Recent Headlines

Making each vote count

September 30, 2022

Jacob Jaffe uses data science to identify and solve problems in election administration.

Tipping the balance between global rivals

August 29, 2022 Leda Zimmerman MIT Department of Political Science

John David Minnich seeks to understand how trade policies fueled China’s rise and continue to determine geopolitical winners and losers.

Thirteen from MIT awarded 2022 Fulbright Fellowships

May 19, 2022 Julia Mongo Office of Distinguished Fellowships

Thirteen MIT undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni have been awarded Fulbright fellowships to pursue projects overseas in the 2022-23 grant year. Another MIT affiliate was offered an award but has not yet decided whether to accept, and others were named alternates and may be promoted in the coming weeks.

From South Africa, a success story for democracy

May 19, 2022 Peter Dizikes MIT News

MIT political scientist Evan Lieberman’s new book, “Until We Have Won Our Liberty,” examines the condition of South Africa, a quarter-century after it became a multiracial democracy.

Eleanor Freund receives Jeanne Guillemin Prize

May 17, 2022 Michelle English MIT Center for International Studies

The daughter of an American diplomat, Eleanor Freund spent most of her childhood living abroad in such places as Madagascar, Ghana, South Africa, and Austria. These experiences, she explains, led to an early interest in politics and international relations.

When dueling narratives deepen a divide

May 16, 2022 Peter Dizikes MIT News

For more than four decades, the U.S. and Iran have had a relentlessly poor relationship. To be sure, it is hardly a shock that tensions would run high between the countries following the hostage crisis of 1979-1981, when Iran held more than 50 U.S. diplomats in captivity for 444 days. Even so, little progress has been made in U.S.-Iran relations in subsequent years.

A business of hope and transformation

May 11, 2022 Leda Zimmerman MIT Department of Political Science

Entrepreneur and political science master’s student Milain Fayulu builds brands to bring change to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Frequency builds familiarity

April 1, 2022 Leda Zimmerman MIT Department of Political Science

Urban street networks that encourage encounters among strangers link to lower ethnic tensions and anti-immigrant hostility.

Reviving war-game scholarship at MIT

March 22, 2022 Eyal Hanfling MIT News/Center for International Studies

War games and crisis simulations are exercises where participants make decisions to simulate real-world behavior. In the field of international security, games are frequently used to study how actors make decisions during conflict, but they can also be used to model human behavior in countless other scenarios. 

The Americanist

March 8, 2022 Leda Zimmerman MIT Department of Political Science

Studying U.S. history, Chinese-born political science doctoral student Zeyu Chris Peng maps the impact of anti-immigrant attitudes on party politics.

Racial equity and data science

March 4, 2022 MIT IDSS

Professor Fotini Christia introduces a new MIT-wide effort to address systemic racism with social science and computation.

Leveraging schools for political influence

February 22, 2022 Leda Zimmerman MIT Department of Political Science

Doctoral student Blair Read links rise of private education in India to local political competition, signaling potential erosion of public services.

First-ever Climate Grand Challenges recognizes 27 finalists

February 14, 2022 MIT News Office

The Climate Grand Challenges competition launched in July 2020 with the goal of mobilizing the entire MIT research community around transformative projects that have the potential to make major advances in solving the big problems that stand in the way of effective global climate response.

Is an armed conflict imminent?

February 4, 2022 Peter Dizikes MIT News

As Russia masses military equipment near Ukraine borders, experts in an MIT forum express concern about possible action and its consequences.

Where legal, voting by those in prison is rare, study shows

January 25, 2022 Peter Dizikes MIT News

A new study by MIT scholars, “How Often Do People Vote While Incarcerated? Evidence from Maine and Vermont,” examines the two U.S. states where people can vote even while they are incarcerated.

An award that empowers change

January 14, 2022 Leda Zimmerman MIT Politicial Science Department

Pressman Program inspires undergraduate engagement in politics and policy, and sometimes a complete pivot in direction.

Putting ideas into action

December 17, 2021 Richard Byrne Technology Review

MIT’s new chancellor laid a foundation for leadership through her groundbreaking research on politics and racial justice.

Alumni Profile: Tim Wright

December 13, 2021 MIT Security Studies Program

In this section we will ask an SSP alum 10 “Frequently Asked Questions” in order to spotlight their own career achievements as well as what insight they have gained as a result from their years at SSP. Tim Wright is the Director for Western Europe on the National Security Council, and a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army

Can the world change course on climate?

December 10, 2021 School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

"Industrial countries are uneven in their recognition of, and responses to, climate change...Whatever the cause, the result has been an unwillingness to take strong action. Climate change remains within the domain of 'low politics,' although there are signs the issue is making a slow but steady shift to 'high politics' — those issues deemed vital to the existence of the state." -Nazli Choucri

Community policing in the Global South

November 29, 2021 Stephanie M. McPherson MIT News

Professor Fotini Christia is part of a team examining the challenges of implementing community policing across a range of countries.

Rethinking American Political Economy

November 22, 2021 London School of Economics

Drawing on their new volume, The American Political Economy: Politics, Markets, and Power, Paul Pierson and Kathleen Thelen lay out a comparatively informed framework for understanding how business power, union decline, racial inequity, government weakness and regional disparities are impacting contemporary American politics and policy.

Exploring the human stories behind the data

October 29, 2021 Alli Armijo MIT News

Senior Brian Williams has used bioengineering as a launchpad to combat racism in public health — and he doesn’t want to stop there.

Prof. Ben Schneider is among MIT's 2021-23 Committed to Caring honorees

October 22, 2021 Daniel Korsun Office of Graduate Education

Throughout the pandemic, numerous faculty members have stepped up to support and guide their graduate students in unique and impactful ways, through efforts such as championing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within their departments; respecting students’ mental health concerns and finding appropriate ways to accommodate them; and fostering community within their advising groups and departments.

Scene at MIT: MIT welcomes Chancellor Melissa Nobles

October 18, 2021 Stephanie Tran Division of Student Life

Nestled between buildings 12, 13, 24, and 31 is the North Corridor, an area coined as the “Outfinite” by students, where members of the MIT community gathered for an Institute community social hosted by President L. Rafael Reif to welcome MIT’s new chancellor, Melissa Nobles. After about 18 months of virtual Zoom meetings, for many it was their first time seeing and reconnecting with friends and colleagues.

Punishment for the people

October 12, 2021 Peter Dizikes MIT News

By some lights, it seems curious how authoritarian leaders can sustain their public support while limiting liberties for citizens. Yes, it can be hard to overthrow an entrenched leader; that does not mean people have to like their ruling autocrats. And yet, many do.