11.914 Planning Communication (MIT)
This three-week module, centered on a focal case, represents the second part of the Department's introduction to the challenges of reflection and action in professional planning practice. As such, it builds on the concepts and tools in 11.201 and 11.202 in the fall semester. Working in teams, students will deliver a 20-minute oral briefing, with an additional 10 minutes for questions and comments, in the last week of the class (as detailed on the assignment and posted course schedule). The teams
ESD.86 Models, Data and Inference for Socio-Technical Systems (MIT)
In this class, students use data and systems knowledge to build models of complex socio-technical systems for improved system design and decision-making. Students will enhance their model-building skills, through review and extension of functions of random variables, Poisson processes, and Markov processes; move from applied probability to statistics via Chi-squared t and f tests, derived as functions of random variables; and review classical statistics, hypothesis tests, regression, correlation
8.325 Relativistic Quantum Field Theory III (MIT)
This course is the third and last term of the quantum field theory sequence. Its aim is the proper theoretical discussion of the physics of the standard model. Topics include: quantum chromodynamics; the Higgs phenomenon and a description of the standard model; deep-inelastic scattering and structure functions; basics of lattice gauge theory; operator products and effective theories; detailed structure of the standard model; spontaneously broken gauge theory and its quantization; instantons and
24.09 Minds and Machines (MIT)
This course is an introduction to many of the central issues in a branch of philosophy called philosophy of mind. Some of the questions we will discuss include the following. Can computers think? Is the mind an immaterial thing? Or is the mind the brain? Or does the mind stand to the brain as a computer program stands to the hardware? How can creatures like ourselves think thoughts that are "about" things? (For example, we can all think that Aristotle is a philosopher, and in that sense think "a
Lecture 25 - 11/19/2010
Lecture 25
4.001J CityScope: New Orleans (MIT)
Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans' problems? CityScope is a project-based introduction to the contemporary city. "Problem solving in complex (urban) environments" is different than "solving complex problems." As a member of a team, you will learn to assess scenarios for the purpose of formulating social, economic and design strategies to provide humane and sustainable solutions. A visit to New Orleans is planned for spring break 2007.
Professor Paul Franco, Sep. 8, 2006
Mr. Franco is a Professor of Government with teaching responsibilities in the history of political philosophy and contemporary political theory. Mr. Franco is the author of The Political Philosophy of Michael Oakeshott, Hegel’s Philosophy of Freedom, and most recently Michael Oakeshott: An Introduction.
Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Introduction
An introduction to Bowdoin College's Peary-MacMillan Arctic museum. Discussions with Susan A. Kaplan, Director, Genevieve LeMoine, Curator/Registrar and Emma Bonanomi, Curatorial Assistant for Exhibitions.
Infant mortality and poverty
Hope Kelly reports on an increase in the infant mortality rate since last year. Kelly reviews statistics on the infant mortality rate in Massachusetts and in Boston. Kelly notes that there is a wide discrepancy between the infant mortality rates in the white and African American communities. Kelly reports that two out of three infant deaths in Boston are African American infants. Kelly interviews David Mulligan (Commissioner of Public Health) and Howard Spivak (Deputy Commissioner of Public Heal
Infant mortality increases in minority populations
Hope Kelly reports on an alarming increase in the infant mortality rate in Boston. Kelly reviews the statistics. She notes that the infant mortality rate among African Americans is 2.5 times the infant mortality rate among whites. Kelly adds that the increase in the infant mortality rate was most pronounced in the Roxbury neighborhood. Kelly interviews Dr. Bailus Walker (Commissioner of Public Health). Walker says that the increase in the infant mortality rate is the result of a cutback in socia
Seminar on hate crimes in Boston
Hope Kelly reports on the incidence of hate crimes in Boston. Kelly explains that hate crimes are defined as incidents of racial violence; she cites statistics that illustrate how hate crimes have affected various racial and ethnic groups. Kelly's report includes footage of Jack McDevitt (Center for Applied Research, Northeastern University) giving a seminar on hate crimes in Boston. The small audience includes uniformed police officers. McDevitt says that most hate crimes are not initially cate
Social Media in Plain English
An introduction to Social Media via a story about a small town with many flavors of ice cream.
Twitter in Plain English
A short introduction to the micro-blogging service Twitter.
NASA CONNECT Functions and Statistics: Dressed for Space
In NASA CONNECT Dressed for Space, students learn about the suits astronauts wear in space and why sizing is critical for working in space. They learn how the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space suits were developed. Building on past space suit technologies, NASA engineers and researchers use functions and statistics to create the next generation of space suits for the International Space Station and beyond.
The ABC's of Nuclear Science
The ABC's of Nuclear Science is a brief introduction to Nuclear Science. We look at Antimatter, Beta rays, Cosmic connection and much more. Visit here and learn about radioactivity - alpha, beta and gamma decay. Find out the difference between fission and fusion. Learn about the structure of the atomic nucleus. Learn how elements on the earth were produced. Do you know that you are being bombarded constantly by nuclear radiation from the Cosmos? Discover if there are radioactive products found i
17 - Homefronts and Battlefronts: "Hard War" and the Social Impact of the Civil War
Professor Blight begins his lecture with a description of the sea change in Civil War scholarship heralded by the Social History revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Along with a focus on the experience of the common solider, women, and African Americans, a central component of this shift in scholarly emphasis was an increased interest in the effects of the war on the Union and Confederate home fronts. After suggesting some of the ways in which individual Americans experienced the war, Professor B
05 - Telling a Free Story: Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in Myth and Reality
Professor Blight discusses the rise of abolitionism. Blight begins with an introduction to the genre of slave narratives, with particular attention to Frederick Douglass' 1845 narrative. The lecture then moves on to discuss the culture in which antebellum reform grew--the factors that encouraged its growth, as well as those that retarded it. Professor Blight then describes the movement towards radical abolitionism, stopping briefly on colonization and gradualism before introducing the character
01 - Introductions: Why Does the Civil War era have a hold on American Historical Imagination?
Professor Blight offers an introduction to the course. He summarizes some of the course readings, and discusses the organization of the course. Professor Blight offers some thoughts on the nature of history and the study of history, before moving into a discussion of the reasons for Americans' enduring fascination with the Civil War. The reasons include: the human passion for epics, Americans' fondness for redemption narratives, the Civil War as a moment of "racial reckoning," the fascination wi
Advanced Mathematics for Secondary Teachers: Course Portfolio
The course the portfolio describes is a capstone course in mathematics primarily aimed at future high school mathematics teachers. Bennett decided to write a course portfolio for this course as a way to pass the course along to other faculty members that will teach it in the future. Thus, the central purpose of this portfolio is to be a course record, suitable for other faculty members in the department to use as the main resource when they teach the course.
Learning to Think Mathematically
Concerned that most students leave college thinking of mathematics as a fixed body of knowledge to be memorized, Cooperstein designed a new course to help students learn to think mathematically for themselves. This website serves as a course portfolio that documents the new class, Introduction to Mathematical Problem Solving. The principal activity in the class involved students working on and discussing novel problems which required them to formulate experiments, work out cases, look for patter
