Love, Death and Taxes

Principal Investigator
Prof. Susan Silbey, Anthropology; Prof. Arthur Bahr, Literature; Prof. Lily Tsai, Political Science; Meghan Perdue, Open Learning
Fund: d'Arbeloff Fund
Funding Period: AY2025
Department/Lab/Center: School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

The course "Love, Death and Taxes" will be a HASS Exploration (HEX) Subject co-developed by 12-15 faculty across SHASS that will aim to (a) create a common conversation across the diverse students and departments at MIT; (b) introduce students to work in the humanities, arts and social sciences; and (c) engage students in analytic inquiry and active debate about persistent questions concerning the human experience. The course will invite students to contemplate the normative foundations of social and human life by engaging with works of global literature, art, social science, as well as contemporary global problems to develop the skills, sensibilities, and cognitive resources to live a richer life. The course will be taught in multiple concurrent small group sections led by one faculty member, using blended learning materials developed by the whole group, with periodic events for all sections to join together.