The Stata Center at MIT. (Disney or MIT?, bettlebox on Flickr. CC-BY-NC-SA.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. David Mindell
Prof. Merritt Roe Smith
MIT Course Number
STS.050
As Taught In
Spring 2011
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course examines the history of MIT through the lens of the broader history of science and technology, and vice versa. The course covers the founding of MIT in 1861 and goes through the present, including such topics as William Barton Rogers, educational philosophy, biographies of MIT students and professors, intellectual and organizational development, the role of science, changing laboratories and practices, and MIT's relationship with Boston, the federal government, and industry. Assignments include short papers, presentations, and final paper. A number of classes are concurrent with the MIT150 Symposia.