Materials in Human Experience
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this interdisciplinary course on how ancient and contemporary societies selected, evaluated, and transformed natural materials into objects of material culture. Topics include glass production in ancient Egypt and Rome, the sounds and colors of metals valued in Mesoamerica, and cloth and fiber technologies developed in the Inca empire. The course also considers ideological and aesthetic criteria that shaped materials development across cultures. Laboratory and workshop sessions give hands-on experience with the materials discussed in lectures, connecting anthropology, archaeology, and engineering. The course complements MIT's 3.091 Introduction to Solid State Chemistry. Materials include the full syllabus, lecture notes, and assignments as published on MIT OpenCourseWare, free to access with no certificate offered. It suits learners interested in material culture, ancient technology, or the history of engineering.