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Dear Octet,
On behalf of the Octet team, welcome to the 2023-24 academic year! The campus is abuzz with excitement as classes and activities get underway. As memories of summer rest and spaciousness fade, it is our hope that renewal, restoration, and true flourishing will be yours in Christ no matter how busy life gets. For Octet, this means extending intellectual hospitality through Diálogos, events that encourage civil discourse, A Better Future—conversations and courses that promote virtue and ethics in science and technology, and Sabbath Midweek, a space for contemplation through prayer and the breaking of bread. We look forward to sharing these endeavors with you as they unfold. Please join us in person or online as we "advance hospitality, wisdom, and wonder" together for all at MIT.
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Mia Chung-Yee
Executive Director
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- Read an essay on virtue by Nathan Barczi, Octet Senior Theologian and Associate Director.
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Listen to a conversation between Jael Whitney, Officer of Indigenous Communities for MIT Solve, and Nathan Barczi.
- MIT faculty, staff and students, mark your calendars for Octet's first Intellectual Hospitality Diálogos event of the academic year on October 19!
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Four Dancers, Edgar Degas (1902, French) | |
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Got Virtue?
By: Nathan Barczi
In this first essay of the academic year, Nathan Barczi discusses what we mean by virtues and why they can't be divided into moral and intellectual. He also explores what it would look like for universities like MIT truly to pursue wisdom—and courage, justice and temperance, faith, hope and love—as interconnected virtues.
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How Can Science Serve the Common Good?
On October 19th, Octet will host its first Intellectual Hospitality Diálogos event of the year with S. Joshua Swamidass, Associate Professor of Pathology, Immunology and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. MIT students, faculty or staff members are welcome to attend this dinner and discussion. If you're a community member and are interested in attending, please email comm@octetcollaborative.org to be added to the invitation list.
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Photos from previous Diálogos events. | |
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Theological Intensive at Duke University
Anne McCants, Professor of History at MIT, and Mia Chung-Yee, Executive Director of Octet, attended a three-day workshop hosted by Regent College and the Center for Christianity & Scholarship at Duke University. Attendees included faculty from across the US, and together, they learned from Regent instructors and discussed how Christian doctrines can inform their research and training. Generous Octet donors made this possible—thank you!
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Group photo of faculty participating in the theological intensive. | |
Mia Chung-Yee, Fiona Dieffenbacher of the Parsons School of Design, and Anne McCants. | |
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MIT Christian Meet-and-Greet
Many faculty, staff and students attended the Meet-and-Greet event, hosted by Octet and the United Christian Organization. Students heard from faculty, staff and campus ministry chaplains on how to get involved in different organizations and adjusting to life at MIT, while enjoying dinner together.
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Jael Whitney
Officer of Indigenous Communities for MIT Solve, speaks with Nathan Barczi on her work at MIT, the biggest obstacle to human flourishing at MIT and where she sees God at work.
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Scholarly News
Danielle Wood of the MIT Media Lab and four other women were featured in the MIT Technology Review on advancing aerospace research and science.
Daniel Hastings, Interim Institute Community and Equity Officer at MIT and Octet Collaborative Faculty Advisor, was a guest on the Global Faculty Initiative podcast.
Loza Tadesse, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, co-authored a study that has identified a new way to detect contaminants in a variety of tests.
Deborah Chung, PhD '77, was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
MIT's Concourse Program will launch a civil discourse project, led by philosophers Alex Byrne and Brad Skow, and in close coordination with Anne McCants, Professor of History and Concourse Director, and Linda Rabieh, Concourse Lecturer.
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Infinite Corridors Podcast
On October 1, Octet is releasing its first full season of the Infinite Corridors Podcast, stories of faith and discovery from the halls of MIT and beyond. Listen wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Below is the lineup of speakers:
Deborah Haarsma, President of BioLogos
Cullen Buie, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and New Directions Scholar at the Broad Institute
Rosalind Picard, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, Co-founder of Empatica and Affectiva, and Founder & Director of the Affective Computing Research Group at MIT Media Lab
Scott Francisco, Cities4Forests Director and the Founder & Director of Pilot Projects
Jack Collins, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary
Rocklyn & Eva Clarke, Co-Founders of Life Church Boston, Senior Pastor (Rocklyn) & Executive Pastor (Eva)
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From the Archives
In October 2022, Christy Vines of the Ideos Institute presented at Octet's first Intellectual Hospitality Diálogos event. Vines' talk focused on race, identity politics and how Scripture illuminates our neurological wiring. Listen to the audio recording via the link below.
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Connect with the Octet Collaborative on social media! | |
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The Octet Collaborative seeks to serve the MIT community and will gratefully consider featuring your event, news, and work. If you'd like to feature something within the A View from the Dome, please reach out to the appropriate contact below.
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