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The Radical Eighteenth-Century Symposium in Honor of Ruth Perry

Barker Center - 110 Thompson Room 12 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA, United States

The Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University & the Literature Section at MIT's School for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences announce a symposium organized in honor of MIT's Professor Ruth Perry's retirement, centering on "The Radical Eighteenth Century." Harvard University is situated on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Massachusett people. As scholars of the eighteenth century, the period that saw the intensification of European colonization culminating in genocide and territorial dispossession, we recognize our responsibility to understand the legacies of this history, and to continue to make our field a site where Indigenous scholars and knowledges can thrive. The idea of this symposium on "The Radical Eighteenth Century" is to retrieve and coax back to life the radical ideas of the eighteenth century. Can we bring to light the dimensions of the radical eighteenth century? What are the Enlightenment ideas that would improve our present-day world? What do we need to excavate and re-learn from the century that we all have been studying for years? There will be two roundtables. The first is "Critiques of Capitalism" and the second "Thinking Through the Community." Each scholar will speak briefly and then we have some back-and-forth among the roundtable speakers […]

Event Series Lit Tea

Lit Tea

14N-417

Every Monday (except Holidays) during the semester

Come by for snacks, and tea with Literature Section friends, instructors, students, etc. What are you reading? What 21L classes are you taking or hoping to take? This event is specifically geared towards undergrads; but open to friends of the community that engage in the literary and humanities at MIT.

Lit Tea

14E-304 160 MEMORIAL DR, CAMBRIDGE, MA, United States

When: Every Monday (except Holidays) during the semester Time: 4:15pm - 5:45pm Where: Room 14E-304* *Due to capacity, the last Lit Tea will be in 14E-304! This will be an especially bittersweet event as we will be awarding one of our graduating Literature majors with the Peter S. Donaldson Literature Award!

Lit Tea

When: Every Monday (except Holidays) during the semester Time: 4:15pm – 5:45pm Where: Room 14N-417 Come by for snacks, and tea with Literature Section friends, instructors, students, etc. What are you reading? What 21L classes are you taking or hoping to take? This event is specifically geared towards undergrads; but open to friends of the community that engage in the literary and humanities at MIT.

Event Series 21L.590 The Spanish Incubator

21L.590 The Spanish Incubator Info Session

21L.590 The Spanish Incubator Priority registration only to students who attend one of the following Info Sessions: Sunday,  Sept. 17th at 12:00PM in Building 1-190 -OR- Friday, Sept. 22 @ 5:15 PM in Building 1-190 Taught in English. From its role as the crucible of the international avant-garde, to its genesis of political art and writing, to its Civil War that ignited the artistic passion of authors around the world, to the exuberant liberation after 40 years of dictatorship, Spain deeply influenced our understanding of contemporary culture.  Films, readings, field trips to museums, and visits to Spanish cultural sites will enable students to understand the full context in which today’s vibrant Spanish democracy and internationally acclaimed   artistic production emerged. Students live in homestays with Spanish families. Classes are held at the Instituto Internacional (above), a vibrant, historical, American/Spanish cultural and university center in the heart of Madrid with an excellent library, café, garden and wifi. An evening reception with the MIT alums who live in Spain provides great conversation and invaluable networking.  Several long weekends give students the opportunity to travel. This 9-unit subject (3-3-3) will count for HASS credit and the Literature concentration, minor or major.   It also counts as a course in […]

21L.592[J] Brazil: Race, Place, and Modernity in the Americas

Info Sessions: September 18 and 26th @ TBA Based in São Paulo, this course examines the relationship between race and place in the formation of modern Brazil and the U.S. through comparative analysis and interdisciplinary study of literature, film, visual art, music, and performance. We will visit key cultural and historical sites; interact with archives and museum collections; and, most importantly, engage in dialogue with local scholars, religious leaders, community organizers, and activists. Issues explored in the course materials and on-site activities include the legacy of transatlantic slavery, indigenous dispossession, urban segregation, environmental racism, and reparations. Focusing on the work of Black and Indigenous people, particularly women, the course places a strong emphasis on the ways in which art and cultural activism can have an impact on racial justice issues. Taught in English. Need-based scholarships available For more information, email Professor Joaquín Terrones.

