcommittee on the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Requirement (SHR), the HASS Exploration . . .
Faculty Fallout
Benjamin Ginsberg
Administrators have taken over U.S. universities, and they're steering institutions of higher learning away from the goal of serving as beacons of knowledge.
A Letter to President Hockfield
Ernst G. Frankel
I read your Op-Ed in The New York Times on the impact of the loss of manufacturing on the U.S. economy with great interest.
MIT Ranked 3rd in the World, 5th in the U.S.?
Newsletter Staff
In a salient example of just how confusing college ranking systems can be, MIT was recently ranked third in the QS World Rankings (behind the University . . .
Teaching this fall? You should know . . .
. . . the faculty regulates examinations and assignments for all subjects.
MISTI Expands Faculty Seed Funds and Launches
New MIT-Chile Program
April Julich Perez
MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives) has increased the geographic range of MISTI Global Seed Funds, an initiative that helps MIT . . .
College Admissions 101
If you have a child who is applying to college soon, whether to MIT or elsewhere, Dean of Admissions Stu Schmill will give you a picture of the current college . . .
Request for Preliminary Proposals for
Innovative Curricular Projects
The Office of Faculty Support seeks preliminary proposals for faculty led projects to enhance the educational experience of MIT undergraduates, preferably . . .
Nominate a Colleague for the
MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program
The MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program recognizes MIT faculty who have made exemplary and sustained contributions to the teaching and education of . . .
Letters
Commenting on “Departmental Discussions of Diversity
and Inclusion”
James H. Williams, Jr.
 “The MIT Department of Physics is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and student populations,” Professor Edmund W. Bertschinger writes . . .
M.I.T. Numbers
U.S. News & World Report:
Best College Rankings for National Universities, 2003 – 2012
   
MIT