THE UNIVERSITY AND THE CITY OF BOSTON

The fact that our students take coursework at BU has been a differentiating factor from our founding—a curriculum without a ceiling. Students can both explore passions and follow their interests as far as their ability can take them, sometimes into advanced undergraduate and even graduate coursework. That will continue. The opportunity is to leverage the University and the City of Boston to create a curriculum without walls as well: tying our courses to partners at schools and centers across BU like BU Wheelock, EPIC, BUild Lab, Sustainability, the Center for Antiracist Research, Computer and Data Sciences; and the Initiative on Cities; engaging in experiential learning in an urban setting and leveraging the City of Boston as an extension of the classroom.

  • Developing partnerships across BU’s schools, colleges, and interdisciplinary centers to offer our students rich experiences even beyond their BU coursework

  • Becoming a valuable contributor to the City of Boston through a targeted service-learning program and other engagement in the City

  • Using Boston as an extension of the classroom—an urban laboratory—to enrich our curriculum and program

Objectives

EPIC and BUild Lab: Beginning in the fall of 2022, all BUA sophomores engage in hands-on projects in a seminar program at EPIC – BU’s 15,000 square foot makerspace – and at BUildlab – BU’s social entrepreneurship center.

Mix-It-Up Lunches: BUA hosts weekly lunches for students with professors and researchers at BU who tell students about their field and research and, in some cases, inspire meaningful, lasting connections.

Alexander Twilight Academy Partnership: For the past several summers, BUA has hosted Alexander Twilight Academy (ATA) on campus for its free six-week summer program. ATA is an academic catalyst and access program for promising middle school students from underresourced backgrounds, mostly from the City of Boston – preparing those students to apply and succeed in high schools like BUA. BUA students and staff engage with ATA in a number of other mutually beneficial ways throughout the school year.

Progress in Action