We are so proud of our graduating Literature majors! All our double majors graduated from two MIT Schools during these turbulent times of pandemic and unrest, exemplifying the dual necessities of STEM and SHASS.
“Dual competence is a good model for undergraduates at MIT: master two fundamental ways of thinking about the world, one technical and one humanistic or social. Sometimes these two modes will be at odds with each other, which raises critical questions. Other times they will be synergistic and energizing.” — Professor David Mindell, Historian, Engineer, Co-founder and CEO of Humatics Corporation
Full Name: Kathryn Jiang Majors: 18 (Mathematics) and 21L (Literature) Hometown: Manalapan, NJ 1) What have you most enjoyed about studying Literature? Was there a particular discovery, new skill or way of thinking, or that you found especially valuable? Can you share an example from your favorite class or experience? I enjoyed the discussions the most. A story could be the jumping off point to discussions about philosophy or linguistics or chemistry. By seeing the world through the eyes of different characters, I could be transported to faraway lands and new possibilities. 2) How does the knowledge from this field, or your interest in it, combine with your other major or minor studies at MIT? Literature and math both try to explain how the world works; literature through stories and math through patterns. People are always surprised when they hear about these two seemingly disparate majors, but I’ve found them to be complementary. It allows me to use both parts of my brain, and has changed my perspective of the world. Both a well-written poem and a well-written proof are beautiful in different ways. 3) An MIT education includes study in the scientific, technical, social science, arts, and humanities fields. How do you think that wide range of knowledge and perspectives will be valuable to you — for your career success and for your enjoyment of life? I’m so glad that I took classes from all five schools at MIT, because each has given me a new perspective and changed the way I see myself in the world. The wide range of study allows me to analyze things both structured and unstructured. Taking classes on challenging texts, in particular reading The Faerie Queene, has given me the courage to try to attack problems that would, at first glance, seem impossible. 4) Now that you’ve made it to the finish line, what does it feel like? What are your plans for the future? Looking back, I could never have expected that my love of reading and growing up with my nose in a book would one day result in a literature degree from MIT. It feels inspiring to be able to turn around and tell my younger self that you can study what you love and that it would be so rewarding. For now, I’m taking the summer off to recharge and relax before starting a job at McKinsey Boston. I’m still reading and picking up books I would never had the courage to try to read.
Full name: Lauren Claire Clamon Majors: 7A (Biology) and 21L (Literature) Hometown: Chula Vista, CA1) What have you most enjoyed about studying Literature? Was there a particular discovery, new skill or way of thinking, or that you found especially valuable? Can you share an example from your favorite class or experience? I think one of the best parts of studying literature was finding my voice. I entered college thinking that all academic papers, whether for the sciences or the humanities, had to be these dry, unreadable dozen-paged nightmares of facts and arguments and words with high syllable counts. Imagine my surprise when I was praised for adding more personality to my writing! I learned to enjoy writing because my literature professors encouraged me to improve my with things I love: dashes of comedy, splashes of horror and the uncanny, and the occasional fourth wall break. Now, I feel like myself when I write. 2) How does the knowledge from this field, or your interest in it, combine with your other major or minor studies at MIT? Along with literature, I also majored in biology. I’m often told that the two don’t seem to go together, but in practice I find they intertwine and compliment each other beautifully. Studying literature has given me the ability to, when reading biology papers, more easily identify authorial biases as well as write about biological topics for lay audiences. Biology and it’s history have given me new ways to analyze and create stories, especially science fiction. 3) An MIT education includes study in the scientific, technical, social science, arts, and humanities fields. How do you think that wide range of knowledge and perspectives will be valuable to you — for your career success and for your enjoyment of life? One of the few things MIT didn’t emphasize in their curriculum is how to tell the future. While I know having experience in both the sciences and humanities gives me a Jack-of-all-trades type advantage in academia, I have no idea how I’ll have to use my skills. All I know is that because of the breadth and difficulty of an MIT education, I’ll be ready to face whatever comes my way. 4) Now that you’ve made it to the finish line, what does it feel like? What are your plans for the future? It doesn’t feel real. It feels like tomorrow I’ll need to wake up to head to lecture. It just hasn’t quite hit me yet that it’s all over. I plan to take time to study for and take my GRE and apply to grad schools. Eventually I want two masters in biology and library science so I can become a science librarian at a university or hospital so I can help others.
Full Name: Ivy Li Majors: 8 (Physics) and 21L (Literature) Hometown: Pembroke Pines, FL 1) What have you most enjoyed about studying Literature? Was there a particular discovery, new skill or way of thinking, or that you found especially valuable? Can you share an example from your favorite class or experience? To quote Prof. Henderson, I properly “milked MIT,” having traveled abroad 4 times with institute funding, with 3 of those times through the literature department. I did not travel much before college, so these trips broadened my cultural horizons and taught me a great deal about myself. I discovered T.S. Eliot while in London, read Spanish poetry in Madrid, and gained new perspectives on race dialogues in São Paulo. During these travels, I made the unfortunate discovery that I can appreciate poetry. I had come into MIT hating poetry, but I left having defended a thesis on T.S. Eliot and winning poetry awards. I discovered not only do I like poetry, but I also am a poet and, thus, afflicted for life. 2) How does the knowledge from this field, or your interest in it, combine with your other major or minor studies at MIT? Andrea Herman ’18, another physics and literature double major, gave me a metaphor that I have kept with me since. In the search for dark matter, particle physicists see shadows and search for their owners. We look for particles that might not exist because their potential existence explain to us the Universe. In literature, we are also chasing shadows from history, seeking meaning from texts that may elude us. In this sense, my work has always been in shadows, both in the sciences and in the humanities.
3) An MIT education includes study in the scientific, technical, social science, arts, and humanities fields. How do you think that wide range of knowledge and perspectives will be valuable to you — for your career success and for your enjoyment of life? I was once told that physicists are the most boring people on Earth. I hope my literary interests make me a little less boring. 4) Now that you’ve made it to the finish line, what does it feel like? What are your plans for the future? Even as we celebrate our degrees, I cannot help but feel trapped in a strange limbo. We are entering uncertain times ahead. Lives were and will be taken by both illness and racist bigotry. The crisis has only made more apparent the hate and discrimination that was always there, bubbling under the surface. The word apocalypse often spells the end of the world, but in its etymology, the Greek ἀποκάλυψις means “revelation.” The past few months have revealed courage and kindness, but it also showed how petty and cruel humans can be. To be frank, I don’t know how to feel, but I recognize how fortunate I am to love and be loved, by both the physics and literature departments, my professors, my friends, and my family. I am eternally grateful to my grandparents and my parents, especially my mother, who supported my work even as they could not understand it. I dedicate my degree to my mother, because she has been and always will be with me. I will be attending Rice’s PhD program in physics and astronomy and researching in Germany with a Fulbright grant in 2021. I plan to be both researcher and writer because I am forever devoted to the business of words. As I leave MIT with degrees in the sciences and in the humanities, I remain conscious of the human problems that, far more than physics theories, infringe upon the everyday challenge of existing.