21F.103 Chinese III (Regular) (MIT)
This course is designed to consolidate the foundation built in Elementary Chinese and continue developing students skills in aural comprehension, reading, and writing.
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to speak Chinese with some fluency on basic conversational topics, achieve a basic level of reading competence within simplified and traditional characters learned plus common compounds, and be able to write short compositions.
15.057 Systems Optimization (MIT)
Managers and engineers are constantly attempting to optimize, particularly in the design and operation of complex systems. This course is an application-oriented introduction to (systems) optimization. It seeks to:
Motivate the use of optimization models to support managers and engineers in a wide variety of decision making situations;
Show how several application domains (industries) use optimization;
Introduce optimization modeling and solution techniques (including linear, non-linear, intege
17.471 American National Security Policy (MIT)
This course examines the problems and issues confronting American national security policymakers and the many factors that influence the policies that emerge. But this is not a course about "threats," military strategies, or the exercise of military power.
What threatens those interests? How should the U.S. defend those interests? What kind of military should we build? Should the U.S. enter into alliances with other countries? Do we need a larger Navy? How much should we spend on weapons procure
2.993 Designing Paths to Peace (MIT)
Teaches creative design based on the scientific method through the design, engineering, and manufacture of a detailed inlaid tile. This is an introductory lecture/studio course designed to teach students the basic principles of design and expose them to the design process. Throughout the course, students will be introduced to the terminology and concepts that underlie all forms of visual art; which--in many ways--forms the basis for the design of all physical objects. Along with learning mechani
15.063 Communicating With Data (MIT)
Communicating With Data has a distinctive structure and content, combining fundamental quantitative techniques of using data to make informed management decisions with illustrations of how real decision makers, even highly trained professionals, fall prey to errors and biases in their understanding. We present the fundamental concepts underlying the quantitative techniques as a way of thinking, not just a way of calculating, in order to enhance decision-making skills. Rather than survey all
21H.421 Introduction to Environmental History (MIT)
This seminar provides a historical overview of the interactions between people and their environments. Focusing primarily on the experience of Europeans in the period after Columbus, the subject explores the influence of nature (climate, topography, plants, animals, and microorganisms) on human history and the reciprocal influence of people on nature. Topics include the biological consequences of the European encounter with the Americas, the environmental impact of technology, and the roots of t
17.20 Introduction to the American Political Process (MIT)
This class introduces students to innovative as well as classic approaches to studying U.S. government. The writing assignments will help you explore, through a variety of lenses, statis and change in the American political system over the last three decades. In the end each student will have a solid grounding in our national political institutions and processes, sharper reading and writing skills, and insight into approaching politics critically and analytically.
21L.460 Medieval Literature: Medieval Women Writers (MIT)
This survey provides a general introduction to medieval European literature (from Late Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century) from the perspective of women writers from a variety of cultures, social backgrounds, and historical timeperiods. Though much of the class will be devoted to exploring the evolution of a new literary tradition by and for women from its earliest emergence in the West, wider historical and cultural movements will also be addressed: the Fall of the Roman Empire, the growth
21F.702 Spanish II (MIT)
Spanish II continues to develop students' listening, speaking, reading and writing skills using the second part of the video-based program, Destinos, begun in Spanish I. Destinos is a soap opera that allows students to learn Spanish and experience its cultural diversity while following a good story full of surprises and human emotions. Spanish II also includes additional materials, such as Spanish films and other media, various types of reading selections and online resources.
11.701 Introduction to Planning & Institutional Processes in Developing Countries (MIT)
This introductory course helps students learn to pose questions and analyze problems in the field of planning in developing countries. Not arguing for one "right" approach, the course draws on grounded empirical experiences - historical and recent - to help students navigate the way they approach their future work in developing-country governments, NGOs and international organizations.
2.717J Optical Engineering (MIT)
This course concerns the theory and practice of optical methods in engineering and system design, with an emphasis on diffraction, statistical optics, holography, and imaging. It provides the engineering methodology skills necessary to incorporate optical components in systems serving diverse areas such as precision engineering and metrology, bio-imaging, and computing (sensors, data storage, communication in multi-processor systems). Experimental demonstrations and a design project are included
24.951 Introduction to Syntax (MIT)
This course is concerned with the concepts and principles which have been of central significance in the recent development of syntactic theory, with special focus on the "Government and Binding" (GB) / "Principles and Parameters" (P&P) / "Minimalist Program" (MP) approach.
It is the first of a series of two courses (24.951 is taught during the Fall and 24.952 is taught in the Spring). This course deals mostly with phrase structure, argument structure and its syntactic expression, including
24.919 Topics in Linguistics: Creole Languages and Caribbean Identities (MIT)
The Creole languages spoken in the Caribbean are linguistic by-products of the historical events triggered by colonization and the slave trade in Africa and the "New World". In a nutshell, these languages are the results of language acquisition in the specific social settings defined by the history of contact between African and European peoples in 17th-/18th-century Caribbean colonies.
One of the best known Creole languages, and the one with the largest community of speakers, is Haitian Creole.
MAS.742 Industrial Design Intelligence: A Cognitive Approach to Engineering (MIT)
This class investigates cognitive science and technology as it is applied to the industrial design process. The class introduces prototyping techniques and approaches for objective evaluation as part of the design process. Students practice evaluating products with mechanical and electronic aspects. Evaluation processes are applied to creating functioning smart product prototypes. This is a project oriented subject that draws upon engineering, aesthetic, and creative skills. It is geared to
11.167 Economic Development & Technical Capabilities (MIT)
The economic growth of developing countries requires the acquisition of technological capabilities. In countries at the world technological frontier, such capabilities refer to cutting edge skills to innovate entirely new products. In developing countries, the requisite technological capabilities are broader, and include production engineering, project execution and incremental innovation to make borrowed technology work. Theories of technology acquisition are examined. The empirical evidence is
4.104 Architectural Design: Intentions (MIT)
This is the second undergraduate design studio. It introduces a full range of architectural ideas and issues through drawing exercises, analyses of precedents, and explored design methods. Students will develop design skills by conceptualizing and representing architectural ideas and making aesthetic judgments about building design. Discussions regarding architecture's role in mediating culture, nature and technology will help develop the students' architectural vocabulary.
17.315 Comparative Health Policy (MIT)
This course examines in comparative prospective the health care policy problems facing the United States including providing adequate access to medical services for all, the control of rising health care costs, and the assurance that the quality of health care services is high and improving. It explores the market and regulatory policy options being debated politically in the United States to solve these problems and compares possible foreign models for reform including those offered by the Cana
17.428 American Foreign Policy: Theory and Method (MIT)
This course examines the causes and consequences of American foreign policy since 1898. Course readings cover both substantive and methods topics. Four substantive topics are covered:
major theories of American foreign policy;
major episodes in the history of American foreign policy and historical/interpretive controversies about them;
the evaluation of major past American foreign policies--were their results good or bad? and
current policy controversies, including means of evaluating proposed
17.484 Comparative Grand Strategy and Military Doctrine (MIT)
This course will conduct a comparative study of the grand strategies of the great powers (Britain, France, Germany and Russia) competing for mastery of Europe from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Grand strategy is the collection of political and military means and ends with which a state attempts to achieve security. We will examine strategic developments in the years preceding World Wars I and II, and how those developments played themselves out in these wars. The following qu
CMS.801 Media in Transition (MIT)
This course centers on historical eras in which the form and function of media technologies were radically transformed. It includes consideration of the "Gutenberg Revolution," the rise of modern mass media, and the "digital revolution," among other case studies of media transformation and cultural change. Readings cover cultural and social history and historiographic methods.