Lit Tea

When: Every Monday (except Holidays) during the semester Time: 4:15pm – 5:45pm Where: Room 14N-417 Come by for snacks, and tea with Literature Section friends, instructors, students, etc. What are you reading? What 21L classes are you taking or hoping to take? This event is specifically geared towards undergrads; but open to friends of the community that engage in the literary and humanities at MIT.

Event Series 21L.590 The Spanish Incubator

21L.590 The Spanish Incubator Info Session

21L.590 The Spanish Incubator Priority registration only to students who attend one of the following Info Sessions: Sunday,  Sept. 17th at 12:00PM in Building 1-190 -OR- Friday, Sept. 22 @ 5:15 PM in Building 1-190 Taught in English. From its role as the crucible of the international avant-garde, to its genesis of political art and writing, to its Civil War that ignited the artistic passion of authors around the world, to the exuberant liberation after 40 years of dictatorship, Spain deeply influenced our understanding of contemporary culture.  Films, readings, field trips to museums, and visits to Spanish cultural sites will enable students to understand the full context in which today’s vibrant Spanish democracy and internationally acclaimed   artistic production emerged. Students live in homestays with Spanish families. Classes are held at the Instituto Internacional (above), a vibrant, historical, American/Spanish cultural and university center in the heart of Madrid with an excellent library, café, garden and wifi. An evening reception with the MIT alums who live in Spain provides great conversation and invaluable networking.  Several long weekends give students the opportunity to travel. This 9-unit subject (3-3-3) will count for HASS credit and the Literature concentration, minor or major.   It also counts as a course in […]

Lit Tea

When: Every Monday (except Holidays) during the semester Time: 4:15pm – 5:45pm Where: Room 14N-417 Come by for snacks, and tea with Literature Section friends, instructors, students, etc. What are you reading? What 21L classes are you taking or hoping to take? This event is specifically geared towards undergrads; but open to friends of the community that engage in the literary and humanities at MIT.

21L.592[J] Brazil: Race, Place, and Modernity in the Americas

Info Sessions: September 18 and 26th @ TBA Based in São Paulo, this course examines the relationship between race and place in the formation of modern Brazil and the U.S. through comparative analysis and interdisciplinary study of literature, film, visual art, music, and performance. We will visit key cultural and historical sites; interact with archives and museum collections; and, most importantly, engage in dialogue with local scholars, religious leaders, community organizers, and activists. Issues explored in the course materials and on-site activities include the legacy of transatlantic slavery, indigenous dispossession, urban segregation, environmental racism, and reparations. Focusing on the work of Black and Indigenous people, particularly women, the course places a strong emphasis on the ways in which art and cultural activism can have an impact on racial justice issues. Taught in English. Need-based scholarships available For more information, email Professor Joaquín Terrones.

21L.591 Literary London Info Session

Tuesday, September 26 @ 5:00 – 6:00PM in 2-105 This class will explore the locations, history, literature and artistic institutions that have made London a world cultural hub. Through guided readings, theater performances, walking tours and visits to sites associated with major authors, you will experience the vibrancy of London’s past and present. This 9-unit subject will count for HASS-E credit and the Literature minor or major. For more information, email Professor Diana Henderson

The Life of the Spoken Word with Prof Bennett at the MIT Museum

MIT Museum 314 Main St, Cambridge, MA, United States

Join us for an evening with Dr. Joshua Bennett. In this presentation, MIT Professor and award-winning author Dr. Joshua Bennett will share selections from his latest books—Spoken Word: A Cultural History and The Study of Human Life—while also offering reflections on the craft of storytelling, the art of the spoken word, and his individual journey as a writer and educator. September 29th @ 6:00pm - 7:30pm Register here | Learn more here This program is presented as part of the Cambridge Science Festival. Admission is free. Seating is limited and pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Please note that all seats will be released to the general public 10 minutes prior to the program’s start time. To guarantee a seat, please arrive early.  

Literature Section
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue 14N-407
Cambridge, MA 02139
tel: (617) 253-3581