Category: Campus
Howard Thurman Center
Boston University’s cultural center, The Howard Thurman Center is based on the “common ground” philosophy of Dr. Howard Thurman. The center hosts cultural programs, activities, and services designed to build community through self-exploration and shared experiences.
Alcohol & Drug Institute for Policy, Training & Research
The Alcohol & Drug Institute for Policy, Training & Research consists of experts on alcohol and drug issues associated with urban and multicultural populations. The institute sponsors professional seminars and conferences, conducts research on policy-relevant issues, and works with social service agencies to respond to the needs of addicted clients.
Institute for the Study of Economic Culture
When it opens in 1985, the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture focuses on the relation of culture to economic development; the agenda eventually expands to include social and political issues as these relate to culture. In 2003 the institute combines with the Institute on Religion & World Affairs and becomes the Institute on Culture, Religion & World Affairs (CURA), which researches, publishes, and educates on one of the most strategic questions in the contemporary world: How does culture (in the sense of beliefs, values, and lifestyles) affect economic and political developments worldwide? Since religion is at the core of culture in most of the world, CURA has paid special attention to the role of religion in world affairs. While CURA’s agenda is of obvious academic interest, it increasingly touches on practical policy concerns and seeks to communicate its findings to government, the business community, and the media.
Entrepreneurial Management Institute
The Entrepreneurial Management Institute (EMI) offers customized education, training, mentoring, networking, and other tools to help create sustainable enterprises that meet important global needs in sectors such as health care, clean energy, and information systems. In 2007, EMI is renamed the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization (ITEC). Based at the Boston University School of Management, ITEC is an educational resource for all Boston University students and alumni. For students and faculty seeking to commercialize research conducted at BU, ITEC works closely with Technology Development and together they offer a full complement of legal, financial, and managerial resources to aspiring entrepreneurs.
"The new entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs without borders. They reach across industries, markets, and communities and cross language, cultural, geographic, political, and economic barriers to launch new businesses on new platforms to serve global markets. In doing so, they go above and beyond human imagination—empowering people, engaging societies, and breaking political and geographical boundaries to build sustainable, socially responsible enterprises that solve big problems."—Paul McManus, ITEC Director of International Programs and School of Management Executive-in-Residence
Center for Remote Sensing
Professor Farouk El-Baz founds and becomes director of the Center for Remote Sensing. The center uses satellite images and other data from airborne and ground sensors to study the Earth and its resources, particularly groundwater. This research includes monitoring environmental changes due to both natural processes and human activities.
NeuroMuscular Research Center
The College of Engineering establishes the NeuroMuscular Research Center (NMRC) to increase knowledge of motor control and improve the quality of health care for neuromuscular-impaired patients.
Data Coordinating Center
The Data Coordinating Center specializes in questionnaire and case report form design; implementing study protocols; data management; data entry; and statistical, database, and Web-based programming. Its staff of statistical programmers, database programmers, and data managers are experts in study design, developing computerized and Web-based data collection and tracking systems, quality control procedures, and statistical analysis methods. Data management systems can be custom-designed for projects that involve remote data entry using a Web browser or projects conducted online.
Institute for Jewish Law
Dedicated to conducting scholarly research, publishing material on Jewish law, and providing continuing education in this specialized field, the Institute for Jewish Law seeks to make publications available in English that focus on the analysis of contemporary issues using traditional Jewish sources. Neil Hecht, a tenured member of the law faculty, is the founding director of the institute, which has published over thirty volumes and conducts annual joint conferences with Harvard Law School on a variety of Jewish law topics.
Science Building Opens
The Arthur G. B. Metcalf Center for Science & Engineering is opened.
Institute for Literacy & Language
Started in 1982 and later renamed the Center for the Study of Communication & the Deaf, The Institute for Literacy & Language engages in both applied and theoretical research to benefit the Deaf and their families. Faculty and students focus on three major research themes: the acquisition of signed languages, the impact of language on the education of the Deaf child, and the developmental assessment of bilingual approaches to the education of Deaf children. Community services focus on projects assisting the hearing parents of Deaf children and on workshops and presentations to area agencies. The center has recently begun to create assessment instruments to determine ASL development in Deaf children.
