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Friday, February 21, 2025
- All dayArtfinity: The MIT Festival for the ArtsA celebration of creativity and community at MITArtfinity is a new festival of the arts at MIT featuring 80 free performing and visual arts events, celebrating creativity and community at the Institute. Artfinity launches with the opening of the new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building on February 15, 2025, continues with a concentration of events February 28-March 16, and culminates with the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts public lecture by 2025 recipient artist and designer Es Devlin on May 1, 2025, and a concert by Grammy-winning rapper and Visiting Professor Lupe Fiasco on May 2, 2025. Artfinity embodies MIT’s commitment to creativity, community, and the intersection of art, science and technology. We invite you to join us in this celebration, explore the diverse events, and experience the innovative spirit that defines the arts at MIT.About the Artists Artfinity features the innovative work of MIT faculty, students, staff, and alumni, alongside guest artists from the Greater Boston area and beyond.About the Activities & Events All 80 events are open to the public, including dozens of concerts and performances plus an array of visual arts such as projections, films, installations, exhibitions, and augmented reality experiences, as well as lectures and workshops for attendees to participate in. With a wide range of visual and performing arts events open to all, Artfinity embodies MIT’s commitment to the arts and the intersection of art, science, and technology.About the Presenters Artfinity is an institute-sponsored event organized by the Office of the Arts at MIT with faculty leads Institute Professor of Music Marcus Thompson and Professor of Art, Culture and Technology Azra Akšamija. Departments, labs, centers, and student groups across MIT are presenting partners.Visit arts.mit.edu for more information about the arts at MIT.
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- 8:00 AM1h 30mSpring into Writing with Writing Together Online!Writing Together Online offers structured time to help you spring into writing and stay focused this semester. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of scholars who connect online, set realistic goals, and write together in the spirit of accountability and camaraderie. The program is open to all MIT students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and affiliates who are working on papers, proposals, thesis/dissertation chapters, application materials, and other writing projects. For more information and to register, go to this link or check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with colleagues and friends.Register for Spring 2025 Writing Challenge 1Choose those sessions that you want to attend during Challenge 1: February 10th through March 21stMondays 9:00–10:30amTuesdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amWednesdays 9:00–10:30amThursdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amFridays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amMIT Students and postdocs who attend at least 5 sessions per challenge will be entered into a raffle of three $25 Amazon gift cards. The raffle will take place on Friday, March 21st. The more you participate, the more times you will be entered into the raffle of prizes.For more information and to register, check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with peers and friends.The funding support for this program comes from the Office of Graduate Education
- 8:00 AM9hMIT Sloan Fintech ConferenceThe MIT Sloan Fintech Conference is one of the largest student-run conferences in the world. Taking place on February 20 and 21, 2025, it will bring together over 500 attendees including investors, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, students and professors.
- 9:30 AM1h 30mSpring into Writing with Writing Together Online!Writing Together Online offers structured time to help you spring into writing and stay focused this semester. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of scholars who connect online, set realistic goals, and write together in the spirit of accountability and camaraderie. The program is open to all MIT students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and affiliates who are working on papers, proposals, thesis/dissertation chapters, application materials, and other writing projects. For more information and to register, go to this link or check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with colleagues and friends.Register for Spring 2025 Writing Challenge 1Choose those sessions that you want to attend during Challenge 1: February 10th through March 21stMondays 9:00–10:30amTuesdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amWednesdays 9:00–10:30amThursdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amFridays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amMIT Students and postdocs who attend at least 5 sessions per challenge will be entered into a raffle of three $25 Amazon gift cards. The raffle will take place on Friday, March 21st. The more you participate, the more times you will be entered into the raffle of prizes.For more information and to register, check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with peers and friends.The funding support for this program comes from the Office of Graduate Education
- 9:30 AM9hMIT Sloan Product and Tech ConferenceThe MIT Sloan Product and Tech Conference is an annual, student-led event that connects product leaders, innovators, and professionals from top tech companies and high-growth startups. This dynamic conference tackles the most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities in technology and product management through thought-provoking panel discussions, inspiring keynotes, and engaging interactive sessions. Attendees can also participate in a Google-sponsored hackathon, targeted recruiting events, networking dinners, and other thoughtfully curated experiences designed to foster meaningful connections and collaboration between students and industry experts.
