Beyond Wellesley: How to avoid the crowds at Narragansett Beach

July 29, 2022 by Duncan Brown Leave a Comment

Narragansett Beach in Rhode Island is one of the more enjoyable beaches near Wellesley. It’s a bit of a drive, taking around an hour and a half to get there, but the water is warm, the waves are notable, and the beach itself isn’t rocky like many in New England. The downside of all this is that everyone else knows just how good a beach it is, too. When the Swellesley Report made a trip down to Narragansett a few summers ago, we found ourselves among throngs of beachgoers, leaving little space on either side of our beach blanket. A 20-minute walk down to the narrow, less visited end of the beach revealed some interesting intel. Savvy beach goers were arriving at the least populated part of the beach in kayaks. How could we get in on this beach hack?

A quick conversation with one of these in-the-know visitors revealed the existence of Narrow River Kayaks, a rental agency that launches on its namesake river, which empties through the “Narrows” and into the Atlantic Ocean at the far end of Narragansett Beach. You can rent kayaks, paddle boards, and canoes, with the option of renting for 2 hours, 4 hours, or full day.

Some also plop their own kayaks or canoes into the river near bridges along the route.

We decided to check out Narrow River’s service this year and rented two tandem kayaks for four hours, which cost $60 per kayak ($85 for a full day). Customer parking is free at the launch, and there is room on the kayaks for a large cooler filled with lunch, snacks, and drinks. The distance from the launch to the beach was about a mile, which took 30 or 40 minutes of casual paddling (tides can shorten or lengthen the trip). Once at the beach we pulled our boats up and enjoyed what we were looking for—a bit of separation from the packed section of beach that serves the car-driving crowd. Despite our more remote location, we were within a 15-20 minute walk to the bathrooms. No lifeguards at this narrow end of the beach, but if we had so chosen, we could have walked to the nearest guarded area of the beach within ten minutes.

Normally, entrance to the beach is $12 per person, and parking in the non-resident lot is $15/day on the weekends. Those spots don’t stick around for long. If you don’t mind walking, there is free parking on the seawall. Paying for food, parking passes, and admission can quickly add up with a big group, and if you’re protective of your personal space you’ll have to do a lot of walking before you get to the wide open beach.

kayak narragansett — Uncrowded section of Narragansett Beach.

The river itself is nice to paddle down. We had the company of motorboats, but the drivers were respectful of smaller vessels.

The water is clear and shallow, and banks are covered in reeds, making for a picturesque trip to the beach. Ospreys nest along the river, and we got to see a nest on our way down, as well as a few of the large birds of prey in flight. White egrets dot the marshy areas below.

If you want a scenic paddle, along with some extra seclusion on a nice beach, we recommend following our lead on this beach trip.

Beyond Wellesley: Good vibes all around at Levitate Music & Arts Festival

July 12, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Levitate Music & Arts Festival this past weekend made its return to the Marshfield fairgrounds for its first full-blown event since 2019, and the musicians, artists, and fans didn’t miss a beat.

I acknowledge being more a fan of rapid-fire 3-or-4-minute songs than those that meander—the latter a speciality of many of Levitate’s performers. But when organizers invited us to attend, I took them up on the offer with an open mind. Bring on the jam bands, led by legendary Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s ensemble.

The sold-out event attracted a wide range of ages from way back Deadheads to a fair number of little kids, and everything in between. Tye-dye anything was the fashion of choice, though hemp hats, band T-shirts (“Stick Family,” for performer Stick Figure), and other casual wear also ruled.

When we arrived we got scared by a long line to get in, but soon realized the Festival had a system for alternating between allowing those in one line to flood in, then the other. It worked well. We saw few long lines at the many food stations, which ran the gamut from fair food like fried dough to lobster rolls and Filipino fare.

Been a while since I’ve had a Red Stripe, but it was the perfect drink for the venue. Liquid Death sparkling water, however, seemed to be the drink of choice for many.

An artisans’ section in the middle of the fairgrounds attracted steady traffic and sales of items such as gems and services such as face or body painting. Among the more unusual vendors: A provider of plant-based eggs that tasted darn good. Artists in action created murals.

One nice thing about this very chill festival is that you’re allowed to bring in blankets and low-backed chairs that can be located behind certain lines in front of the stages. So the crowds immediately in front of the musicians were large, but you could still find space (the event attracted 15,000 people a day, but it felt just right on the Saturday afternoon/early evening that we attended). People would catch a few songs, then relax in their chairs—a great pacing technique for a long day at the festival.

