The arts play a vital role in Boston's daily life. The city's cultural offerings include everything from small gallery shows and world-class museum exhibits to productions in the Theatre District; historic preservation projects in the Back Bay; outdoor concerts at the Hatch Shell; and summer festivals on the Common.
Students in the Arts and Culture track choose from courses in American studies, art history, archaeology, literature, and film prior to working in one of the Boston's many organizations in the visual and performing arts. Internship placements include art galleries, museums, theatres, festivals, historic sites, preservation projects, non-profit administration, and local art councils.
Fun Facts:
- Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera is set in Boston.
- The Boston University Art Gallery is housed in the building
of a former car dealership; its iconography includes gargoyle-like
creatures with tires around their necks and mechanics holding
wrenches.
- Free music concerts have been given each Tuesday at King's
Chapel since 1786.
- In the summer you can enjoy an outdoor play on the banks of
the Charles River at The Publick Theatre or in the midst of
the Boston Common with Shakespeare on the Common.
- The Boston Pops, famous for its Fourth of July concert on
the Esplanade, was established in 1885 by the founder of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Summer 1 Courses (May 20-June 27)
You'll spend your first six weeks of the Summer Study Internship Program taking two courses chosen from the list below.
Internship (July 7-August 15)
For the second six weeks of the program, you'll be placed as an intern in a Boston-area organization or business that matches your interests and experience. You should expect to work a minimum of 35 hours a week, for five days a week.
Summer Study Internship Course (May 23-August 15)
The Summer Study Internship Course begins in Summer 1 with an
orientation on Friday, May 23. The remaining five sessions continue
through August 15. 2 cr.
Arts and Culture Summer 1 Courses (pick two):
CAS AH 111 Art History I: Antiquity to the Middle Ages
An introduction to art history and the analysis of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other arts. Study of masterpieces of Western Art from prehistoric to dawn of Renaissance. Focus on monuments of Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages, with a survey of Egyptian and Near Eastern art. 4 cr.
Tues./Thurs. 2-5:30 p.m.
Dorothy Nieciecki
CAS AH 211 Boston Museums
An introduction to the fundamentals of visual analysis and to the history of art, focusing on outstanding works in the collections of Boston and Cambridge museums. Current, temporary exhibitions are included. Also examines the curatorial decision-making process determining the choice of works and the conditions under which they are displayed. 4 cr.
Tues./Thurs. 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Jonathan Ribner
CAS AH 240 Medieval Art
European art and architecture from the fall of Rome through High Gothic. Covers media including sculpture, textiles, stained glass, and precious metalwork. Monuments treated are Rome's great churches, the Book of Kells, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Chartres and Rheims cathedrals. 4 cr.
Mon./Wed. 2-5:30 p.m.
Beth Pugliano
CAS AM 371 Art and Architecture in Boston Since 1800
Studies the art and architecture of Boston through lectures, readings, walking tours, and gallery visits. The course explores Boston's neighborhoods and the works of major artists, sculptors, and architects working in Boston. Themes include the emergence of the museum as a cultural force and the city's interpretations of, and contribution to, European and American art and architecture. 4 cr.
Mon./Wed. 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 2-4 p.m.
Timothy Orwig
CAS AN 101 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
An introduction to the basic concepts, principles, and problems of cultural anthropology, emphasizing study of both traditional and complex societies. Special attention to the evolution of human societies and culture; to the changing organization and meaning of religion, economic life, kinship, and political order; and to the problems of cultural variation in the modern world. 4 cr.
Tues./Thurs. 5:30-9 p.m.
Victoria Wilson
CAS AR 372 Archaeology of Colonial Boston
Boston's "Big Dig," the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project, is only the most recent and most highly visible project to bring to light parts of Boston's buried history. Learn about the daily lives of Boston's early residents through an exploration of artifacts and features that archaeologists have excavated from many sites throughout the city. Course participants will walk Boston's streets and visit the Boston Harbor Islands guided by archaeologists who have helped unearth the city's past. Visits to local archaeological laboratories will make it possible to view and even to handle some of the most recent finds-not just from the "Big Dig," but also from beneath Faneuil Hall, the Boston Common, and many other famous spots in the city. 4 cr.
