Higher Education – Creative Minds Out Loud

Episode 106: Sharing the Bounties of Human Culture

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“The humanities give people time to reflect and think about issues in a different way than our daily living,” says Jack Cheng, Academic Director of the Boston Clemente Course.

The Clemente Course is a college-level introduction to the humanities for adults facing economic hardship and adverse circumstances. Cheng shares how teaching adults makes for a rich learning environment and pushes him to be a better teacher.

Since 2001, Jack Cheng has taught art history at the Dorchester/Boston site of the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities, and has served as Academic Director since 2012. The Boston Clemente Course is the subject of a forthcoming documentary by Lost Nation Pictures. Jack has worked as an archaeologist at sites in Turkey, Syria, and Sudan.

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Episode 79: Opening Doors and Creating Pathways

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Sociedad Latina is the oldest Latino youth organization in Boston. Its creative youth development program supports young people from middle-school into early college or career. Executive Director Alex Oliver-Dávila, discusses the symbiotic relationship they have formed with numerous local colleges which allows their students to experience a pathway to higher education and bridges an institutional gap between higher education and community-based organizations.

For more than 20 years, Alexandra Oliver-Dávila has worked to create a community that supports Latino youth, values their input, and believes in their ability to create positive social change. Serving as Executive Director since 1999, Alex has transformed Sociedad Latina into a cutting-edge, data-driven, creative youth development organization. Under her leadership, Sociedad Latina has increased and diversified its budget, expanded board membership, increased the number of youth and families it works with and expanded programming.

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Episode 45: The Humanities Equip Us with Tools of Introspection & Analysis

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Rose Sackey-Milligan is a Senior Program Officer at Mass Humanities and Academic Director of the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities, a college-level learning experience for adults whose aspirations for higher education and engagement with the humanities are thwarted by socioeconomic circumstances. She discusses the vital role of the humanities – philosophy, ethics, jurisprudence, language, literature, and more – to offer people a space and opportunity to explore ever-evolving ideas of history and culture.

Rose Sackey-Milligan is a socio-cultural anthropologist and former Director of the Social Justice Program, Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. At Mass Humanities she is a Senior Program Officer, Reading Frederick Douglass Together statewide coordinator, and Academic Director of the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities in Springfield, MA.

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Episode 12: Creating Pathways for the Contemporary Performing Artist

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Performing arts education pioneers Berklee College of Music and The Boston Conservatory are merging, creating a comprehensive training ground for music, dance, theater, and related professions. Richard Ortner, president of The Boston Conservatory, and Roger Brown, president of Berklee College of Music, discuss what it means to create an institutional platform for collaboration, to get students to the next level of career preparedness, and to employ music as a tool for social change.

Roger Brown (left) & Richard Ortner (right) Roger H. Brown is Berklee’s third president in the institution’s history. Under his leadership, the college has expanded scholarship support by 400 percent; created an international campus in Valencia, Spain; built its first ground-up custom facility boasting 173 residence hall rooms, a state-of-the-art recording complex, and a dining hall/performance venue; and established a suite of institutes including the Berklee Global Jazz Institute under the direction of jazz pianist Danilo Pérez. The college has expanded its global reach to attract students from 105 countries, markedly improved gender diversity, dramatically increased admissions selectivity, and created the world’s largest online music education system. During his tenure, the City Music Program, which offers educational opportunities to economically disadvantaged young musicians, has expanded outside of Boston, now serving more than 29,000 young middle school and high school-aged young people. Brown has also been a leader in humanitarian initiatives in Africa and Southeast Asia. He is an avid drummer.

Born in Great Neck, NY, Richard Ortner has shared his lifelong passion for music and advanced training in the performing arts with the most renowned senior professionals of our age, the best and brightest young artists and students, and the widest possible audiences.
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