Latest News
The RCUCH and Dept. of History present a Conference on Early Modern Luxury and Taste
Friday, April 25, 5-7:45pm and Saturday, April 26, 9am-4:30pm
UMass Boston, Healey Library, 11th fl.
Free and Open to the Public: No Registration For more information contactRCUCH Officeand visitEvents
Friday's Plenary Lectures by: Marcy Norton, George Washington Univ. on "The Cultural Meanings of Chocolate" and Brian Cowan, McGill Univ. on "New Worlds, New Tastes: Coffee and the Invention of Gastronomy iin Early Modern Europe"
Reception will follow a chocolate tasting by Sparrow Enterprises and coffee provided by Peet's Coffee and Tea
Saturday's Keynotes by: Linda Peck, GeorgeWashington Univ. and Kenneth Pomerantz, Univ of Calif, Irvine; panel papers by Elizabeth Hyde, Tamara Griggs, Joanna Waley-Cohen, Timothy Brook; responses by Malcolm Smuts and Nancy BerlinerConference Schedule: pdf format ; ms word
Welcome to the Research Center for Urban Cultural History
The Research Center for Urban Cultural History (RCUCH) premises its work on the multi-disciplinary study of cities as dynamic sites where cultures are generated, renegotiated and transmitted. Housed within an institution of higher learning with a commitment to an urban mission and an exceptionally diverse student body, and located in a city richly endowed with intellectual resources, the RCUCH initiates and facilitates scholarly and teaching projects that explore a wide array of possible links between studies of cities in the U.S. and throughout the world, encompassing both contemporary and historical topics. The Center's educational, scholarly, and outreach activities are directed toward achieving a flexible, comprehensive and innovative approach to urban cultural history in a global context.
The Center's principal focus is on interdisciplinary and collaborative research and teaching in urban cultural history. This field focuses on: the specificity of the urban setting and its environs; spatial definition; demographic and economic shifts; temporal change; cultural exchange and cultural transformation; and discursive and signifying networks created by the production of meaning between groups and populations.
The Flaherty Award of the RCUCH
For undergraduate projects engaging the study of cities, urban cultures, urban spaces, urban populations and urban representa-tions. For futher information and cover sheet, visit courses.