Tues./Thurs. 10 a.m.-12 noon and 2-4 p.m.
Mary Beaudry
CAS EN 587 Studies in African American Literature
Topic for Summer 2008: From New World to New Negro: Major African American Writers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The writings of Wheatley and Equiano, who discussed slavery and Middle Passage; of Douglass and Jacobs, who constituted a slave-narrative tradition; and of Washington, Hopkins, Griggs, and Harper, who wrote about racial uplift in the post-slavery era. Meets with CAS AA 502 A1. 4 cr.
A1 Mon./Wed. 1-4:30 p.m.
Gene Jarrett
CAS EN 594 Studies in Literature and the Arts
Topic for Summer 2008: The Question of the Real in Fiction and Film. In fiction by Chekhov, Poe, Tolstoy, and Kafka, and films directed by Reed, Ray, Richardson, Schlesinger, and Lynch, we'll explore questions of the "real" and the "unreal." 4 cr.
A1 Tues./Thurs. 1-5 p.m.
Julia Brown
CAS HI 380 American Popular Culture: Film and Humor
An exploration of the connection between social change and the comic in American culture in the twentieth century. Literary, oral, and filmic materials provide the basis for analysis and discussion. 4 cr.
A1 Tues./Wed./Thurs. 2-4:30 p.m.
Virginia Myhaver
CAS MU 225 Jazz Music
An overview of jazz in all its aspects. Allows students with no previous musical experience to explore the history of jazz through reading, listening, writing assignments, concert attendance, research, and direct involvement with performers. Topics include the historical periods of jazz, biographies of significant jazz musicians (including Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Wynton Marsalis, and Sarah Vaughan), repertoire from a variety of styles, oral and literate traditions, and jazz as an art form. 4 cr.
A1 Mon./Wed./Fri. 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Andrew Shenton
CAS WS 114 Women, Society, and Culture: Humanities
Voices and visions of women writers and filmmakers. Considers
how women's artistic productions contribute to understanding the
social, cultural, and political history of women. 4 cr.
A1 Tues./Thurs. 6-9:30 p.m.
Barbara Gottfried
CFA DR 123 Acting for Non-Theatre Majors I
Introductory level of theatrical exercises, improvisations, and short scenes to teach the fundamentals of acting. 4 cr.
A1 Mon./Tues./Thurs. 5-8 p.m.
Judith Chaffee
CFA FA 501 Arts Criticism: From the Old Media to the New
Online offering. This class is dedicated to keeping critical thinking about the arts alive by taking the best of the craft of journalistic reviewing and bringing it into the brave new realm of blogs, web sites, and podcasting. The class will explore the direction public dialogue about the arts will take in the future. Open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students University-wide. 4 cr.
Online Course
William Marx
COM FT 553 Special Topic: Hollywood Genre
What does it mean for a film to belong to a genre? This course will examine the concept of genre as it moves from production to distribution to reception. We will examine genres such as: the western, the slapstick comedy, the screwball comedy, the dark comedy, the gangster film, the musical, and the war film. 4 cr.
A2 Tues./Thurs. 2-5:30 p.m.
Colin Root
COM FT 553 Special Topic: Hong Kong Cinema
A study of the Hong Kong film industry after World War II, including discussions of major genres and trends, and how they reflected the political climate prior to and after the shift from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Students will examine the influential work of filmmakers such as the Shaw Brothers, King Hu, Raymond Chow, Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, Stanley Kwan, John Woo, and Wong- Kar Wai. 4 cr.
A4 Mon./Wed. 1-5 p.m.
Mike Civille
