Classes
Subject Listings
EAPS faculty and instructors teach a wide range of undergraduate and graduate classes. Please visit the MIT Registrar’s Subject Listing for a searchable, comprehensive list of our offered classes. Schedules of EAPS classes are provided below for convenience for each term.
EAPS also maintains a running spreadsheet of class offerings along with a 4-year projected subject plan. Disclaimer: this subject plan can change frequently and should be considered as a tentative, unofficial guideline only. The further out the subject occurs, there may be more uncertainty.
NOTE: the MIT-WHOI Joint Program manages the classes offered within its program. The Registrar’s subject listing and the EAPS 4-year subject plan are based on the information we have received to date. Visit the Joint Program classes page for the most reliable source of program information.
Questions? eaps-ed-office@mit.edu
Lists of the current class schedules are provided here for convenience.
EAPS does not offer subjects during the Summer term, except for those required for undergraduate and graduate thesis enrollment and those associated with the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).
EAPS offers a variety of subjects using Special Topics subject numbers. They appear with an “S” in the subject listing (e.g., 12.S590). The MIT Subject Listing will represent these as a generic description because the subject is considered a “repeating” subject number. These subjects may have different specialized topics within the discipline each term.
Specific information on each subject from the last two academic years can be found below. Please refer to the MIT Subject Listing for up-to-date information on these classes. “Units arranged” means the student arranges the number of units with the instructor.
UPCOMING TOPICS
IAP 2026
12.S594: Special Seminar in EAPS — Auditory Perception of Natural Data, Part I (Direct Sonification of Oscillatory Signals)
Most of the wave-like phenomena in nature are far outside of the range of our direct perception, above and below, in spatial and temporal scales. Data representing such processes comes from sensors with often sparse, incomplete information. Usually, as scientists, we look at these signals and then design processing schemes to make inferences. However, our visual perception is not necessarily optimized for extracting meaning from waves. Often, we can gain significant, complementary or deeper insight by listening to it. So why don’t we? Sonification is the process of turning data of any kind into an audible representation. Any oscillatory signal can be frequency-shifted into our audible range and played as a sound. Our auditory perception has better temporal resolution than our visual perception, and is particularly attuned to interpretation of dynamics, including cause and effect, forcing and response. Combining visual and auditory representations of data can help us understand complex spatial-temporal interactions among events.
In this short, project-based course, we will first provide methods for sonification of oscillatory data (in python), and discuss simple to increasingly complex implementations (filtering, time compression/expansion), and spatialized audio for listening to multiple sensors simultaneously. We will also discuss when these methods break down (for non-oscillatory, non-stationary data). During the first two class sessions, we will explain and illustrate these methods with some of our current work on the wide range of length and time scales of earthquakes in a range of settings (including volcanoes, geothermal heat mines, tectonic faults, and the laboratory). Most of the class (days 3-5) will be for student projects. Please bring ideas for your own datasets to sonify, from your research or otherwise, from any domain. I can also provide datasets. At the end of the week, everyone will present their sounds, explain the phenomenon, the sensing method, and the research questions being explored through their sonification, and discuss questions generated in the process of making and listening.
Instructor: Ben Holtzman
Level: G (undergrads welcome, check with instructor)
Schedule: January 12-16, 2026; 2:00-5:00 pm
Units: 2
SPRING 2026
12.S492 Special Seminar in Geobiology — Tracking the microbial cycling of carbon through time using isotopes
Sedimentary organic carbon is a major reservoir of carbon on Earth’s surface, with a >3.5-billion-year history. Fractionations of stable carbon are used to reconstruct the contributions of different carbon-fixation and carbon-recycling pathways to this reservoir. In this seminar, we’ll discuss the seminal literature and recent advances on the basics of carbon isotope fractionation in the cell, examine how different carbon fixation and metabolic recycling mechanisms fractionate carbon isotopes, and assess isotope-based evidence for specific microbial metabolisms and interactions in fossil organic carbon and specific carbon compounds. This seminar will involve weekly meetings and discussions of the literature.
Instructor: Tanja Bosak
Level: G (undergraduates welcome, check with instructor)
Schedule: Th 2:30-4:00 pm
Units: Arranged
12.S590 Special Seminar in Geophysics — Energy Transition: Geoenergy and Geosolutions
This interdisciplinary course explores the geological, economic, and policy dimensions of subsurface resources central to the global energy transition. Students will gain a rigorous foundation in the science, engineering, and societal contexts of geothermal energy, carbon sequestration, geological hydrogen, and critical minerals. The class integrates lectures, modeling exercises, policy discussions, and a field trip focused on real-world applications. Recommended experience in earth science, environmental science, or engineering. Interest in energy systems, sustainability, or policy.
Instructors: Oliver Jagoutz, Shuhei Ono, Matěj Peč, Ben Holtzman
Level: G (undergraduates welcome, check with instructor)
Schedule: M W 1:30-3:30pm
Units: 12
12.S594 Special Seminar in EAPS — Snowball Earth: Geology, geochemistry, geobiology, and climate dynamics of extreme climate states
The geologic record indicates that during several long-lived intervals of the Proterozoic, ice sheets at sea level stabilized at tropical latitudes, suggesting alterations between snowball and greenhouse climate states. By reviewing literature from the initial hypotheses of global glaciation through the most recent advances in understanding of Earth’s long-term climate history, this course will explore the geologic evidence for extraordinary climate fluctuations, the climate dynamics of these extreme states, and the geochemical and geobiological causes and consequences of the most severe episodes of climate change in Earth history.
Instructor: Lyle Nelson
Level: G (undergraduates welcome, check with instructor)
Schedule: Th 2:00-4:00 pm
Units: Arranged
12.S681: Special Seminar in Planetary Science — Cosmochemistry and planetary formation
Explores the chemical perspectives of planetary formation, differentiation, and evolution. Introduces the principles of isotope geochemistry and their applications to understanding the origin of the Solar System and the building blocks of planets. Topics include nucleosynthetic anomalies as tracers of nebular and pre-Solar materials; stable isotope fractionation as a probe of physical and chemical processes; the causes of volatile element depletion in planetary bodies; and the magmatic differentiation histories of rocky planetary bodies. Discusses how geochemical observations from meteorites, planetary samples, and spacecraft missions constrain models of accretion, core–mantle-crust differentiation, and the origin of volatiles on terrestrial planets.
Instructor: Nicole Nie
Level: G (undergraduates welcome, check with instructor)
Schedule: T 2:00-5:00 pm
Units: Arranged
Grading: P/D/F
For older special topic courses, please contact eaps-ed-office@mit.edu
You’ll find select EAPS subjects and course materials hosted on various open-access platforms.