Bleachers near the main stage also gave fans an option to get off their feet—feet that could get dirty kicking around the fairgrounds terrain. Some patrons brought frisbees and footballs and tossed them around when space allowed.

Among the acts we caught were the versatile multi-instrumentalists of Midnight North, Durand Jones & The Indications (Jones easily had the best moves of anyone on stage), Umphrey’s McGee (they rocked as much as they jammed), Stick Figure (catchy reggae and dub), and headliners Lesh & Friends. About 30 bands performed over the three days.

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We brought our earplugs, but the sound overall was clear and not overly loud. You did have to position yourself near the stage you wanted to focus on, as sound would overlap if you located in between two active stages.

We’d recommend Levitate when it comes around next year. It’s a feel-good gathering, and the Levitate brand organization added to that by unveiling a charitable foundation on the eve of the festival. The foundation’s focus: encouraging music, arts, and outdoors at the community level.

Durand jones — Durand Jones & The Indications

More: Boston Calling sends us into summer

Weston Garden Club tour is a once-in-a-decade celebration

June 15, 2022 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The Weston Garden Club held its once-every-decade garden tour earlier this month, an expansive event during which eleven club members opened their properties up to the horticultural-loving public. Proceeds from the tour support local conservation and environmental efforts, as well as the Club’s ongoing community educational and beautification projects.

Each of the properties on tour was owned and tended by Weston Garden Club members eager to share what they’ve done with their beautiful outdoor spaces. Some gardens were carefully manicured, others walked more on the wild side, and all were inspirational.

When members aren’t tending and showing off their multi-acre gardens, they’re busy with civic projects. Club members design and maintain the plantings in the historic horse watering trough at the center of town; maintain a section of conservation land; make wreaths and swags for Town buildings every December; plant 250 daffodils by the Town Green steps each fall; provide flowers for the Weston Public Library on a weekly basis; and water, weed, and maintain the Native Plant Garden at Town Hall.

Last time the Weston Garden Club had its tour, back in the aughts, I was up to my eyeballs in my kids’ end-of-year activities and missed the event. Next time the tour comes around in the 2030s, who can say where I’ll be? So when I had the opportunity to attend this tour, I grabbed it. Thanks for the kind invite, Weston gardeners. I enjoyed every minute of the perfect early June weather you thoughtfully arranged for the big day.

All hail the chief

Weston Garden Club president Molly Varnau’s garden included mixed beds of foxglove, allium, salvia, and nepeta, intertwined with a succession of colorful annuals and flowering trees and shrubs. Yew hedges, a birch grove, white pines, and a grand red oak provide year-round structure. Molly and her husband plant, prune , and mow the property themselves. A couple of years ago they created composting bays behind their shed that turn their lawn clippings and autumn’s fallen oak leaves into soil-enriching mulch.

Weston Garden Club tour — Weston Garden Club president Molly Varnau

100+ year old Colonial house, 3.5 acres

When the homeowners bought the property twelve years ago, they found one acre of beautiful plantings and specimen trees, and 2.5 acres of poison ivy and thorny raspberries running wild. What a difference 12 years makes. The Weston Garden Club member and a friend do all the gardening with the help of an arborist. The property features huge rock outcrops, rock walls, a varied terrain, a fern walk through the woods, a lovely gazebo, a spiral garden, an old storage building, stone pathways and stairs, and masses of plantings.

This garden has a wild side

Established plantings and perennial gardens surround this gardener’s property including tree peonies, wisteria, azaleas, and flowering bulbs. The front is a beautiful and manicured space. Out back visitors can walk on the wild side as they are treated to a panoramic view of a wildlife sanctuary, which includes a tranquil pond. From their elevated deck vantage point, the homeowners often spot egrets, hawks, geese, and swans.

Weston Garden Tour, house #5 — Carefully clipped vine on the side of the house gives way to….

Working with the terrain

There are a couple of ways to deal with an uneven lot when building a home. One way is to chop down all the trees, bring in the bulldozer, and level every “inconvenient” rise and hillock from one edge of the property to the next. Or you could work with the land, as one member did, and create a garden in harmony with the natural slopes of the terrain. Embracing the shade of the mature trees led the gardener to explore and plant a beautiful world of trilliums, woodland peonies, primroses, jack-in-the-pulpits, and Welsh poppies. A vegetable garden has been planted to take advantage of the sunniest spot on the property, a place where tomatoes, kale, lettuce, and more thrive.

