Lots of weird things happen in the Media Lab, and it can be hard to keep track of all of them over time. Here is a non-exhaustive collection of interestign stuff that happens sometimes, with links to things.
Studcom is how we colloquially refer to the MIT Media Lab's Student Committee. We are an open and welcoming group of students interested in building and maintaining the student community at the Lab. We administer a budget available to any student with an idea (a project or event) that builds community. Studcom is also responsible for organsiing 99Fridays and has created many of the weirdest and wackiest events and projects to come out of the media lab.
Studcom operates as a direct democracy through mailing lists [email protected] and note taking on the open etherpad website at studcom.media.mit.edu.
99Fridays (branded 99F) is a half art installation / half party for the extended Media Lab community. 99F is all about co-creation, so everyone joins a participatory crew to make the event even better. It is an expressive leave-no-trace event, people are asked to bring their own cup, costume and dance moves. The name originates from MIT's policy that police were required for an event with 100 or more attendees. As such, no more than 99 people could attend (and challenge coins were issued to people who completed challenges to gain attendence rights). The MIT did not state a limit on organisers, and as such, everyone else who wanted to come had to co-organise the event through art, planning, cleaning or logistics.
You can see photos in the images folder.
The SciFi Library (scifilib), located in E15-384, is a space for the community to learn about the past, and get inspired to create the future. The Library is scaffolded a generously donated collection of hundreds of science fiction books, which span many divergent possibilities for what the future might hold. To surface many of the whacky ideas lost to the sands of time, it also contains a ecclectic collection of artifacts from long gone groups (such as Design Fiction and Scalable Cooperation). scifilib.media.mit.edu
A longstanding annual day-long festival at the Lab, made by-the-community, for-the-community, involving students, UROPs, staff, and faculty. To celebrate 🎉, learn 👯, eat 🥘, make 🗜️, share 🤝, play ✨, and dance 💃🏽 together!
- The Piano that people sometimes play in the basement of E15.
- Bartos Theater (a full theatre in the basement of E15 that you can book).