Dear Octet,

Thank you for being a valued participant in Octet's work at MIT! It is a privilege serving this community, and we are grateful for the many ways you have participated in these efforts through your prayers, gifts, and encouragement. 

Being thankful and generous is something Jesus modeled so well when He walked the earth. He offered peace and hope to all through his words and actions. We hope to do the same even as we grapple with the conflict and violence that continues in the Middle East and elsewhere across the globe. May we be a people that binds wounds, listens attentively, and prays without ceasing. Most of all, may we exhibit a patient gratitude as we wait for the world to be made anew.

With thanksgiving and joy,

Mia Chung-Yee

Executive Director

• Read an essay on the vice of curiosity by Nathan Barczi, Octet Senior Theologian and Associate Director.
• Listen to a conversation between Ganatra, MIT Baptist Student Fellowship team member, and Nathan Barczi.
• Listen to the Infinite Corridor podcast featuring Cullen Buie, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.

The Vice of Curiosity

By: Nathan Barczi

In this third essay of the academic year, Nathan Barczi presses into the virtues necessary for scientific endeavor, asking whether we can steer clear of the existential threats posed to a previous generation by nuclear science, or by artificial intelligence in our own day. The answer, he argues, turns on the counterintuitive ancient notion that curiosity is actually a vice—when, that is, it is an undirected amassing of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. The remedy, then, is not to fear intellectual endeavor, but to develop the virtue of studiousness by asking, in the pluralistic scientific community of MIT, what knowledge, in the end, is truly for.

Sharing the Table: Conversations Across Disagreement & Discipline

Octet will host Alan Love, professor in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, for an intellectual hospitality event to discuss the importance of academic collaboration across disciplines and lines of difference. MIT students, faculty and 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.

Sabbath Midweek

Each Wednesday, the Octet Collaborative hosts Sabbath Midweek, a lunch and prayer event open to MIT faculty, staff and students. The weekly event is meant to provide space and time for rest, prayer and fellowship during the busy week. All are welcome for a free lunch and time of prayer. If you'd like to receive weekly reminders on Sabbath Midweek, text JOIN to 833-459-3187.

Ganatra

Ganatra is an MIT alum, desk captain at Burton-Conner House (an MIT residence), and works alongside MIT Chaplain Michael Dean with the Baptist Student Fellowship. In this conversation, Ganatra talks about his upbringing, his time as a student at MIT, and human flourishing.

Scholarly News

Wenqiang (Winston) Chen, a postdoctoral associate at MIT CSAIL, co-authored a paper on using unsupervised Siamese adaptation in smartwatches and wearables.

Nathan Matias, MIT PhD '17, received the Rise25 award from the Mozilla Foundation.

Mingda Li co-authored a study on the trapping of electrons in a crystal—the first time this has been achieved in a three-dimensional material.

John Liu won a grant to research and test ACT-R and error-based cognitive architecture for the development of virtual reality hands-on training.

Kristala Prather was named the head of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Infinite Corridors Podcast

On episode 2 of the Infinite Corridor podcast, Cullen Buie, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, talks about how God directed his life into a career in engineering, the huge variety of problems that career has enabled him to address, and how he sets priorities in a life with many callings.

Listen via the buttons below or wherever you get your podcasts!

Over the past six weeks, like most colleges and universities in our nation, MIT has been grieved by the events taking place in the Middle East and roiled by tensions surrounding them. We ask that you keep in your prayers all of the students, staff, faculty, and the administration of MIT, as the Institute navigates a situation that poses threats to the community’s mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being, poses challenges to free and civil discourse, and even raises fears for physical safety. The Octet Collaborative is grateful to walk alongside the many MIT Chaplains within the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life who are seeking ways to be peacemakers during this difficult time.

Ministry News & Events

• The MIT Baptist Student Fellowship will host an Operation Christmas Child Packing Party on Saturday, November 18 at 4 pm in W11-190.
• MIT Cru's Big Questions virtual event is scheduled for Saturday, November 18 at 7 pm. This is a time for non-believers or people new to faith to ask questions and learn more.
• The MIT Asian Christian Fellowship is hosting a Case for Christ movie night on Saturday, November 18 at 8 pm in the Simmons Multipurpose room.
• MIT RUF's next dinner and discussion meeting is on Tuesday, November 21 at 6:30 pm in W11-080.
• The MIT Graduate Christian Fellowship will host its Friendsgiving Potluck dinner on Friday, November 24 at 3 pm on campus (final location is TBD).
• Join the MIT Tech Catholic Community for a Gingerbread House Making event on Saturday, December 9 at 7 pm in the Wellbeing Lab Student Center.

From the Archives

In February 2023, Andy Crouch, Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis, delivered the Diálogos presentation on gender, sexuality and technology. Listen to the audio recording via the link below.