Weston Garden Club, #10 — Vegetables are grown in raised garden beds.

How to join in the fun

Not that I’m trying to siphon members away from Wellesley’s four garden clubs (I’m a proud sustaining member of the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild, after all), but you don’t have to be a Weston resident to join the Weston Garden Club. You just have have an interest in gardening, attend meetings, serve on a committee, sign up for watering duty, pay your dues, and agree to a few other things (don’t worry, no hazing is involved).

Beyond Wellesley: Boston Calling music festival sends us into summer

May 30, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Boston Calling music festival at Harvard University returned for the first time in three years with a line-up of big names and local favorites, including Wellesley native Cam Meekins. Performers and the audience were ready to rock, groove, or whatever the vibe might be, rain or shine.

The festival, cancelled the past two years due to the pandemic, was still feeling the effects of COVID-19 right into this year’s event. It lost Day 2 headliner The Strokes the day before they were to perform due to a positive COVID-19 test. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard was a late COVID cancelation, too. Nine Inch Nails, the headliner for Day 1, graciously agreed to perform a second night in place of The Strokes, with Metallica wrapping up the event on Sunday, taking on the Celtics-Miami Game 7 NBA conference final. Due to health considerations, the festival did not have its usual indoor respite from the weather in the hockey arena, where in the past comedians and podcasters have entertained.

Boston Calling took an old-school approach with its headliners this time around, which made for a much more diverse clientele age-wise. Past festivals have catered to a younger crowd, and that group wasn’t ignored, as organizers mixed in enough TikTok favorites like Frances Forever, Mob Rich, and Peach Tree Rascals to attract teens and young adults. The mix worked, as we found the crowds spirited, quirky, and pleasant throughout.

Day 1

It felt just plain good to be back on the Boston Calling festival grounds, which kicked off with a performance by Paris Jackson, the daughter of the late Michael Jackson. Navigating the grounds was quite manageable the first two days, as you could mix it up among the throngs if you wished or carve out your own space. Finding space got more challenging with Sunday’s crowded finale.

Thanks to the commuter rail predictably running half an hour late, I got to the event after I had hoped, and caught only the end of the Chelsea Curve‘s set. This mod-pop band sounded grungy and great at the Orange stage, which festival organizers packed into a tennis court to give local acts a chance to mix in with bigger national and international acts.

I’d hoped to catch Born Without Bones later on in the day on that stage, as members hail from the same high school I attended in Milford, Mass., but I got caught up in other action.

The Backseat Lovers, R&B singer Miranda Rae, and the glamorous/glorious Struts all put on solid shows, no doubt winning new fans previously unfamiliar with them. We all wanted Cheap Trick to sound better than they did (audio issues didn’t help and they did entertain with the presence of a 5-neck guitar and inviting fans on stage to sing), while a resurgent Avril Lavigne probably could have headlined given the enthusiastic crowd response—her “Sk8ter Boi” had guys and gals joyfully singing along and dancing. The three sisters who are Haim put on a fantastic show, at one point all drumming their hearts out—they rocked way harder than I would have expected listening to their recordings.

the struts boston calling — The Struts. They do, in fact, strut.

We wound down for the day chillin’ with Rüfüs Du Sol’s electronica dance tunes while gobbling down the first of numerous Tasty Burgers over the weekend.

rufus — Australia’s Rüfüs Du Sol. Photo by NB

Nine Inch Nails, still a force of nature some 40 years into their career, pounded our ears and eyes to end things with their first local show in four years.

NIN boston calling 22 — Nine Inch Nails playing its industrial rock on the first of 2 nights

I kept my eyes peeled for signs of Wellesley fans in the crowd, and while I didn’t see much, I did spy Wellesley Square’s Rice Burg to be among the food vendors doing its part to keep fans fed.

Day 2

This day looked dicey from the start, with my weather app showing a very good chance of rain and lightning pretty much throughout.

I heard 2 catchy songs by local indie pop band Dutch Tulips on the Orange stage, then headed over to see Frances Forever, who turned out to be Frances Never when the crew started covering the instruments and equipment, and we were all told we needed to evacuate the grounds and head into Harvard Stadium or Harvard Square for cover. That lasted a few hours, with patrons allowed back in around 5:30pm.