- 10:00 AM1h 30mEnglish Conversation GroupAll sessions will take place on Zoom until March 7.On February 28, we’ll have a discussion "Black History Month."On March 7, we’ll be discussing "AI."Meet other MS&PC members from all over the world, get resources and information about life at MIT/Cambridge/Boston, exchange ideas, and engage in cultural conversations in a friendly and casual environment, while working on English fluency.Please email ecgatmit@gmail.com for more information.
- 10:00 AM3hMIT Energy & Climate Career Fair🌍 2025 MIT Energy and Climate Career Fair📅 Date: Friday, February 21, 2025, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM ET📍 Location: Student Center Bldg. W20 - Sala De Puerto Rico (W20-202)Exploring career opportunities in energy, climate, or sustainability? Don’t miss the MIT Energy and Climate Career Fair! Connect with top employers like Schneider Electric, SESCO, GE Vernova, and more, hiring for internships and full-time roles in renewables, energy storage, finance, consulting, R&D, and beyond. Open to all students in the Greater Boston area. Want to get more involved? Volunteer at the fair—enjoy free lunch, support the event, and network directly with leading companies!Register to attend and sign up to volunteer!
- 11:00 AM1hStochastics and Statistics SeminarSpeaker: David Alverez-Melis (Harvard University)Title: Towards a ‘Chemistry of AI’: Unveiling the Structure of Training Data for more Scalable and Robust Machine LearningAbstract: Recent advances in AI have underscored that data, rather than model size, is now the primary bottleneck in large-scale machine learning performance. Yet, despite this shift, systematic methods for dataset curation, augmentation, and optimization remain underdeveloped. In this talk, I will argue for the need for a “Chemistry of AI”—a paradigm that, like the emerging “Physics of AI,” embraces a principles-first, rigorous, empiricist approach but shifts the focus from models to data. This perspective treats datasets as structured, dynamic entities that can be transformed through optimization and seeks to characterize their fundamental properties, composition, and interactions. I will then highlight some of our recent work that takes initial steps toward establishing this framework, including principled methods for dataset synthesis and surprising recent findings in dataset distillation.Biography: David Alvarez-Melis is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he leads the Data-Centric Machine Learning (DCML) group. He is also a Researcher at Microsoft Research New England and an Associate Faculty at the Kempner Institute for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and degrees in Mathematics from NYU and ITAM. David’s research seeks to make machine learning more broadly applicable (especially to data-poor applications) and trustworthy (e.g., robust and interpretable) through a data-centric approach that draws on methods from statistics, optimization and applied mathematics, and which takes inspiration from problems arising in the application of machine learning to the natural sciences.
- 12:00 PM50mMIT D-Lab TourA 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.
