Embrace an ExpansIve Vision of Literary Study

With a faculty composed of renowned scholars and dedicated teachers, the MIT Literature section offers a wide range of courses across time periods, international cultures, and languages. Literature courses at MIT examine how novels, poems, plays, films, visual art, and other media make imaginative and critical sense of history and the present.

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RECENT NEWS

Congratulations to our newly inducted Phi Beta Kappa students: Lit Majors’25 Jason Chen and Kaelyn Dunnell, and our Lit minor, Anahita Srinivasan!!

The Literature Section proudly congratulates our two Literature majors, Jason Chen and Kaelyn Dunnell, and our Literature minor, Anahita Srinivasan, on their induction into the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society....

Prof Eugenie Brinkema reviews Anselm Kiefer | Amsterdam Blockbuster Pits Art Against Despair

Art in America | Reviews by Professor Eugenie Brinkema Let’s call this “The Work of Art in the Age of All This Bullshit.” You know the list by heart: climate disaster and its unevenly distributed miseries, global pandemics, racialized violence, state brutalities,...

Opening the doors of perception: Perspectives on SHASS with Prof Mary Fuller

The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) ensures MIT students have a deep understanding of the social, economic, and human dimensions of global challenges. We cultivate critical thinking, instill an appreciation for the arts, and create global...

MIT News | Decoding a medieval mystery manuscript with Prof Arthur Bahr’s newest book!

Using tech tools and a human touch, Arthur Bahr sheds light on the original volume containing “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and “Pearl.” Written by Peter Dizikes | MIT News Two years ago, MIT professor of literature Arthur Bahr had one of the best...

Lit Tea x Artfinity | Ekphrastic poetry prize winners and brilliant performances from the Literature student community

This project is presented as part of Artfinity, an Institute-sponsored event celebrating creativity and community at MIT. Artfinity is organized by the Office of the Arts. Lit Tea x Artfinity showcased MIT’s literary arts, hosted by MIT’s Literature Section. Expanding...

Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students: MIT featured with Prof Caitlyn Doyle’s subjects in Indigenous Film and Literature

The 2024-2025 Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students: Winds of Change 2024-2025 Special College Issue List of Top Schools is unlike any other college ranking Choosing a college may be daunting, but we can help. We have designed this compilation of schools to...

Feb 26 @ 5PM | Harvard English Department’s Renaissance Colloquium presents, Shankar Raman, “‘The Seeds of Time’: Infinitesimal Macbeth.”

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025 @ 5:00pm Location: Barker Center, Room 316, Harvard University, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge MA, 02138 Sponsor: Harvard English Department's Renaissance Colloquium More information

MIT Human Insight Collaborative launches SHASS Faculty Fellows program: Spring 2026 inaugural group includes Prof Jessica Ruffin

The new initiative will allow selected faculty to focus on their research, build community, and pursue mentorship opportunities. Benjamin Daniel | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences A new initiative will offer faculty in the MIT School of Humanities,...

Feb 20 | Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard presents, Jessica Ruffin ‘“What can I hope?”: Race, Abyssal Aesthetics, and the Failure of Beauty

German Studies: New Perspectives Speaker Series “What can I hope?”: Race, Abyssal Aesthetics, and the Failure of Beauty Date and Time: February 20, 2025 05:00PM - 06:30PM Location: Barker Center, Room 133 Speaker: Jessica Ruffin Assistant Professor of Film and Media...

MIT Human Insight Collaborative announces funding awards for inaugural series of projects with one by Lit lecturer Prof Caitlyn Doyle

The selected projects feature “an incredible array of bold, creative proposals and ideas,” says MIT President Sally Kornbluth. Legacy: Understanding Residential Schools Through Indigenous Art with Literature Lecturer, Prof Caitlyn Doyle Legacy: Understanding...

April

Ancient and Medieval Studies Colloquium presents, Sasha Rickard “Hedonism, Ancient and Modern: A Discussion of Plato’s Philebus”

Ancient and Medieval Studies Colloquium presents, Sasha Rickard "Hedonism, Ancient and Modern: A Discussion of Plato's Philebus"

Date April 22, 2025Time 5:15 pm - 6:30 pmVenue 14E-304

April

Lit Tea

Date April 28, 2025Time 4:15 pm - 5:45 pmVenue 14N-417Category Tea Time

May

Global France Seminar and the French Library present: Julia Malye, Writing Across Histories and Languages [AUTHOR TALK SERIES]

Date May 1, 2025Time 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmVenue French Library

FUN FACTS

The Literature concentration takes about three approved subjects to complete! Lit concentrators often go on to minoring or majoring in Literature!

During a 1998 talk at MIT titled, “Devil Girl From Mars’: Why I Write Science Fiction” Octavia Butler explained how media inspired her to start writing.

Literature minors can choose to focus their studies on specific literary complexes as well as film, ancient & medieval studies, and more!

William Carlos Williams was an American poet, writer, and physician of pediatrics and general medicine.