This is a foundation subject in modern software development techniques for engineering and information technology. The design and development of component-based software (using C# and .NET) is covered; data structures and algorithms for modeling, analysis, and visualization; basic problem-solving techniques; web services; and the management and maintenance of software. Includes a treatment of topics such as sorting and searching algorithms; and numerical simulation techniques. Foundation for in-depth exploration of image processing, computational geometry, finite element methods, network methods and e-business applications. This course is a core requirement for the Information Technology M. Eng. program.
This class was also offered in Course 13 (Department of Ocean Engineering) as 13.470J. In 2005, ocean engineering subjects became part of Course 2 (Department of Mechanical Engineering), and the 13.470J designation was dropped in lieu of 2.159J.

The goals of this class are two-fold: the first is to experience the creative processes and storytelling behind several of theater’s arts and to acquire the analytical skills necessary in assessing the meaning they transmit when they come together in production. Secondly, we will introduce you to these languages in a creative way by giving you hands-on experience in each. To that end, several Visiting Artists and MIT faculty in Theater Arts will guest lecture, lead workshops, and give you practical instruction in their individual art forms.

As we read broadly from throughout the vast chronological period that is “Homer to Dante,” we will pepper our readings of individual ancient and medieval texts with broader questions like: what images, themes, and philosophical questions recur through the period; are there distinctly “classical” or “medieval” ways of depicting or addressing them; and what do terms like “Antiquity” or “the Middle Ages” even mean? (What are the Middle Ages in the “middle” of, for example?) Our texts will include adventure tales of travel and self-discovery (Homer’s Odyssey and Dante’s Inferno); courtroom dramas of vengeance and reconciliation (Aeschylus’s Oresteia and the Icelandic Njáls saga); short poems of love and transformation (Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the Lais of Marie de France); and epics of war, nation-construction, and empire (Homer’s Iliad, Virgil’s Aeneid, and the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf).

Complementary to 21L.001. A broad survey of texts - literary, philosophical, and sociological - studied to trace the growth of secular humanism, the loss of a supernatural perspective upon human events, and changing conceptions of individual, social, and communal purpose. Stresses appreciation and analysis of texts that came to represent the common cultural possession of our time. Enrollment limited. HASS-D, CI.
Readings this semester ranging from political theory and oratory to autobiography, poetry, and science fiction reflect on war, motives for war, reconciliation and memory. The readings are largely organized around three historical moments: the Renaissance and first contacts between Europe and America (Machiavelli, Cortés, Sahagún); the European age of revolutions (Voltaire, Blake, Williams); the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery (Stowe, Whitman, Lincoln). Readings from the twentieth-century include poetry by Lowell and Walcott and fiction by Ondaatje and O.S. Card.

This subject offers a broad survey of texts (both literary and philosophical) drawn from the Western tradition and selected to trace the growth of ideas about the nature of mankind’s ethical and political life in the West since the renaissance. It will deal with the change in perspective imposed by scientific ideas, the general loss of a supernatural or religious perspective upon human events, and the effects for good or ill of the increasing authority of an intelligence uninformed by religion as a guide to life. The readings are roughly complementary to the readings in 21L001, and classroom discussion will stress appreciation and analysis of texts that came to represent the cultural heritage of the modern world.

This course comprises a broad survey of texts, literary and philosophical, which trace the development of the modern world from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Intrinsic to this development is the growth of individualism in a world no longer understood to be at the center of the universe. The texts chosen for study exemplify the emergence of a new humanism, at once troubled and dynamic in comparison to the old. The leading theme of this course is thus the question of the difference between the ancient and the modern world. Students who have taken Foundations of Western Culture I will obviously have an advantage in dealing with this question. Classroom discussion approaches this question mainly through consideration of action and characters, voice and form.

This class continues our study of the foundational texts of human culture, focusing on early modernity until the recent past. In many ways, this includes several questions such as: Why did these works achieve the fame and influence they achieved? How do they present what it means to be a human being? How do they describe the role of a member of a family, community, tradition, social class, gender? How do they distinguish between proper and improper behavior? How do they characterize the members of other groups? However, in several ways, these texts are also iconoclastic, breaking with centuries of established tradition to shed light on previously unexplored subjects, such as the status of women in society or the legacy of the colonial expansion of European countries. They also question well-established social beliefs like religion, monarchical rule and human nature in general.

This course aims to introduce students to the rich diversity of human culture from antiquity to the early 17th century. In this course, we will explore human culture in its myriad expressions, focusing on the study of literary, religious and philosophical texts as ways of narrating, symbolizing, and commenting on all aspects of human social and material life. We will work comparatively, reading texts from various cultures: Mesopotamian, Greek, Judeo-Christian, Chinese, Indian, and Muslim. Throughout the semester, we will be asking questions like: How have different cultures imagined themselves? What are the rules that they draw up for human behavior? How do they represent the role of the individual in society? How do they imagine ‘universal’ concepts like love, family, duty? How have their writers and artists dealt with encounters with other cultures and other civilizations?

