This course introduces the tools of philosophical ethics through application to contemporary issues concerning technology. It takes up current debates on topics such as privacy and surveillance, algorithmic bias, the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, automation and the future of work, and threats to democracy in the digital age from the perspective of users, practitioners, and regulatory/governing bodies.

Pairs of students respond to literature alternately in shared journals. Mini-lessons are presented on responding to prompts, creating dialogue, adding drawings, and asking and answering questions.

Students explore the nature and structure of expository texts that focusing on cause and effect and apply what they learned using graphic organizers and writing paragraphs to outline cause-and-effect relationships.

The activity includes a series of exercises, in which students view the literal representations of idioms and then examine the metaphorical meanings of the idioms.

Fact Fragment Frenzy provides elementary students with an online model for finding facts in nonfiction text, then invites students to find facts in five sample passages.

Creation of the Mashpee District in 1685. Program focuses on the August, 1976 lawsuit filed by the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in an effort to reclaim lands sold from 1763 to 1870 without Congressional approval. Host Barbara Barrow speaks with guest Russell Peters, President of the Mashpee Tribal Council, about the problems the council is having regaining tribal lands, when was the lands were taken, when the council decided to file suit, how Peters feels about the claim that Wampanoag marriages with Black and white Americans has diluted their culture and claim to lands, if Mashpee becoming a town gave Native Americans the power to sell their own land (as they did willingly, according to Barrow), and what will happen to the people who are living in Mashpee who feel they own their land and houses. Additional segments include the 'Say Brother News' with reporters Leah Fletcher, Eric Sampedro, Justina Chu, and WNAC TV arts critic Tanya Hart, the 'Third World Connection' (which discusses the intermarriage of African Americans and Native Americans, and their historical bond, is discussed), and the 'Community Calendar.' Produced by Barbara Barrow. Directed by Conrad White.

These lesson plans and materials are designed for high school students, especially 9th and 10th graders. The goals of these lessons are for students to review and learn more about figurative language devices, to compare and contrast poetry from different authors, and understand point of view in order to see that authors have different perspectives in their works. This lesson plan unit covers six different poems from local Emma Bell Miles and famous Henry Thoreau. Each poem has a video, presentation, and handout to accompany it. The lesson plan has been divided into two 50 minute class periods. The first class period is designed to introduce the students to the poems and authors using the various materials. The second class period is designed to cover point of view according to Miles and Thoreau and ask the students to compare and contrast the authors’ perspectives and experiences.

The Fractured Fairy Tale tool encourages students to create their own fractured fairy tales.

Scientist and author Edward O. Wilson, draws on studies from a broad spectrum of disciplines to show how various fields of inquiry, and especially the humanities and sciences, intersect with each other. According to Wilson, "the greatest enterprise of the mind has always been and always will be the attempted linkage of the sciences and the humanities." (58 minutes)

Some argue that genre fiction is only a marketing category, but other critics say that different genres meet specific expectations of readers. This course examines these different agreements of what the reader wants and what the writer provides under the aegis of different genres. We will look at how genres are divided into subgenres, and how they are combined into cross-genre work, always keeping in mind the Reader-Writer Contact that is at the heart of genre writing. We shall also think about the ways in which crossing genres has led to the establishment of new genres (steampunk, preternatural romance) and strongly established subgenres (historical mystery, urban fantasy).

Fantasy is currently one of the most popular genres across every platform in fiction. From film to gaming to literature, fantasy tops the charts. Why? Why do people who believe in democracy and live with the magic technology appear to long for wizards and dragons and the matters of kingship? In this class, we will explore this question, and from that base read articles, novels, write exercises and stories in this genre.

Works in this series were created as part of an open pedagogy assignment for Professor Wolf's ART 4190r: Global Currents in Contemporary Art in Spring 2021 at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Each work in this series includes a video presentation and associated paper with a biographical sketch and analysis of themes in the work of contemporary global artists.

This course is designed to improve the student’s ability to communicate technical information. It covers the basics of working with sources, including summarizing and paraphrasing, synthesizing source materials, citing, quoting, and avoiding plagiarism. It also covers how to write an abstract and a literature review. In addition, we will cover communication concepts, tools, and strategies that can help you understand how engineering texts work, and how you can make your texts work more effectively.
This course is limited to MIT graduate engineering students based on results of the Graduate Writing Exam.

