Study Tour is a Verb

When we decided to offer a hands-on course about the geography of New Bedford for a second time, we considered reasons that it did not garner sufficient enrollment in previous years. Among them, we decided, was the choice of course number. As an experimental course, we had thought that the GEOG 400 Special Topics course was appropriate, but we decided that its high number might be off-putting, as it suggests prior coursework in geography. As we considered numbering at a more appropriate level, it occurred to us that GEOG 296 might be both more inviting and more descriptive. The course we envision is, after all, a sort of domestic study tour.

Although most of this course will take place on land, much of my own learning about New Bedford takes place on the water as an active member of both Whaling City Rowing and the Azorean Maritime Heritage Society.
(Rowing with WCR in this May 2018 photo, I am the one in the pink hat.)

How This is Different from Most Study Tours

The term "study tour" usually describes short-term experiences in other countries. At Bridgewater State University, these are typically 10 to 20 days in length, led by a faculty member. The New Bedford Maritime City course is a similar length, but it does not involve airplanes, passports, or overnight stays. 

The course does begin and end each day at the New Bedford municipal airport, but only because this is a convenient location for BSU-arranged parking.

How This is Similar to Other Study Tours

Most of my study-tour experience has been in Nicaragua, where I have led (with the incredible assistance of local guides) 11 study tours and one non-credit tour. Well over 100 people have enjoyed this experience, many of them returning either with me or on their own. In the process of leading this course -- plus one in Cabo Verde -- I have decided that I really like this format and I know how to make it both an effective and enjoyable learning experience.

Detail of New Bedford harbor nautical chart,
with satellite overlay. The professor spends a lot of time
in the center of this image!

The characteristics of a study tour (aka travel course) that will be part of the New Bedford course include:

• Most learning will be through activities, rather than extensive reading.
• Those activities will be carefully planned and chosen, so that both the professor and the students are learning from local experts.
• The experience is self-contained, so that no particular coursework is required as a prerequisite. In fact, students bringing a variety disciplinary backgrounds to the course enrich the experience for all.
• There will be a fee beyond tuition, though in this course it is much less than in a travel course. The fee covers admission to some facilities and some snacks.
• The entire group travels together in a van for each day's activities.
• Students keep a journal of their experience, and write a reflection paper at the end of the course. 

Graduate-Credit Note

This course is also listed as GEOG 520, so that in-service teachers or others seeking graduate credits can benefit from the experience. Such participants will complete all of the activities required of undergraduates, plus a research or curriculum project that will help them to meet professional goals. These projects will be agreed upon in individual consultation with me prior to the start of the course.

Why Teach New Bedford?

Shortest answer: The city will teach itself.

By this I mean that for geographers, a place is a text and geographic learning occurs by approaching that text with curiosity and humility. For the summer course I am offering in New Bedford, I will serve simply as an example of a geography learner and as a bridge to this fascinating city.

We will not, however, simply be wandering around asking questions -- although we will be doing some of that (known professionally as "walking tours" and "windshield surveys"). Rather, we will visit one or two of the city's institutions each day, with specific questions in mind. I have the great fortune of being a member of several associations in the city, and of having friends and acquaintances in quite a few of its companies, departments, and organizations.

These connections will be our real bridges to Whaling City!

The New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge will be both a tangible part of the course -- I pass over it and under it several times a week -- and a metaphor for my approach to the bridge. The anchor is just a bonus. I took the photo on Pi Day 2018 from the front of Fathoms, one of many local restaurants that thrives on New Bedford's globally important seafood industry.

But What About Why?

All of the forgoing sidesteps the question that opens this post: why teach about New Bedford?

I have thought about this for years, of course, but more intensely since a brief conversation with a fellow whaleboat rower yesterday morning. Returning to the marina as the dawn broke over New Bedford (rowers are extreme morning people), we were admiring the view of the gleaming waterfront.

She mentioned a photo that she has on her office computer, showing a scene much like that we were looking at, but in even more dramatic light. A coworker asked her if it was of San Diego and she replied that no, it was New Bedford. He was dismissive, despite the photographic evidence and despite the fact that he is from Lowell, another of Massachusetts' underrated gateway cities. These are the cities that house 1 in 7 Massachusetts residents and a slightly higher proportion of its employment. They do have lower income and higher crime rates than the state average, but the pathologies of gateway cities are exaggerated in the lens of television news, and people from both smaller towns and larger cities tend to miss much of what the "second-tier" population centers have to offer.

I took this 5:30am photo of the New Bedford waterfront from Pope's Island Marina, in the first few minutes of summer, 2016. It was this or a very similar photo that garnered a surprised reaction from my fellow rower's officemate. And views like this remind me of the loan officer in nearby Bridgewater who told me New Bedford is not near the water.

I have found it very rewarding to explore the city of Brockton with a several first-year seminar classes, and will be doing so again in the fall of 2019. When I learned of the chance to offer a summer course over a two-week series of extended afternoon sessions, it took me about two minutes to decide that an exploration of Whaling City was in order.

Who is my target audience? Simply: everyone.. This is a 200-level class open to all, but I can also offer it as a 500-level graduate course by tailoring extra assignments to the needs of individual students. I hope that this will include classroom teachers from gateway cities and small towns alike. I hope to have at least a few people who already know New Bedford well (they will gain from the geographic perspective) and some who arrive with little real knowledge of the city. I look forward to bringing all such learners around to the remarkable constellation of contacts we have cultivated in this Maritime City.

Much more about this city from my point of view can be found on this blog; details about registration are at BSU Summer.

New Bedford: America's Maritime City

New Bedford Fortnight will be on the BSU Summer schedule in 2019 under a new name: America's Maritime City (registration opens March 11). We realized that the theme of the course might make for a better title than the length of the course -- especially since "fortnight" is a term that has become rather too obscure. The idea remains the same, however: spend two weeks exploring the geography of a most remarkable city!

Azorean whaleboats were featured in
National Geographic

GEOG 296 is a local study tour that will meet every weekday afternoon for two weeks, June 3 to June 14, 2019. Class will begin and end at a local parking lot, so that I can take students by van to each day's destinations. Meeting for four hours each day, we will have time for guided tours and lectures at many of the city's leading institutions. We will also have time for walking tours in some of its most fascinating neighborhoods. 

Most classes will run 12:30 to 4:30 pm. The exception will be Thursday, June 13, when we meet 3:00 to 7:00 pm to participate in New Bedford's famous AHA! Night a monthly festival that is an important factor in the revitalization of the city.

GEOG 296 is a 3-credit course that is available to any BSU student. Credits transfer easily, so students from other universities -- including students who are back home for the summer from schools elsewhere. Because of the variety of perspectives that will be included in this course, it will have something to offer students from other places as well as lifelong New Bedford residents. 

The course is also available as GEOG 520 to students -- including in-service teachers -- seeking graduate credit. Extra research or lesson planning will be required, and will be tailored to individual students.

The central theme of the course is the way New Bedford has been able to harness its historic and cultural heritage to promote its economic and social development. We will learn about New Bedford from the point of view of languages, food, and music as well as whaling, fishing, and manufacturing. We will also explore its important place in African American history and the geography of immigration. We also have some excellent opportunities to explore New Bedford's physical and environmental geography, and to get out on the water.

Where's Hayes-Boh? Although your professor has sailed on the boat shown in this article, he is not in the photo. He is, however, in the photo used as the overall blog banner at the top of the screen. Can you spot him?