[Read more…]

Beyond Wellesley—we get to New York City via a speedy seaplane

May 7, 2022 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

There are many commercial outfits that can take you from Boston to New York City, but I’ve just experienced the quickest way to make that trip—via Tailwind’s seaplane service, which gets travelers from Boston’s Seaport area to midtown Manhattan typically in under 75 minutes in-air travel time.

The Federal Aviation Administration last summer gave the thumbs up for flights out of Boston Harbor after Tailwind spent almost ten years coming up with solutions for every problem that busy Logan airport’s flight patterns presented. For now, Tailwind is the only seaplane game in Boston, but others will likely take advantage of the regulatory legwork already done and try to enter the market.

Tailwind, Boston — Mrs. Swellesley is ready to try out a seaplane for the first time on Tailwind.

As part of a press tour to try out the service, my round-trip flight was paid for by Tailwind. Trust me, I wouldn’t have been able to experience the flight any other way. Prices range from $395 to $795 one-way, depending on advanced purchase and available inventory. There is a bargain option of $595 roundtrip if the passenger stays over on a Saturday night. Flying by seaplane from Boston to New York is for those for whom time is money.

Farewell for now, Wellesley

I hopped the Wellesley Square commuter rail into South Station and walked the 15 minutes to Tailwind’s check-in area at Boston Harbor at Fan Pier Marina in the Seaport area. The secret to finding this tucked-away spot is to put Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse into your GPS. Keep Davio’s to your left and look for Tailwind’s small brick building on the harbor. That’s where staff will greet you and you’ll get your bag weighed (20 lb. maximum) and relax until the ferry arrives at the dock. The seven-minute ferry takes passengers to a floating pier for take-off.

Because Tailwind screens passengers and confirms IDs in advance in compliance with all regulatory requirements, the check-in process is incredibly civilized. Nobody shouts at stressed-out passengers to take off their shoes and remove all electronics from their bags, and I didn’t have to remove my baseball cap and reveal the truth about my second-day hair. Passengers can show up at the dock well under 30 minutes before the ferry leaves, and be on the plane in short order.

Getting on and off the ferry and the plane, a Cessna Caravan EX amphibian aircraft with eight passenger seats, isn’t difficult, but it also isn’t accessible. The flight is staffed by a pilot and a co-pilot, who are in full view, as are their flight instruments and the plane’s GPS screen. There’s enough leg room and headspace in the functional and spotless, but not luxurious, cabin. So far so good, but I’d received disappointing news shortly before take-off. Due to low cloud cover, the flight wouldn’t be landing in New York Harbor. We’d be landing in Westchester County Airport in the lovely suburb of White Plains, about a 1-hour and 15-minute drive from midtown Manhattan. Sadly for me, no water landing. This time around I would experience a run-of-the-mill runway landing, not a problem for the aircraft, since it can handle both paved and water surfaces.

Don’t sweat the small stuff

I, too, can manage myself on both land and sea, but the White Plains landing presented logistical problems. Anxiety triggered, I briefly considered bagging the whole adventure. But I’d already booked my hipster-cool hotel, and the refund window had slammed shut. And I really wanted to wander through some shops and bookstores, and go to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Plus Riverside, a Polish rock band, was expecting me in the audience at The Gramercy Theatre. I couldn’t let those guys down on their 20th anniversary of rocking on, hell no. What was I? An intrepid traveler, or a wimpy traveler? So what if I didn’t have any idea how I’d escape from a leafy green suburb quite similar from the one I’d left. I’d figure it out.

“This is unfortunate,” a fellow passenger sighed about the detour to White Plains. I agreed, and together we hatched a ride-sharing plan into the city, which Tailwind paid for. Problem solved.

Time to take off and enjoy the flight. Lifting up into the air was an easy experience with just a few bumps. As we banked right I got up-close amazing views of Boston’s easily identifiable landmarks—the State House, Beacon Hill, the Charles River, and more. Soon we were at one with the clouds. A little over an hour later, we touched down nice and easy in White Plains. I clambered down the aluminum ladder to the tarmac, far from the midtown hotel I had chosen because it was a mere 6/10ths of a mile from Tailwind’s drop-off point at 2430 FDR Drive and 23rd Street. Ah well, my driver had me at the front doors of the Freehand Hotel in about 90 minutes, and the city was my oyster. Time to have some more fun.

