In fiction, writers and readers often focus on the hero’s journey. But protagonists don’t always start as heroes. They’re reluctantly shaped and molded by the obstacles they face along the way. What’s a good story without an equally strong antagonist? Join MIT MLK visiting scholar Christine Taylor-Butler for a discussion on the role of villains in children’s storytelling and the multiple forms used in advancing the plot and raising the stakes. The motivations or lack thereof might surprise you.

This September occasion is aimed at convening a group of remarkable scholars from across the disciplines—philosophy, history, ethnography, anthropology, sociology, colonial and indigenous studies, history of architecture, history of art, history of science, medicine, technology/STS, theater, and environmental studies—to see how we think back, and ahead, with the arc of Bruno Latour’s work.

The venue for the first day of the symposium is the Harvard Humanities Center, at 12 Quincy Street in Harvard Square; the venue for the second day is the MIT Media Lab, at 75 Amherst Street in Cambridge. A detailed program will be published shortly.

Session 1 (Friday Morning, Harvard): Contexts and Fields

• “We have always been Modern! But you haven’t.” Projit Mukharji , Antoine Picon 
• “A Serious Man”Steven Shapin, Isabelle Stengers 

Session 2 (Friday Afternoon, Harvard): Environment: Lab & Beyond Lab

• “What’s in it for the Algae?” Leah Aronowsky
• “Staging Sensitivity: Latour and the Strategies of Global Climate Science” Deborah Coen, Hélène Mialet
• “Thinking with Hybrids: Pathogens, Disease, History, Coloniality” Amit Prasad

Session 3 (Saturday Morning, MIT) : Gaia without Purity Frédérique Aït-Touati, Paul Edwards, Naomi Oreskes, Anna Tsing  

Session 4 (Saturday Afternoon, MIT): Methods: Natural Science–Social Science–Arts Stefan Helmreich

• “Crunchy Concepts, Slippery Angels; Thinking with Art after Latour”, Caroline Jones, Joseph Koerner, Michèle Lamont 

Come relax and enjoy some fun conversation! No need to RSVP - just show up and bring your friends!

MIT Anthropology • History at MIT •  MIT STS Colloquium:

"Comics and Multimodal Anthropology" with Dr. Sherine Farouk Hamdy 

Professor, Anthropology | UC Irvine

In this talk, Sherine Hamdy will discuss how and why comics lend themselves to ethnographic research and analysis. Drawing on her own collaboration with artists, and on the work of feminist comics artists from the Arab world, the talk will consider the affordances of comics as a medium and what it brings more generally to both visual and medical anthropology. 

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation! No need to RSVP - just show up and bring your friends!

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!

Sponsored by the MIT Climate Nucleus, co-hosted by the Environmental Solutions Initiative and MIT Anthropology

Speakers:

Mike Belding (Greene County, County Commissioner)
Veronica Coptis (Center for Coalfield Justice, former Executive Director)
Tonya Yoders (CCJ, Community Organizer for Greene County)

Registration link    https://forms.gle/rWbo3WYqKPmX5Fe39

This panel intends to illuminate local nuances in visions for the future of the region, and perhaps lead to brainstorming for research and/or policy that can support their interests - allowing for a dialogue where community partners know what capacity MIT has, and MIT begins to understand its role in public engagement. Greene County is one of the most salient examples of an at-risk region for climate injustices during the energy transition, and is a primary area of focus for ESI’s research.

This talk will examine the ramifications of juvenile incarceration. A central focus of my discussion will be juvenile murder, as I discuss two separate, yet interrelated, cases in which teenage boys of color were killed by their peers. I ask: How does a victim’s family heal from homicide?

Celebrating works by: Manduhai Buyandelger | Stefan Helmreich | Amy Moran-Thomas | Heather Paxson |  Bettina Stoetzer

JOIN US!

April 6th , 4 - 6pm, Salon West, Samberg Center

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!

In this talk, Michael will provide an introduction to his latest book, What a Mushroom Lives For: Matsutake and the Worlds They Make, which was just published by Princeton University Press. For this STS and Anthropology-oriented audience at MIT, he will explore how we might explore the legacy of Enlightenment thinking and the English language in shaping the emergence of the discipline of biology.

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!

MIT Open Learning Residential Education xTalks:  Learn how colleagues foster a community where students share different perspectives and ask questions to further their learning, and what digital tools support these efforts.

• Stefan Helmreich, Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology, who will share his experience in 21A.500, 21A.303, 21A.505.
• Maxine Jonas, Senior Lecturer in Biological Engineering, and Biological Engineering Communication Lab Fellow, who will share her experience in 20.309.

Residential Education staff will be available to share technical and pedagogical practices to support student learning. Attendees are welcome to participate in Q&A, and share their experience.

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!

with Caroline A. Jones, Stefan Helmreich, and Sophia Roosth

Come relax with us and enjoy some fun conversation: no need to RSVP!