Lauren Bonilla, PhD
Collaborative fieldnote writing between students at MIT and the National University of Mongolia

Teaching

I am a fourth-generation educator and, like many members of my family, I am drawn to teaching because I genuinely enjoy working with students and getting to know them as people. What piques their curiosity? What challenges them? How do they think and learn? In what communities are they rooted and seek to serve? As an educator, I am intrigued by how knowledge - especially exposure to diverse systems of knowledge - affects our perceptions of ourselves in relation to other people, places, and times, thereby influencing our actions and broader commitments in the world.
I have taught an array of classes, from large introductory survey courses to small seminars and experiential field courses in Mongolia. In all my engagements with students, it is very important to me that they feel seen, heard, and valued as whole people. As such, I strive to create an inclusive, collaborative class community where there are opportunities for students to lead with their interests, contribute to course content, and apply coursework in ways that are meaningful to them, both personally and professionally. 

Courses Taught 

  • Anthro-Engineering Decarbonization at the Million-Person Scale (MIT, 21A.S01)

    This class explores and experiments with pathways of decarbonization at the million-person scale through an interdisciplinary “anthro-engineering” approach. By putting people first, we examine how user-centric design, holistic ally and stakeholder inclusion, responding to cultural and political constraints on clean energy issues, and working in and with diverse groups on open-ended problems can create impactful and equitable changes in energy systems. Students engage with anthropological approaches to energy, development, sustainability, and climate-related issues while simultaneously exploring the possibilities for practical, real-world intervention into an energy landscape dominated by fossil fuels. Co-taught with Professor Michael Short (Nuclear Science & Engineering) in 2023 and with Professor Michael Short, Professor Manduhai Buyandelger (Anthropology), and Dr. Rea Lavi (MIT NEET) in 2022.

  • Disease and Health: Culture, Society, and Ethics (MIT, 21A.301)

    From a cross cultural and global perspective, examines how medicine is practiced, with particular emphasis on biomedicine. Analyzes medical practice as a cultural system, focusing on the human and social side of things. Considers how people in different societies think of disease, health, body, and mind.

  • Technology and Culture (MIT, 21A.500)

    Examines the intersections of technology, culture, and politics in a variety of social and historical settings ranging from 19th-century factories to 21st-century techno dance floors, from Victorian London to anything-goes Las Vegas. Discussions and readings organized around three questions: what cultural effects and risks follow from treating biology as technology; how computers have changed the way we think about ourselves and others; and how politics are built into our infrastructures. Explores the forces behind technological and cultural change; how technological and cultural artifacts are understood and used by different communities; and whether, in what ways, and for whom technology has produced a better world.

  • Introduction to Anthropology: Comparing Cultures (MIT, 21A.00)

    Through the comparative study of different cultures, anthropology explores fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Seeks to understand how culture shapes societies, from the smallest island in the South Pacific to the largest Asian metropolis, and affects the way institutions work, from scientific laboratories to Christian mega-churches. Provides a framework for analyzing diverse facets of human experience, such as gender, ethnicity, language, politics, economics, and art.

  • Stakes of International Development (MIT, 21A.400)

    Offers an anthropological perspective on international development. Students consider development, not in policy or technical terms, but through its social and political dynamics and its impacts on daily life. Examines the various histories of, and meanings given to, international development as well as the social organization of aid agencies and projects. Follows examples of specific projects in various parts of the world. Examples: water projects for pastorialists in Africa, factory development in Southeast Asia, and international nature parks in Indonesia.

  • Local/Global Environmental Justice (Clark University)