Prohibition and Permission
MIT's freshman seminar looks at why certain everyday acts are forbidden or allowed, and what gives those rules their force. Topics range from food taboos, since every culture eats only a narrow slice of what is technically edible, to marriage restrictions set by law or custom. Readings draw on psychology and literature, including works by Shakespeare, Melville, Mary Rowlandson, and Anita Desai, tracing how prohibition and permission show up from ancient texts to modern fiction. Students work through these cases in discussion and give both group and individual oral presentations, building skills in argument and public speaking alongside the reading. Materials on MIT OpenCourseWare include the syllabus and assignment descriptions for the seminar, part of MIT's Concourse learning community. No lectures are recorded; the course is structured around discussion and presentation rather than video content.