For the last century, precepts of scientific management and administrative rationality have concentrated power in the hands of technical specialists, which in recent decades has contributed to widespread disenfranchisement and discontent among stakeholders in natural resources cases. In this seminar we examine the limitations of scientific management as a model both for governance and for gathering and using information, and describe alternative methods for informing and organizing decision-making processes. We feature cases involving large carnivores in the West (mountain lions and grizzly bears), Northeast coastal fisheries, and adaptive management of the Colorado River. There will be nightly readings and a short written assignment.

This Remote Learning Plan was created by Eliza Crim in collaboration with Lori Broady as part of the 2020 ESU-NDE Remote Learning Plan Project. Educators worked with coaches to create Remote Learning Plans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.The attached Remote Learning Plan is designed for high school American History students. Students will create an advertisement from the perspective of a college student in the 1960s that persuades others to join a nonviolent civil resistance event. This Remote Learning Plan addresses the following NDE Standard: SS HS.4.2 (US).It is expected that this Remote Learning Plan will take students 120 minutes to complete.Here is the direct link to the Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-izF9nx5o960gKCFY_3HHsyI4qkMPbmAOOCmUzwOEH0/edit?usp=sharing

This Remote Learning Plan was created by Ashley Richmond in collaboration with Lori Broady as part of the 2020 ESU-NDE Remote Learning Plan Project. Educators worked with coaches to create Remote Learning Plans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.The attached Remote Learning Plan is designed for High School American History students. Students will analyze and determine President Roosevelt's response to Pearl Harbor. This Remote Learning Plan addresses the following NDE Standards: SS HS.4.4 (US) and SS HS.4.5 (US). It is expected that this Remote Learning Plan will take students 120 minutes to complete.

This class brings anthropological concepts to bear on contemporary movements for justice for harms committed during European colonization in Africa. Over the course of the semester, we use critical readings on topics such as violence, human rights discourse, narrating and measuring harm, memory, and group identity formation to reflect on and contribute to the work of two groups of practitioners currently engaged in claims for justice and reparations for European colonialism in Africa: in Algeria (France), and in the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda respectively (Belgium).

This course is an introduction to real-world dynamics of public policy controversies. Topics to be considered include national, state, and local policy disputes, such as smoking, hazardous waste, abortion, gun control, and education. Using a case study approach, students study whether and how those disputes get resolved. Students conduct debates and simulations in addition to writing a series of short essays.

This course uses the study of rhetoric as an opportunity to offer instruction in critical thinking. Through extensive writing and speaking assignments, students will develop their abilities to analyze texts of all kinds and to generate original and incisive ideas of their own. Critical thinking and original analysis as expressed in writing and in speech are the paramount goals of this class. The course will thus divide its efforts between an examination of the subject matter and an examination of student writing and speaking, in order to encourage in both instances the principal aims of the course.

This course is an introduction to the history, theory, practice, and implications of rhetoric, the art and craft of persuasion. This course specifically focuses on the ways that scientists use various methods of persuasion in the construction of scientific knowledge.

This project looks to combine the legacies of these three titans of American history, including Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt, to develop policy priorities and an action plan that will enable us to move beyond the false choice of economic growth or environmental security.

The STEM Concept Videos are designed to help students learn a pivotal concept in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM). These ideas are the building blocks of many engineering curricula, and learning them will help students master more difficult material. The STEM Concept Videos were produced by the Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL) at MIT for the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
For more information on how these videos were developed, please see the paper presented by TLL researchers at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) 2013 conference.
Shah, D.N., JE French, J. Rankin, L. Breslow. “Using Video to Tie Engineering Themes to Foundational Concepts.” American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, June 23-26, 2013.

The careers of MIT scientists and engineers are significantly determined by public policy decisions made in Washington by the government. However, their access to information on how this system works is limited. Meanwhile, we increasingly understand that science and technology-based innovation is deeply connected to society’s economic growth and its ability to generate societal wellbeing, so the public role of science is growing. This course will examine the public policy behind and the government’s role in the science and technology innovation system. Given the challenges to future federal science support, this seminar will aim to equip those planning careers in and around science and technology with a basic background for involvement in science policymaking.
This course is offered during MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month. It features student-led discussion incorporated into the course structure as well as opportunities to interact with MIT students and faculty involved in aspects of science policy. The course has been offered since 2006 and has developed as a collaborative effort between the instructor and MIT students from the Science Policy Initiative.