Freehand Hotel, New York, about $350/night.

I chose the Freehand Hotel in midtown’s Flatiron District for a couple of reasons—its proximity to Tailwind and because before the Freehand was a hotel, it was home to many writers, musicians and creatives, so that seemed inspirational. Nearby were a couple of bookstores, some shopping, and the Gramercy Theatre, where I could catch a show and still stay safe while traveling solo.

The city is back in action

That evening, I headed over to The Gramercy, a 2,000 square-foot space with 375 theater-style seats, and standing room for about 125 more. The historic venue was built in 1937 and mostly served as a movie house and live theater spot over the years until Live Nation (which also owns several venues in Boston) bought the building in 2006 for use as a concert space. The closest comparison in this area might be The Paradise in the Boston University area.

Riverside was in the house for their 20th anniversary tour. “We were going to play all our hits,” lead singer Mariusz Duda told the crowd. “Then we realized we don’t have any hits. So we chose the longest ones. I hope you have time for that.”

Riverside, rock band, New York — Riverside, a progressive rock band based in Poland, showed the crowd a great time.

The audience, made up in large part of dudes who looked like they were in their own bands and who didn’t much care about “hits,” most definitely had time for that, as the quartet rocked the house. To see these musicians back on their first tour since COVID did my own rocker heart and soul good, and made me glad that I didn’t let a little thing like travel logistics scare me off.

My two-night stay also included a visit to The Whitney Museum of American Art, about two miles from my hotel, but I really didn’t need to leave the Flatiron District for a museum visit. I found myself wishing I’d stayed in the neighborhood and explored The Fotografiska (281 Park Avenue S), a branch of the Swedish photography museum by the same name. Anyplace with a tag line, “Have fun. Stay late. Get deep. Spill your drink,” sounds intriguing.

Whitney Museum, New York — Found art outside of the Whitney Museum of American Art. But no, The Swellesley Report won’t stop delivering news!

With area dining options both fancy (the Freehand has several including a very popular rooftop bar/restaurant) and casual (I could get a steaming bowl of dumpling soup, Mexican fare, and great breakfast options literally steps from the lobby), I was all set in the meals department.

A shopping jaunt took me to the Strand Bookstore (828 Broadway at 12th street), the last such indie outpost standing on what was once known as “book row”; Housing Works thrift shop (157 E 23rd street), where you just might find the perfect mid-century modern home accent item; and Fishs Eddy (889 Broadway corner of 19th), with its endless collection of dishes and glassware from defunct restaurants, as well as other odds and ends they just happen to come across.

Before I knew it, two days in the city had passed, and it was time to catch my early flight back to Boston. I showed up at the SkyPort seaplane base at the very eastern end of 23rd Street and relaxed in the small, nondescript lounge area. “We just got the OK to renovate the lounge,” a Tailwind team member told me. “It’s going to look a lot nicer soon.”

This time the weather cooperated and I did, indeed, get to experience a seaplane takeoff from New York (the views!) and a seaplane touchdown in Boston Harbor. The flight was a little bumpy ascending and descending due to windy conditions, but nothing scary. Splashing down was great fun and felt nice and smooth. A 15-minutes walk later, I was back at South Station where, with fortunate timing, the Worcester rail commuter line into Wellesley Square was boarding.

I could get used to this

Wish I could take the seaplane every time I wanted to pop into New York City, but alas, this was probably a one-off adventure for me. Unless we open up a Swellesley NYC bureau, which would, of course, necessitate frequent business travel. Now there’s a thought…

Starting May 25, Tailwind will start up its seaplane service from Boston Harbor to Provincetown Harbor, with pricing that starts at $275. The nonstop flight takes about 35 minutes dock-to-dock.

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Beyond Wellesley: the Peacock Room at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C.

March 10, 2022 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Washington, DC, National Museum of Asian Art, Peacock Room — National Museum of Asian Art

When a quick visit to Washington, DC overlapped with school vacation week, we knew from experience that the most popular museums on the National Mall, that long, grassy promenade flanked by Smithsonians, would be crowded, indeed. Getting into the Air & Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum, or the Natural History Museum would be a challenge, one we didn’t care to accept. With a willingness to explore a lesser-know spot, we found what we were looking for at The National Museum of Asian Art. This admissions-free attraction was a place we’d never visited during our many visits to DC, so we felt like explorers. With 40,00 square feet of gallery space on three levels, the mid-sized museum was manageable. Best of all, down a long hallway, tucked away in a corner, the museum showcases a very special place, the Peacock Room.

