MIT Human Insight Collaborative holds launch event on Oct. 28.
The Institute launched the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC), an initiative seeking to promote intersectionality between faculty in the humanities, arts, and social sciences and their peers across MIT in a formal kickoff event on Oct. 28.
Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the School of Engineering, the Institute’s chief innovation and strategy officer, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Agustín Rayo, Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences are MITHIC co-chairs. According to an article by MIT News, support for MITHIC comes from all five schools of MIT, the Schwarzman College of Computing, the Office of the Provost, and philanthropic support from Charlene Kabcenell ’79 and Derry Kabcenell ’75. Ray Stata ’57 was also a benefactor.
The centerpiece of the event was a conversation with Min Jin Lee, author of the bestseller Pachinko, hosted by Linda Henry SM ’05, co-owner and CEO of Boston Globe Media. The opening line of Pachinko is a thesis: “History has failed us, but no matter.” She highlights how society’s understanding of history depends on documentation, which was often reserved for the elite. “I put the human being at the center,” Lee said. “Even if documentation didn't prove that we existed… regular people persisted. So I thought, ‘I'm going to recenter the people that history has left out, and I'm going to try to build this history.’ That's why I write all my books.”
According to the MITHIC website, faculty can apply to receive funding for projects and initiatives that bring together faculty and encourage cross-pollination across the Institute.