- 12:00 PM1hNano-Neuro Interface WorkshopHow can we leverage the tools of nanotechnology to address pressing, unresolved research challenges in neuroscience?We are hosting a collaborative workshop series to bring together the worlds of nanotechnology and neuroscience at MIT. We aim for these sessions to foster community and inspire transformative ideas at the intersection of these two fields. Our vision is that these workshops will increase interaction across disciplinary boundaries and lay the scientific and technological groundwork essential for the formation of the Alzheimer’s Hub at MIT.Registration is required. Link to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemOOffdoLnS4R2dIUD7hb8hTxJO_s-OWWUTdJSzpBP1ncT9g/viewform
- 12:00 PM3h 30mPlatforms, Algorithms, & Social Justice WorkshopJoin critical media and global digital scholars to explore technology and equity, addressing algorithmic bias, platform governance, and digital media's role in digital politics and social justice movements!CONTACT: norasur@mit.eduREGISTER HEREwww.norasuren.com
- 12:10 PM30mTunnel Walk sponsored by getfitWant to get exercise mid-day but don’t want to go outside? Join the tunnel walk for a 30-minute walk led by a volunteer through MIT’s famous tunnel system. This walk may include stairs/inclines. Wear comfortable shoes. Free.Location details: Meet in the lobby under the “Belonging + Community” banner. Location photo below.Tunnel Walk Leaders will have a white flag they will raise at the meeting spot for you to find them.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: Tunnel walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend you check this calendar just before you head out! [As of Feb 12, this calendar is defaulting to the year 1899. Click "today" to be brought to the current month.]Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These tunnel walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.
- 1:00 PM3hService Trip to Community Servings (2/21/2025)Help prepare meals from scratch to be home-delivered to people living with a life-threatening illness and unable to shop or cook for themselves. We will be working in a professional kitchen; only your presence is required!We will meet in Kendall Square (MBTA station) at 12:15pm and take the T to Community Servings in Jamaica Plain. The shift will then start at 1pm and last until 4pm. Dinner and transportation are on us.Sign up here: https://forms.gle/UhZ1U2HvYg2APwCy9Friends and partners are welcome, just have them sign up! Thanks for coming!
- 1:10 PM30mTunnel Walk sponsored by getfitWant to get exercise mid-day but don’t want to go outside? Join the tunnel walk for a 30-minute walk led by a volunteer through MIT’s famous tunnel system. This walk may include stairs/inclines. Wear comfortable shoes. Free.Location details: Meet in the atrium by the staircase. Location photo below.Tunnel Walk Leaders will have a white flag they will raise at the meeting spot for you to find them.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: Tunnel walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend checking this calendar just before you head out. [As of Feb 12, this calendar is defaulting to the year 1899. Click "today" to be brought to the current month.]Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These tunnel walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.
- 2:00 PM1h 30mMS&PC Book Club DiscussionWe’re thrilled to announce our next book selection. Start reading now and get ready for an engaging discussion!Book: Normal People by Sally RooneyAll are welcome, even if you haven't read the book. Please feel free to bring your own tea/coffee to the discussion. If you are interested in joining the discussion, please email this.is.jemma.koo@gmail.com
- 2:45 PM15mMIT@2:50 - Ten Minutes for Your MindTen minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu
- 3:00 PM2hInfinite-Dimensional Algebra SeminarSpeaker: Andrew Riesen (MIT)In person or on Zoom: https://mit.zoom.us/j/92441268505Title: Orbifolds of Pointed Vertex AlgebrasAbstract: This talk is based on joint work with Terry Gannon. We will discuss the interplay of tensor categories $\mathcal{C}$ with some group action $G$ and orbifolds $\mathcal{V}^G$ of vertex operator algebras $\mathcal{V}$ (VOAs for short). More specifically, we will show how the categorical structure of $\mathrm{TwMod}_G \mathcal{V}$ allows one to not only simplify previous results done purely through VOA techniques but vastly extend them. One such example is the Dijkgraaf-Witten conjecture, now a theorem, which describes how the category of modules of a holomorphic orbifold should look like. Additionally, our techniques also allow us to expand the modular fusion categories known to arise from VOAs, we show that every group-theoretical fusion category comes from a VOA orbifold. Lastly, we will discuss how VOAs with group actions give concrete realizations of $G$-Tambara Yamagami categories for nilpotent $G$.