The Peacock Room’s inception is a story of artistic license run amok. About 150 years ago in England, when the room’s architect, Thomas Jeckyll, casually asked American artist James McNeill Whistler what color would work best on the room’s shutters and doors, Whistler didn’t just mix a few test pigments and present them for review. He took advantage of large chunks of time when the room was left empty and, between 1876 and 1877, he painted as many golden peacocks as he could on the ceilings and the walls. Then he charged a hefty fee for his creativity. The room’s owner, London-based shipping magnate Frederick Leyland, was reportedly not happy with the over-the-top look of his dining room or the price that came with it, but he paid up and kept the room intact. This was Whistler, after all, painter of the iconic “Whistler’s Mother.” So the Peacock Room had to be artistically good, right?

Part of Leyland’s goal was to entertain guests in an elegant dining room that would showcase his stunning collection of ceramics from all over Asia, as well as his very own large-scale painting by Whistler, The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, which hangs over the fireplace. Mission accomplished.

Leyland’s valuable porcelain collection fills delicate gilded latticework wall racks, and the grand room also contains a Welsh dresser, and a Tudor-style ceiling with eight gas lights. All very nice, but it’s the radiant peacocks that people come to see. Whistler painted two enormous fighting peacocks on the wall, which he titled Art and Money: or, the Story of the Room, to symbolize the adversarial relationship between Whistler and Leyland, his reluctant patron.

The room was purchased from Leyland’s heirs in 1904 by Charles Lang Freer, who shipped it from London and had it installed in his home in Detroit, Michigan. The room, along with an additional 8,000 works of art, was donated to the Smithsonian after Freer’s death, where it remains on permanent display.

The Peacock Room is always a special place to visit, but on the third Thursday of each month, the museum opens the room’s shutters to bathe the space in natural light. Kerry Roeder, the museum’s curatorial fellow in American Art says on a YouTube video, “The transformation is dramatic, allowing visitors to experience the room in a whole new way. It takes my breath away every time I see it.”

I’ve provided a peek at just one part of the museum’s extensive holdings. There’s so much more in the three-level space, which houses more than 45,000 objects dating from the Neolithic period to today and originating from the ancient Near East to China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, and the Islamic world. For an even richer museum-going experience, take the underground connection to the Museum of African Art for a fresh, bold look at the beauty, power, and diversity of African arts and cultures worldwide. As the weather improves, the gardens outside the museums are surely not to be missed. Look for the Moongate.

DESTINATION: The National Museum of Asian Art
LOCATION: 1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC
HOURS: Thursday–Sunday, 10am–5:30pm
EMAIL
PHONE: 202-633-1000

Summer camp spotlight: PopHealthExperience at Boston University

March 4, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

What do homelessness, air pollution in cities, and the COVID-19 pandemic have in common? These are issues that public health professionals tackle every day. At Boston University’s School of Public Health summer 2022 program, the PopHealthExperience, rising 10th-12th-graders engage in an immersive introduction to the field of public health.

In PopHealthExperience, students learn from Boston University School of Public Health faculty and graduate students about a range of public health topics, participate in hands-on research activities, discover career choices, and develop leadership skills.

An epidemic of summer learning

Students will learn the foundations of public health, delving into the areas of Biostatistics, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Health Advocacy, and Health Policy. Building upon this knowledge, they will participate in experiential learning activities such as case studies to determine the cause of an epidemic. To bring it close to home, students will identify a public health challenge in their own communities and develop a short digital media advocacy piece explaining the challenge and its possible solutions.

The summer enrichment program will be taught at the Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) located at 72 East Concord St., Boston. Students can opt for a day or residential program. For the residential program, students will be housed on Boston University’s campus in Myles Standish Hall (610 Beacon St., Boston). Graduate student chaperones will escort students to classes using the BU Shuttle. Daily extra-curricular excursions are planned with the intent of providing new experiences and opportunities to students as well as immersing them completely in the city.

We are living through an unprecedented time. Now, more than ever, PopHealthExperience is committed to educating young people about the fundamental skills of public health. Register for the PopHealthExperience immersive summer program today. The program will be held July 11 – July 22, 2022.