This class is an introduction to writing about science—including nature, medicine and technology—for general readers. In our reading and writing we explore the craft of making scientific concepts, and the work of scientists, accessible to the public through articles and essays.

Environmentalists have traditionally relied upon the power of their prose to transform the thoughts and behavior of their contemporaries. In 1963, Rachel Carson, a marine biologist with a penchant for writing, described a world without wildlife in Silent Spring and altered the way Americans understood their impact on the landscape. Like other writers we will encounter this semester, Carson realized that she could alter the perceptions of her contemporaries only if she was able to transmit her knowledge in engaging and accessible language. We will do our best to follow in her footsteps.

This textbook introduces students to the fundamental principles of what it is like to think like a psychology researcher in the contemporary world of psychology research.

This course examines the role of science and medicine in the origins and evolution of concepts of race, sex, and gender from the 17th century to the present. We analyze biological, medical, and anthropological studies and how they intersect with historical, social, political, and cultural ideas about racial, sexual, and gender differences. The course follows lecture/discussion format.

This subject exposes students to a variety of visualization techniques so that they learn to understand the work involved in producing them and to critically assess the power and limits of each. Students concentrate on areas where visualizations are crucial for meaning making and data production. Drawing on scholarship in science and technology studies on visualization, critical art theory, and core discussions in science and engineering, students work through a series of case studies in order to become better readers and producers of visualizations.

This course explores photography as a disciplined way of seeing, as a research method, and as a medium of inquiry and of expressing ideas. Readings, observations, and photographs form the basis of discussions on landscape, light, significant detail, place, narrative, and how photography can inform research, design, and planning, among other issues. The class is highly recommended for students who want to employ visual methods in their thesis or dissertation.

This subject presents a survey of social theory from the 17th century to the present. It focuses on the historical contexts out of which theory arises, the utility and limitations of older theories for present conditions, and the creation of new theory out of contemporary circumstances.

Solving Complex Problems provides an opportunity for entering freshmen to gain first-hand experience with working as part of a team to develop effective approaches to complex problems in Earth system science and engineering that do not have straightforward solutions. The subject includes training in a variety of skills, ranging from library research to Web Design.
Each year’s course explores a different problem in detail through the study of complimentary case histories and the development of creative solution strategies. Beginning in 2000 as an educational experiment sponsored by MIT’s Committee on the Undergraduate Program, and receiving major financial support from the Alex and Britt d’Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in MIT Education, the subject is designed to enhance the first-semester freshman experience by helping students develop contexts for other subjects in the sciences and humanities, and by helping them to establish learning communities that include upperclassmen, faculty, MIT alumni, and professionals from many walks of life.
In Fall 2003, students from the Class of 2007 were challenged with “Mission 2007”:

To design the most “environmentally correct” strategy for oil exploration and extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR); and
To perform a cost-benefit analysis in order to evaluate whether or not the hydrocarbon resources that might be extracted from beneath ANWR are worth the environmental damage that might result from the process.

12.000 Solving Complex Problems is designed to provide students the opportunity to work as part of a team to propose solutions to a complex problem that requires an interdisciplinary approach. For the students of the class of 2013, 12.000 will revolve around the issues associated with what we can and must do about the steadily increasing amounts CO{{< sub "2â€ >}} in Earth’s atmosphere. 12.000 is a core course for the MIT Terrascope freshman learning community. Each year’s class explores a different problem in detail through the study of complementary case histories and the development of creative solution strategies. It includes training in Web site development, effective written and oral communication, and team building. Initially developed with major financial support from the d’Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education, 12.000 is designed to enhance the freshman experience by helping students develop contexts for other subjects in the sciences and humanities, and by helping them to establish learning communities that include upperclassmen, faculty, MIT alumni, and professionals in science and engineering fields.