How have conflict, coercion, and slavery shaped long-term state capacity and economic development? What role do local actors play in shaping state authority? How do external threats influence identities and governance outcomes? This workshop brings together leading scholars in historical political economy to explore the deep roots of state formation, economic development, and culture. The event is open to Boston-area faculty and graduate students in political science, history, and economics.Organized by Volha Charnysh (MIT) and Yuhua Wang (Harvard). Please RSVP here.

Are you new to MIT and MIT Spouses & Partners Connect? Want to learn about how to participate in our meetings and groups? Have questions about living, working, and/or parenting in Boston? Meet with Jennifer Recklet Tassi, the Program Manager, and Viktoriia Palesheva, the Program Assistant, and ask your questions about life at MIT and in Boston.If you'd like to attend, just send an email to spousesandpartners@mit.edu to let us know you're coming.

A 50 minute, (usually) student-led tour of MIT D-Lab, D-Lab prototypes, and our workshop! Hear about the 23-year history of D-Lab, our founding director Amy Smith, our 12+ MIT classes, research groups, humanitarian innovation program and more! Not free at tour time? Stop by anytime to look around or email d-lab-tours@mit.edu.

Date: Friday, May 16, 2025 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Simons Center Conference room 46-6011 + Zoom (https://mit.zoom.us/j/91490329119)Speaker: Dr. Christopher Fell Affiliation: Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Abudayyeh & Gootenberg Lab, Harvard Medical School; Gene and Cell Therapy Institute, Mass General BrighamTalk title: Repurposing natural enzymes for large genomic editsAbstract: Treating human genetic disorders remain a large, unmet need. Gene editing technologies are rapidly advancing to clinics but are limited in the scale of edits that they can make. In this talk, I will present recent advances in the emerging gene editing modality called Programmable Gene Integration (PGI), which may be able to treat genetic diseases through gene replacement or supplementation.

This virtual class will provide a mental vacation. Learn guided meditation, relaxation, stretches, and breathing practices to calm mind and body. All experience levels welcome.Registration is required on our wellness class website. If you do not already have an account on this website, you'll need to create one. This class is free and open to the entire MIT community.

13 new startups emerge from MITdesignX this year.We start off Pitch and Demo Day at 2pm, giving the live audience a chance to meet with the teams and see their new products and services. A lunch buffet will be served.At 3pm, we begin our presentations with a recap of the year at MITdesignX and pitches by all the new startups. This segment of the day will be hybrid and livestreamed online to a global audience.We hope to see you in person or online on May 16! Please register here.