Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Latest Articles

Crossword: ''From A to B''

It's a short trip
It's a short trip
By MATT JONES | August 19, 2009

Master architects: The Greenes at the MFA, Frank Lloyd Wright in Manchester
Charles and Henry Greene came to Boston in 1888 to study architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
By GREG COOK | August 18, 2009

The Gates case isn't about race

Doesn't Matter If You're Black or White Dept.
The weeks-long hubbub over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. by the Cambridge Police Department has centered on race, understandably, for two reasons: 1) the African-American population has suffered inequitably in its relations with law enforcement across this country, and 2) a race story is easier for the media to tell — and to sell.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | August 05, 2009

Magnificent machines

Inside AS220's Fab Lab
A machine that can make everything. It's been the stuff of science fiction for decades. But now, it's a reality. In fact, there's one in Providence.
By CHRISTOPHER COLLINS | August 05, 2009

The punch that took two lives

Nearly 17 years ago, Joe Donovan initiated a tragic chain of events with a brutish act of machismo. But should he be in jail for life?
When he was 17 years old, Joseph Donovan made the first of two stupid, and even reckless, mistakes. On the evening of September 18, 1992, in a brutish act of machismo, the East Cambridge native and minor-league delinquent punched out Norwegian MIT student Yngve Raustein.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 05, 2009

Interview: Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit

Cleaning up with this year's BMP winners
In 2008, Passion Pit won Best New Artist in our Best Music Poll.
By CARLY CARIOLI AND RYAN STEWART | July 30, 2009

The Friendly Toast

From the décor to the drinks, it's all a bit wacky — and undeniably good
There was some in-office debate about reviewing the Friendly Toast in our "On the Cheap" column. After all, its menu of diner favorites, retro-'50s filler-uppers, and contemporary vegetarian options are pretty inexpensive. And their motto is "Great Food. Cheap."
By ROBERT NADEAU | July 22, 2009

King, as in mayor

Another page from an optimist's agenda
To begin with, I'd like to set down the political and ideological frame of reference under which I try to live.
By TOM SHEEHAN | July 13, 2009

The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England.
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 10, 2009

Muzzle Awards: Collegiate Division

New England campuses muzzle free speech
In a 1957 Supreme Court decision upholding the free-speech rights of university professors ( Sweezy v. New Hampshire ), Justice Felix Frankfurter quoted prominent South African scholars on the importance of academic freedom.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | July 10, 2009

Art in America

From the Old West to middle-class guys
The legend of the Old West's cowboys and Indians, flinty pioneers and buffalo killers, sheriffs and gunslingers started with the tall tales that cowboys themselves told of their glorious exploits.
By GREG COOK | June 19, 2009

Free and easy

10 cash-free ways to make summer not suck
With a beach season approaching in which most people will be squeezing quarters till the eagles fart, it's fair enough to ask aloud, "Is this going to be the worst summer ever ?"
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 11, 2009

Survive the econopocalypse

Want to keep your head above water in post-meltdown America? Here's some ways to get your own bailout bucks — without a W2.
If you're like the more than nine percent of Americans currently unemployed, your "Yes We Can!" has lately lost some of its gusto. You've hit up everyone you know for work, including your mom, your ex, and your ex's ex.
By LISSA HARRIS | June 11, 2009

Brave new RISD

After a year at the helm, president John Maeda is balancing broad shifts in the worlds of art, design, and business
The Rhode Island School of Design, for all its artful ambition, is a conservative place. Students draw. They mold clay. They are awash in taxidermy. So there was more than a little anxiety when John Maeda — sneaker designer, MIT professor, digital media rock star — took over as RISD president last summer.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 27, 2009

Folk my brains out

Wild and weird
Toby Kamp's 'The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes In Contemporary Art' at The Decordova Museum
By EVAN J. GARZA | May 19, 2009

Reggae revival

Booming in Boston's underground, Caribbean riddims are about to burst back into the mainstream
The climate is tropical, sweet skunk fills the air, and reggae jams are hitting such lofty decibels that I can't even feel my phone vibrate.
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 21, 2009

With the accent on computer

Say What?
" Pardon ?"
By JULIA THROOP | May 20, 2009

Play by Play, May 15, 2009

Plays for A to Z
Theater in town
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 12, 2009

Inventing the Future

At MIT's fabled Media Lab, some will change the world with robots and computers, others with . . . Wii guitars
Has Boston found the new Eric Clapton? A shimmying, face-contorting successor to Yngwie Malmsteen? Not exactly.
By ABIGAIL JONES | May 13, 2009

Play by Play, May 8, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Theater around town
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 07, 2009

Books tour

A guide to unofficial campus visits
While most area colleges continue to offer predictably boring campus tours that amount to wandering through academic ghost towns imagining departed crowds, there are also some alternatives to the standard walk-and-talk routine.
By JULIA RAPPAPORT | April 29, 2009

Slideshow: Breakonomics 2009 at MIT

Dancers battle it out for cash prizes during Breakonomics 2009 at MIT's La Sala de Puerto Rico, April 25, 2009
Breakers, popper, and housers get on the good foot at MIT's student center
By ALEXANDER HSU | April 29, 2009

Play by Play: May 1, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Theater around town
By CAROLYN CLAY | April 28, 2009

Cyberloops

'Merce' at MIT
Merce Cunningham has used computers as co-creators for his choreography since 1991, and it was his evolving dance Loops that inspired the six works shown Friday night at the MIT Museum to open the sixth Boston Cyberarts Festival.
By MARCIA B. SIEGEL | April 29, 2009

A little history

Yehudi Wyner and John Harbison, Susanna Mälkki with the BSO, Natalia Gutman with the BPO, and BLO's Don Giovanni
Two of Boston's most admired and honored composers (both Pulitzer winners) have just celebrated landmark birthdays: Yehudi Wyner his 80th and John Harbison his 70th.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | April 28, 2009

Taking the B-boys to School

The Other MIT Crew
You may have noticed, hip-hop dance has gone legit — or at least slightly commercial.
By LISA SPINELLI | April 22, 2009

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

Matthew Day Jackson, Bernadette Devlin, and Zhou Tao at MIT's List Visual Arts Center
Those Bostonians who've been experiencing Bill Arning withdrawals can stop fretting: the former MIT List Visual Arts Center curator, now director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, is coming home for his final opening.
By EVAN J. GARZA | April 22, 2009

[FILM] Will it go round in circles?

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