Traditions and Cultures

Participants in the intensive five-day institute explore the heritage and cultures of Boston/New England. The course blends in-depth study of the region's ecosystems and ecology, with inquiry into the dynamics of historical, literary, and artistic traditions of the cultures that make up the city, including Native American and African-American, as well as a wide variety of immigrant groups. Participants will undertake extensive field study, exploring neighborhoods, meeting with resource people, and engaging in cultural and historical opportunities. Participants will complete research and a final project of their own choosing (or will work as a team on developing a neighborhood walking tour).

Course Description:

Course Objectives:

• Identify the variety of cultural groups in the Boston area, and consider the dynamics between these cultures.
• Explore the unique ecology of the region and identify political and economic implications of geography and physical characteristics.
• Analyze relationships between the region's land, history, literature and art.
• Engage in individualized research on particular aspects of Boston, and synthesize that research in a final integrative project.

Course Structure:

Resource people include eminent local historians, artists, writers and community leaders.  Field sites include: Boston Nature Center, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Public Library, neighborhood walking tours, African Meeting House, Forest Hills Cemetery.  Additional field sites will be determined by interests of individual participants, and particular neighborhood research.

The reading list provides a frame of reference for the group’s study of the traditions and cultures of the region.  In addition, we will provide articles of interest and guidelines about each day’s activities.

Students taking the Institute for credit design a final project or curriculum unit that integrates the themes of the week and reflects their personal and professional interests.  We also provide additional resources to meet the interests of non-credit students.  Lesley faculty provide guidance and assist in identifying appropriate resources.

Location

The Institute meets in a variety of locations, from classrooms on the Lesley campus, to meeting spaces at various field sites, to walking tours and group excursions.  Transportation will include some travel on the T (subway and buses) and use of Lesley vans.  We will meet from 9-5 each day.  Participants will have a variety of choices for lunch, and a range of optional dinner and evening activities.  Those attending who are not from the Boston area will be assisted in finding accommodations, either at the Lesley campus, or in nearby lodging. 

Faculty

Sharlene Voogd Cochrane, PhD, serves as Director of the Division of Interdisciplinary Inquiry, and teaches courses in history and cultural studies.  Her focus is the intersections of gender, race and religion.  She has taught “The History of Boston” and worked with Boston Schools for over twenty years.

Kristina Lamour, MFA, teaches graphic design at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. Her research interests include preschool age design processes, and projects that bridge graphic design and general education.

Sample Itinerary 

Day 1:  Cradle of Liberty  Earliest settlement-1790
Morning:  Introduction to Boston
Using maps and historical documents, we'll explore the basic shape of early Boston, its topographical history and the development of neighborhoods.
Introduction to “Visual Literacy” as a component of the Institute.
Afternoon:  Walking tour of Beacon Hill and Back Bay including the Yankee “Brahmins” of Federal Boston, and the longest standing African-American church in the country.  

Day 2:  Athens of America  1790-1870
Morning: Social and cultural developments, the Industrial Revolution, and Civil War.
The Arts as a Reflection of Community Change
Afternoon:  South End Walking Tour, and/or Trolley tour of Roxbury, homes to successive groups from early colonists to Irish, then Jewish Immigrants, to African Americans. Visit artists' studios/neighborhood murals.

Day 3:  Melting Pot?  1870-1940
Morning:  The People of Boston. Who's in the city and where? Immigration, migration, settlement patterns. Suburbs and Parks/Transportation and Education
Developing individual project topics.
Afternoon:  Neighborhood explorations: Mattapan, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Roslindale 
Identify possible sites for local walking tours, further study.

Day 4: The New Boston  1940-2006
Morning: Panel presentation and discussion of contemporary issues
Clark Farm as a Development Case Study
Afternoon:  individual and small group research  (i.e.  Bostonian Society, Mass Historical Society, SPNEA,  Old State House and National Park Service, neighborhood libraries, historical societies )

Day 5: Projecting into the Future
Morning:  The City as a Site for Learning
Document and neighborhood research plans
Afternoon:  Participant Presentations of Work in Progress
Celebration and Closing Circle

Contact us:

For program information contact Sharlene Cochrane, at 617-349-8477 or cochrane@lesley.edu

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