- 4:00 PM1hNSF CBIKS Indigenous Sciences Speaker Series with Dr. Gabriel Sanchez "Collaborative Archaeology Field Schools: Perspectives from the Central California Coast"Please join MIT Anthropology Professor Sonya Atalay (NSF CBIKS founder & director) for the first Indigenous Sciences Speaker Series speaker of 2025.This talk shares insights from a collaborative field school bringing together students and Tribal members from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and their Land Trust. Informed by cultural perspectives and priorities, participants learned archaeological field methods developed by the Tribe and archaeologists over the last decade to study and preserve Indigenous cultural heritage.The U.S. National Science Foundation Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (NSF CBIKS) invites you to the third speaker in the Indigenous Sciences Speaker Series: Dr. Gabe Sanchez. Gabriel Sanchez is an Indigenous Anthropologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Oregon (UO). Gabriel currently participates in collaborative and community-based participatory research projects with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, and California State Parks, to investigate the native range of California’s endangered salmon species, which are vulnerable to extinction or extirpation. Collaborative research is a relatively niche but growing component of archaeological practice. While academic institutions and professional societies highlight the importance of Indigenous, collaborative, and decolonizing research strategies, opportunities to train students in these techniques are still generally lacking. This talk shares insights from a collaborative field school bringing together students and Tribal members from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and their Land Trust. Informed by cultural perspectives and priorities, participants learned archaeological field methods developed by the Tribe and archaeologists over the last decade to study and preserve Indigenous cultural heritage. In this talk, I consider how Indigenous-led efforts in central coastal California archaeology, focusing on site stewardship, access, research, and education, can broadly benefit field schools. Join us in welcoming Dr. Sanchez to our community and enjoy an engaging presentation and Q&A.
- 5:30 PM1hRoll + Recover - Virtual ClassExperience the immediate benefits of myofascial release with this simple and effective self-care practice. Learn specialized ball rolling techniques that help penetrate through layers of skin, fascia and muscle and massage into your high-tension areas.Each class includes guided exercises using the Roll Model therapy balls, breath work and stretching techniques specifically designed to ease overburdened muscles and encourage deep mind-body relaxation. Explore various muscle groups and needy body areas each week to eliminate strain and discomfort from sitting too long, working on screens and living with stress.You will find greater self-awareness, freedom and ease in your body. Put the power of self-massage into your own hands.All levels welcome! This is a movement class and workout attire is strongly encouraged.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 is a fee-based class and open to the entire MIT community.
- 5:30 PM1h 30mWrestling PracticeThe MIT wrestling club holds practices in the du Pont Wrestling Room on weeknights 5:30-7pm. All levels of experience welcome! Whether you're looking to learn how to grapple or just want to get in a good workout, wrestling practice is a good time to learn technique, get in some live goes, and have fun with a great group of people.Current schedule is: structured practice MTRF, open mats W, and technique sessions 9-10:30am on Saturday. For more information, contact wrestling-officers@mit.edu.
- 7:00 PM1hMAJORMAJOR is a dance theater project—directed and choreographed by inaugural Gus Solomons Jr. Visiting Artist Ogemdi Ude—exploring the history and physicality of majorette dance with a team of Southern Black femmes embodying the movement of their girlhood. The piece preserves, transforms, and continues majorette legacy by integrating majorette movement, documentary theater, a live marching band, and an online interview-based archive. Through investigations of physical memory, sexuality, and sensuality, MAJOR preserves and proliferates the creative practices and stories of the folks who taught the team how to be proudly Black and proudly femme.The Gus Solomons Jr. Visiting Artist Series is a new initiative that brings a contemporary dance artist to the MIT Theater Arts program in order to share and create their work with students and MIT’s broader community. Selected artists will, in the spirit of both Gus and MIT Theater, exemplify openness, embody empathy, expand the contemporary performance world on a national and/or international scale, and bring their unique individuality to their work—inspiring others to do the same.Ogemdi Ude (she/her) is a Black queer femme dance and interdisciplinary artist, educator, and doula based in Brooklyn. Her performance work focuses on Black femme legacies and futures, grief, and memory. Her work has been presented at The Kitchen, Gibney, Harlem Stage, Danspace Project, Abrons Arts Center, BRIC, ISSUE Project Room, Recess Art, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Center for Performance Research, and for BAM's DanceAfrica festival. As an educator, she has taught at The New School, Princeton University, Sarah Lawrence College, and University of the Arts. She is a 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, 2024 NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant recipient, a Live Feed Residency Artist at New York Live Arts, and a 2024/2025 BAX Artist-in-Residence. She has been a 2022-2024 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence, 2021 danceWEB Scholar, 2021 Laundromat Project Create Change Artist-in-Residence, and a 2019-2020 Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Resident Fellow. In January 2022 she appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine for their annual “25 to Watch” issue. Most recently, she has published a book Watch Me in a collection edited by Thomas DeFrantz and Annie-B Parson: Dance History(s): Imagination as a Form of Study published by Dancing Foxes Press and Wesleyan University Press, and was named a 2025 Jerome Foundation Fellow.
