What kind of political atmosphere is there at MIT?

[kemcab]

<p>

I would say that MIT on the whole is left of center but not extremely so. I always felt (coming from a more liberal living group than average - see below) like the true political divide was liberals vs. libertarians, not liberals vs. conservatives. It certainly was, and is, in my social group.

</p>

<p>So the picture I’m getting is essentially what I’d expected- diversity in viewpoint but generally left and socially liberal, but overall not extremely political or polarized.</p>

<p>

There are political differences between majors and between living groups.

</p>

<p>Hmm, I wonder why Aeronautics and Astronautics is statistically the most liberal. It’s interesting to see how some majors are somewhat (if not drastically) more left than the others.</p>

<p>

Well, in my particular case, I took a class (21A.216, Dilemmas in Biomedical Ethics) and realized that, as a scientist, I had a moral obligation to behave ethically not only in terms of my day-to-day work, but in terms of the effect of my work on the world. I realized for the first time that not everybody thinks that science is awesome and good the way I do, and I found out why.

</p>

<p>I looked it up on ocw.mit.edu, and that actually seems like a very interesting course. I also found an essay on the debate on universal standards of health care written by a student in that class. Needless to say, it was extremely interesting and now that I think about it, I don’t really know for certain whether I like more, anthropology and social sciences or mathematics and exact sciences. </p>

<p>

That class sparked my interest in social justice and was a major contributing factor to changing my political views.

</p>

<p>I suppose, that in this sense, humanities and the social sciences are an important thing at MIT.</p>