The 5,000- Year History of the URI Campus
This program aims to provide an inclusive, interdisciplinary, and deep understanding of the history of the University of Rhode Island, the surrounding communities, and the land upon which URI sits. The approach incorporates multiple ways of knowing about the past, including history, archaeology, traditional Indigenous knowledge, archaeological sciences, anthropology, geographic information systems (GIS), and environmental studies. The program is headed by directors of the Applied History Lab (Catherine DeCesare and Rod Mather) and Professor of Archaeology Kristine Bovy, in partnership with Lorén Spears and Silvermoon LaRose, Director and Assistant Director of the Tomaquag Museum. Both are members of the Narragansett and Niantic Tribes. Titled URI Campus: A Walk Through Time, the program includes a campus walking tour, academic courses, research, an archaeology field school, and various outreach initiatives.
Program Leaders
Collaborators
Loren M. Spears (Narragansett-Niantic), Executive Director, Tomaquag Museum
Relevant Courses
APG/HIS 392G – URI Campus: A Walk Through Time
APG/HIS 396 – Archaeology Field School
Research Projects/Output
- Historical and Archaeological Observations of the “Old Barn” at 5 West Alumni Avenue, University of Rhode Island – Rod Mather, Catherine DeCesare, and Kris Bovy
- Contested Landscapes: The Origins and Consequences of Rhode Island’s Land-Grant Institutions (1862-1892) – Jenny Sullivan ’24, M.A. thesis, University of Rhode Island
Features
- URI Campus Archaeology Field School, Summer 2025
- Student Profile, Molly McDonagh ‘25
- History and Archaeology of the URI Campus Landscape.” South Kingstown’s 300th Anniversary Speaker Series, R.I.: South Kingstown
- A Walk Through Time, 2022
- Walking Through Time: The 5000 Year History of the URI Campus, 2021
- URI Campus: A Walk Through Time, 2020