Thanks to a generous three-year grant from the Teagle Foundation, since July 2021 the Center has been home to The One and the Many at BU, a humanities-based summer program for local high school students. We are proud to partner with Boston Summer Search and the Teagle Foundation on O&M at BU. All of our students have been participating members of Boston Summer Search’s program.
Summer 2023 — Information for Students and their families
Session dates: Sunday, July 9, 2023 – Friday, July 21, 2023
Exploring Justice Together
The overarching theme for summer 2023 was Justice. Students explored this fundamental theme through examining archival documents, watching and critiquing documentary films, and reading classic works in morning seminars each weekday with BU faculty. Afternoons featured thematically related labs with experiential activities that were led by the associate directors.
- To see what “A Day in the Life” was like in summer 2023, click here.
- To read the “Residential Guidelines” for summer 2023, click here.
- To view the “Packing List” for summer 2023, click here.
- To view the PowerPoint from the Orientation Session for enrolled students and their families held over Zoom on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, click here.
Living in a Brownstone
Students will live on campus in a beautiful (air-conditioned) brownstone on Bay State Road, together with their residential advisors. The dining hall is a short walk down a tree-lined street in one direction, and the seminar room is a short walk in the other. With its small garden, common rooms, and kitchenettes, the brownstone promises to foster a warm community of learners and friends.
As in the past, the program will provide students with passes for their meals at nearby Marciano Commons and passes for the Fitness and Recreation Center (FitRec), where they can work out individually or together.
Field Trips
Field trips will include a visit to the Boston Athenæum, Boston University’s Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, and Sabrina’s Garden in Roxbury.
Past Summers
Summer 2022
We offer hearty congratulations to the summer 2022 cohort of 15 students, all of whom successfully completed the program. The students, who hailed from Boston, Everett, Malden, and Lynn, came together as an engaged community of learners. Their academic explorations included studying classical poetry and writing their own poems, analyzing films, grappling with archival materials at BU’s Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, and much more. The group also got out and about into the city of Boston, visiting an urban farm and the Boston Athenæum. Students attended a workshop with BU’s admissions and financial aid staff as well as one with a team of visiting artist-chefs. Evenings featured movies, crafting sessions, and sociability. The final two days of the program were “writing jams” with faculty and tutors, where all students had a chance to re-visit and expand the kinds of writing they had done throughout the two weeks. The program ended with a joyous banquet for the students, their families, and the entire staff. Everyone had a chance to celebrate the students and their accomplishments.
Living on BU’s Campus
Students lived on campus at 1019 Commonwealth Avenue under the supervision of the residential life coordinator and the mentor director. The One and the Many provided students with passes for their meals to BU dining halls and passes for the Fitness and Recreation Center (FitRec), just a block away from their dorm.
Summer 2022 in Review
Click here to watch the video
Summer 2021
The 2021 curriculum, Social Movements and Social Change, brought students from the Boston area together with BU faculty to learn about the history and maintenance of civic life and democracy. The daily seminars and tutorials drew on literary texts, films, music, political writings, historical documents, visual art, and other cultural works.
Because O&M at BU is designed to foster college readiness, community participation, and social engagement, a varied sequence of afternoon and evening events complemented the academic curriculum: a speaker series about the college process; an array of recreational activities; evening film screenings; and our Food Justice workshop series.
BU Today published a compelling account of summer 2021.