- 7:30 PM1h 30mFrom Antarctica to the Amazon: Susan Solomon and Patrick Harlin Discuss Music, Science, and Literature.A part of the MIT Artfinity Arts Festival and the inaugural season of events in the Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building at MIT.Friday, February 21st, 7:30pm Thomas Tull Concert Hall Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building (W18), MIT 201 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02139Composer Patrick Harlin and Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Chemistry Susan Solomon will share the stage at MIT’s new Tull Concert Hall for a fireside chat that bridges music and science. Harlin’s work, deeply informed by soundscape ecology, translates environmental patterns into innovative musical expressions. Solomon, whose research on atmospheric chemistry has redefined our understanding of climate systems, brings a scientific perspective grounded in decades of pioneering work. Through conversation, Harlin and Solomon will discuss how exploration—whether charting new musical territories or investigating the Earth’s atmosphere—inspires innovation and sparks new ways of thinking.The discussion will center on building connections between disciplines, highlighting how insights from music, science, and other fields can converge to tackle complex questions and spark collective creativity.About the SpeakersPatrick Harlin’s “aesthetics capture a sense of tradition and innovation…” (The New York Times). His music is permeated by classical, jazz, and electronic music traditions, all underpinned with a love and respect for the great outdoors. His works have been performed by the St. Louis Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Kinetic Ensemble, the Rochester and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, Collegium Cincinnati, and Calidore String Quartet, among others. Harlin is the inaugural composer in residence with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra (2019–2023). His interdisciplinary research in soundscape ecology—a field that aims to better understand ecosystems through sound—has taken him to imperiled regions around the world, including the Amazon rainforest and the Book Cliffs of Utah. His baseline recordings for ecological impact studies are also the fodder for artistic inspiration. This work has been supported by a Graham Sustainability Institute Doctoral Fellowship, a Theodore Presser Award, and private support, among others. These pieces draw parallels between the sounds of the natural world and those of the concert hall, seeking to bring awareness to the importance of sound in our environment. Harlin grew up in Seattle, holds a doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan, and currently resides in Ann Arbor.Full Bio: patrickharlin.comSusan Solomon is the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to coming to MIT in 2012, she was a scientist at NOAA in Boulder, Colorado and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado from 1982-2011. Solomon is widely recognized as one of the leaders in the field of atmospheric science. Her scientific papers have provided not only key measurements but also theoretical understanding regarding ozone destruction, especially the role of surface chemistry. In l986 and l987, she served as the Head Project Scientist of the National Ozone Expedition at McMurdo Station, Antarctica and made some of the first measurements there that pointed towards chlorofluorocarbons as the cause of the ozone hole. In l994, an Antarctic glacier was named in her honor in recognition of that work. In March of 2000, she received the National Medal of Science, the United States' highest scientific honor, for "key insights in explaining the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole."Full Bio: ssolomongroup.mit.edu/susansolomonThis event is part of Kinetic Ensemble's CAST Visiting Artists Residency, Artfinity, and the new MTA music building’s opening celebrations.