The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a teaching and research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States, has been referenced by many works of cinema, television and the written word. MIT's overall reputation has greater influence on its role in popular culture than does any particular aspect of its history or student lifestyle. Because MIT is well known as a breeding ground for technology and technologists, the makers of modern media are able to use it to establish character in a way that mainstream audiences can understand. A smaller number of works use MIT directly as their scene of action.