Guinea Bissau Conflict. Program examines the guerilla warfare underway in the African country of Guinea Bissau as part of the campaign for independence being waged in that country. Program is divided into two segments: the first consisting of an on-location British film about Guinea Bissau guerilla troop B-30 as it proceeds to an attack site, the second of an interview with Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) representative Gil Fernandes, who discusses his work, background, and the state of the war. Film contains commentary by PAIGC founder Amilcar Cabral. Produced by John Slade. Directed by Russell Tillman.

This is not a metallurgy class! Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal music. Topics of this video lecture series include musicology, history, metal culture, music theory, songwriting tropes, harsh vocal techniques, extreme metal, tech-based instruments, and how the genre tackles some of today’s biggest sociopolitical challenges. You’ll find out why metal bands exist in every country on Earth, and why you’re probably already a metalhead without even knowing it. This course has been rockin’ MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP)* since 2006!
2023 Video Lectures:

Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture
The Guts of Metal - Music Theory and Songwriting with Colin Brumley
All About Harsh Vocals – History, Application, and Technique with Paul Buckley
History of Heavy Metal, Part I
Connections Between Metal and Literature with Dean Swinford
History of Heavy Metal: Part II
GeoShred and Technology-Based Expressive Musical Instruments with Jordan Rudess
History of Heavy Metal: Part III

The class video lectures from 2021 to the present are available on the site.
*IAP is a 4-week term at MIT in January that provides members of the MIT community with an opportunity to organize, sponsor, and participate in activities and topics that are often outside of the regular MIT curriculum.

This course focuses on one particular aspect of the history of computing: the use of the computer as a scientific instrument. The electronic digital computer was invented to do science, and its applications range from physics to mathematics to biology to the humanities. What has been the impact of computing on the practice of science? Is the computer different from other scientific instruments? Is computer simulation a valid form of scientific experiment? Can computer models be viewed as surrogate theories? How does the computer change the way scientists approach the notions of proof, expertise, and discovery? No comprehensive history of scientific computing has yet been written. This seminar examines scientific articles, participants’ memoirs, and works by historians, sociologists, and anthropologists of science to provide multiple perspectives on the use of computers in diverse fields of physical, biological, and social sciences and the humanities. We explore how the computer transformed scientific practice, and how the culture of computing was influenced, in turn, by scientific applications.

This resource provides references, writing aids and guides for students writing essays in a literature-based composition course. These materials were culled from several different sites; the individual pages link back to the original resource and indicate the Creative Commons license under which the page is adapted and/or reused. Except where otherwise noted, this resource is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.

HuMetricsHSS supports the creation of values-based frameworks to guide all kinds of scholarly process, and to promote the nurturing of a values-enacted approach to academia writ large. During the 2016 Triangle Scholarly Communication Institute (SCI), the authors sketched a preliminary set of core values for enriching scholarship, highlighting five: Equity, Openness, Collegiality, Quality, Community. They created a framework which is intended to help transform how scholarship is created, assessed, and valued in the humanities.

At the workshops and in the toolkit, they emphasize that values are locally negotiated and frameworks locally built. That’s the explicit point of the workshop, to make space for open conversation about values and their meaning, to come to agreement on what matters for a given group, and then to work on constructing a framework that could be used to guide evaluation in the academy — whether that’s through the tenure and promotion process, the setting of annual goals, the hiring of new faculty, or decision-making about what kinds of digitization projects to take on, what kinds of collections to develop, or what kinds of projects to publish at an academic press.

The OER Textbook used for HUM 122 Medieval to Modern History Humanities Course.Examines written texts, visual arts, and musical compositions to analyze and reflect the evolution and confluence of cultures in Europe, Asia, and the Americas from 800 C.E. to 1750 C.E.

This resource includes a photo, video and written story illustrating my Humanities Moment. It depicts an experience I had in Ecuador with a volcano called Chimborazo and a piece of music that had never meant anything to me before. This resource gives a personal account of how the Humanities has impacted me and how it can change how we see the world around us.