This course continues the content covered in 18.100 Analysis I. Roughly half of the subject is devoted to the theory of the Lebesgue integral with applications to probability, and the other half to Fourier series and Fourier integrals.

Investigation of linear elastic and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics. Topics include microstructural effects on fracture in metals, ceramics, polymers, thin films, biological materials and composites, toughening mechanisms, crack growth resistance and creep fracture. Also covered: interface fracture mechanics, fatigue damage and dislocation substructures in single crystals, stress- and strain-life approach to fatigue, fatigue crack growth models and mechanisms, variable amplitude fatigue, corrosion fatigue and case studies of fracture and fatigue in structural, bioimplant, and microelectronic components.

This class provides an introduction to quantitative models and qualitative frameworks for studying complex engineering systems. Also taught is the art of abstracting a complex system into a model for purposes of analysis and design while dealing with complexity, emergent behavior, stochasticity, non-linearities and the requirements of many stakeholders with divergent objectives. The successful completion of the class requires a semester-long class project that deals with critical contemporary issues which require an integrative, interdisciplinary approach using the above models and frameworks.

Urban governance comprises the various forces, institutions, and movements that guide economic and physical development, the distribution of resources, social interactions, and other aspects of daily life in urban areas. This course examines governance from legal, political, social, and economic perspectives. In addition, we will discuss how these structures constrain collective decision making about particular urban issues (immigration, education…). Assignments will be nightly readings and a short paper relating an urban issue to the frameworks outlined in the class.

This course covers French politics, culture, and society from Louis XIV to Napoleon Bonaparte. Attention is given to the growth of the central state, the beginnings of a modern consumer society, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, including its origins, and the rise and fall of Napoleon.

This course covers the history and aesthetics of French cinema from the advent of sound to present-day. It treats films in the context of technical processes, the art of narration, directorial style, role of the scriptwriter, the development of schools and movements, the impact of political events and ideologies, and the relation between French and other national cinemas.
Taught in English, the films are screened with English subtitles. Students may complete written assignments in French.

21G.301/351 offers an introduction to the French language and culture with an emphasis on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical concepts through active communication. The course is conducted entirely in French, and students interact in French with their classmates from the very beginning. They also receive exposure to the language via a variety of authentic sources such as the Internet, audio, video and printed materials which help them develop cultural awareness as well as linguistic proficiency. There is a coordinated language lab program.
This course is taught in rotation by the following instructors: Laura Ceia-Minjares, Cathy Culot, Gilberte Furstenberg, and Johann Sadock.

21G.302/352 is the second part of an introductory course to the French language and culture with an emphasis on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical concepts through active communication. The course is conducted entirely in French and students interact in French with their classmates from the very beginning. They also receive exposure to the language via a variety of authentic sources such as the Internet, audio, video and printed materials which help them develop cultural awareness as well as linguistic proficiency. There is a coordinated language lab program.
This course is taught in rotation by the following instructors: Laura Ceia-Minjares, Cathy Culot, Gilberte Furstenberg, and Johann Sadock.

This course introduces students to the world of French photography from its invention in the 1820s to the present. It provides exposure to major photographers and images of the French tradition, and encourages students to explore the social and cultural roles and meanings of photographs. Designed to help students navigate their own photo-saturated worlds, it also provides opportunity to gain practical experience in photography. Taught in English.

This course approaches the question of what constitutes Frenchness in today’s era of globalization through issues of memory, belonging, and cultural production. It explores the role of timeless traditions – common technologies, an internationally-spoken language, monuments open to the world, and foods such as wine and cheese – that remain quintessentially French. The course also covers recent scandals about France’s role in the world, such as its colonial identity and Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s New York debacle.
Taught in French.

Since the discovery of the structure of the DNA double helix in 1953 by Watson and Crick, the information on detailed molecular structures of DNA and RNA, namely, the foundation of genetic material, has expanded rapidly. This discovery is the beginning of the “Big Bang” of molecular biology and biotechnology. In this seminar, students discuss, from a historical perspective and current developments, the importance of pursuing the detailed structural basis of genetic materials.

Are you interested in investigating how nature engineers itself? How engineers copy the shapes found in nature (“biomimetics”)? This Freshman Seminar investigates why similar shapes occur in so many natural things and how physics changes the shape of nature. Why are things in nature shaped the way they are? How do birds fly? Why do bird nests look the way they do? How do woodpeckers peck? Why can’t trees grow taller than they are? Why is grass skinny and hollow? What is the wood science behind musical instruments? Questions such as these are the subject of biomimetic research and they have been the focus of investigation in this course for the past three years.