The URI Campus: A Walk Through Time

Kristine Bovy, Dept. Chair, Sociology & Anthropology

Catherine DeCesare, Senior Lecturer, History

Rod Mather, Dept. Chair, History

“The Winnie” grant will be used for curriculum development to transition the temporary one credit course, The URI Campus: A Walk Through Time, to a traditional three credit class.  This team-taught course was created from a well-received walking tour developed in the Fall of 2019.  The purpose of this class is to increase student knowledge about the long and complicated history of the URI campus land, including ancestral Narragansett land use and the effects of European colonization. The curriculum will be expanded to include additional voices, perspectives and time periods. The study of history, archaeology and anthropology as it relates to the changing landscape and the people of this place provides students the opportunity to reflect on this history and make connections to contemporary campus life. Students are introduced to the different “ways of knowing” and the types of complementary sources and evidence used by anthropologists, Indigenous people, archaeologists, and historians to better understand the human condition.  This course will challenge students to think about who we are as a changing and diverse community, where we came from, and how the study of the past informs where we are today.