Human obligations towards one another
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has introduced a new multidisciplinary course, titled "21.01 Compass Course: Love, Death, and Taxes: How to Think — and Talk to Others — About Being Human." This class, led by faculty from the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), aims to prepare students to navigate conflicting viewpoints and develop their own values.
Led by Professor Lily L. Tsai, the Ford Professor of Political Science, the course invites students to wrestle with fundamental, difficult questions such as: What do we value and why? What do we know and how do we know it? What do we owe to each other and what should we do about it? The course uses humanities and social sciences to guide students in reflecting on the kind of humans they want to be and the society they want to help create.
The course is part of the Compass Initiative, which integrates multidisciplinary perspectives to foster critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and respect for diverse views among students. It emphasizes moral and civic education to navigate accelerating technological change and unpredictability in the world, encouraging students to express their opinions and actively listen to others without canceling them.
In the first week, students draft a Rousseau-inspired social compact and learn firsthand how to build a classroom community. Each student is assigned a persona from a 1976 Cambridge City Council hearing debating recombinant DNA research. Students argue different sides from their personas: banning the research, moving labs outside city limits, or proceeding without government interference. This exercise encourages students to engage with complex human questions and conflicting viewpoints.
The class, designed by Associate Professor Robin Scheffler, investigates who governs science: scientists, the government, those who fund research, or the public. The values exercise in the course helped second-year mechanical engineering major Kayode Dada reorient his belief system, leading him to choose to volunteer at a robotics camp for kids in Louisville to share his MIT education with others.
The course takes a "flipped classroom" approach, with students watching recorded lectures at home and coming to class prepared for discussion and debate. This approach encourages students to take an active role in their learning and to engage with the material in a deeper way.
First-year student-athlete Shannon Cordle, who is majoring in mechanical engineering, uses Compass to practice speaking up and being willing to be wrong. Cordle views her future field as representing the perfect balance between creativity and ethics.
The MIT Compass Course aims to equip students with tools to thoughtfully engage with complex human questions and conflicting viewpoints, fostering personal values and societal responsibility alongside technical education. The initiative is supported by the Office of the Vice Chancellor and the MIT Human Insight Collaborative's SHASS Education Innovation Fund.
- This new course at MIT, the "21.01 Compass Course," is led by faculty from the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), focusing on humans navigating conflicting viewpoints and personal values.
- The course, part of the Compass Initiative, encourages students to discuss fundamental questions like morality, values, and societal responsibility, using humanities and social sciences perspectives.
- Led by Professor Lily L. Tsai, students in this course explore what we value, what we know, and our obligations to each other, preparing for a world shaped by rapid technological change.
- In week one, students participate in an exercise where they assume personas from a 1976 Cambridge City Council hearing on recombinant DNA research, debating conflicting viewpoints on the issue.
- The course, designed by Associate Professor Robin Scheffler, examines who governs science and how values influence scientific research and development.
- The "flipped classroom" approach of the course empowers students to take an active role in their learning, watching recorded lectures at home and engaging in classroom discussions and debates.
- Kayode Dada, a second-year mechanical engineering major, credits the values exercise in the course with fostering a reorientation of his belief system, prompting him to volunteer at a robotics camp for kids.
- First-year student-athlete Shannon Cordle, majoring in mechanical engineering, finds the Compass Course useful in developing her speaking skills and embracing being willing to be wrong.
- The Compass Course aims to instill tools for engaging with complex human questions and multiple viewpoints, fostering personal values, societal responsibility, and technical education for students.
- The initiative is supported by the Office of the Vice Chancellor and the MIT Human Insight Collaborative's SHASS Education Innovation Fund.
- This course in education-and-self-development and personal-growth is a unique addition to MIT's offerings, providing opportunities for students to reflect on their mental growth and societal role.
- As society grapples with pressing issues such as climate change, technology, and social inequality, the MIT Compass Course empowers students to think critically, reason ethically, and make a positive impact in the public sphere, contributing to the future of science and engineering.
