Monday, September 30, 2013

Salsa without Garlic, Onions, and Cilantro????


by Margaret Bogosian 

As societies evolve, their cultures do too. People in Italy did not wake up one day and decide to make the tomato a staple in their food culture. Before the Columbian Exchange in 1492, rice, a staple crop in modern day Latin America, was only available in the Old World. Thanks to a Regis College Co-Curricular mini grants, this three month series "An Evolution of Flavor", will trace the historic roots of modern day food cultures. For our September series, the students cooked a meal with food that was only available in the New World before 1492. We had a lovely meal that included "New World Bruschetta", Turkey Chili, Ginger Roasted Vegetables, Tropical Fruit Salad, and Homemade Hot Cocoa. 

In the coming months, we will host two more dinners and the food will only get better from here! In the Old World there were many more food options available. Cured meats, fresh baked bread, and artisan cheeses are just a few of the items that will be on next months menu. If you would like to attend as a cook or as our dinner guest for the evening, please RSVP to PHI@RegisCollege.edu.

Photos of the September 25 dinner available on the Evolution of Flavor Flickr.

Friday, September 27, 2013

An Evolution of Flavor

Photos from our most recent event coordinated by Regis graduate student Margaret Bogosian: 


An Evolution of Flavor:  History and the Columbian Exchange as Represented through Cooking

 

















More information about this food, history, and culture series will be posted next week.

Greeting from the Regis College Way Archeology site!

 
Karen Dropps here - I wanted to give you all an update on our progress!
For the last four weeks we have spent a couple hours in the dirt looking for some hints of what may have been there before.  So far, we have come up with a lot of coal, charcoal, and in a big part of this area, rocks! In honor of our wonderful friend the rock, I have composed a little ode to them.
My dearest friend
You cludder up my site
Make a mess of my life
Big and small, dark and light
Might it be important?
Most likely not
It must be another stupid rock!

We have been successful in finding glass and a nail, that with further inspection we hope to date soon.
A little background on the project.  This is a project that came out of Audrey’s and my project last spring, where we developed, with the help of our director, the beginnings of an archeology program.  We spent many months researching, surveying, and going over the logistics of the project.  In the end we decided on the area our current dig.  As we started digging, it was a special moment for us, as we saw many months of hard work being put to use.
So what do we hope to find? We have been told that Wellesley Street may have come through our site at some point in the past, and there may have been a house there in the 1970s.  We continue on and hope that this project will only be the beginning of a larger and greater program for years to come.

Check back for new updates! Also keep an eye out for our upcoming public dig day, where you are invited to come on down and see the site, dig a bit, and be apart of our fieldwork!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Finding the Story - "Following our Path: Regis College through its Art Collection”



Audrey McCullough, Graduate Student

Our task this week was to decide how our exhibit would be laid out in the Carney Gallery. The Carney Gallery, which is located in the Fine Arts Center of Regis College, is a bit daunting when you first look inside. The white walls are already adorned with objects of another exhibit (entitled "Upon Further Consideration..."), which makes it a little difficult to create an image of our own exhibit that will be there in a few short months. The exhibit there is eye catching, and that is something that ours will also hopefully be, and more.

The story behind our exhibit is important to hammer down in the beginning so we have a direction while choosing the art and artifacts to go in it. The story we are telling will be the “Path of Regis”, a look into Regis’ history over the better part of the last century. Choosing the order the art and artifacts will go in was the task at hand in our class session this week. Originally, I, and probably other students in the class, thought the exhibit should go in chronological order; it would begin with the opening of the school and continue with art and artifacts from the next few years. The class ultimately agreed to follow a timeline of the school year. The exhibit will begin with art and artifacts related to the fall, then the winter and the spring around the room. The viewer will be able to follow Regis through its timeless traditions in the order that they happen every year, beginning with the first day of school and ending with Commencement. As we continue to select objects and think through how to arrange them according to our story, more details will be revealed on this blog.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Where to Begin? - “Following our Path: Regis College through its Art Collection”



By: Amy Damon, Graduate Student

            The school year just started and already we have two big deadlines looming ahead of us. Our museums studies class has been given the opportunity to design an exhibit for Regis College’s Carney Gallery. When I first heard the news this summer, I was thrilled. What better way to apply what we learned in the last 2 semesters of Museum Studies than to design an exhibit of our own? But as the semester approached, I became more and more anxious about the task at hand. The theme for the exhibit was already set as a celebration of Regis College and the Sister of Saint Joseph, using the college’s art collection as our medium. At first, this seemed like a simple task. The college has so many beautiful paintings and sculptures that we could easily fill the Carney Gallery with the college’s treasures. But what would such an exhibit say? In class we have discussed the importance of having a big idea to keep the exhibit focused and compelling for the audience. But what would our “big idea” be? What story would we tell? And how do we give meaning and purpose to the objects we choose for display? In 20 days we have to have a complete exhibit proposal ready for review by the Academic Council and in 25 days we have to submit a grant proposal to the Co-Curricular Grant Committee. As with the beginning of any semester, the work ahead seems insurmountably large but if we can pull it off, the rewards will be more than just an A in class. It will be a chance to promote the Museum Studies program and pay tribute to our school and the Sisters of Saint Joseph. How will we pull this off? Stay tuned to find out…

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Introduction: “Following our Path: Regis College through its Art Collection”



Introduction
Dr. Kate Edney

This fall, seven students in ID 344/ID 544 (Museum Studies Practicum) are working together to develop and curate an exhibit for the Carney Art Gallery that will feature the history of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and Regis College. Each week, at least one student from the class will be posting a blog entry about how the exhibit is developing over time. The entries will range from musings on particular works of art, updates on how the exhibit is coming together, and perhaps even obstacles met (and overcome). While I am facilitating the building of the exhibit as the instructor for the course, ultimately this exhibit will rise and fall on the abilities of the following students who you will meet over the course of the semester as they make their posts. On behalf of the class, we hope you follow us along during the semester, and come visit the exhibit once it is up and running during the spring!

Blog Schedule
16 September             Amy Damon (Graduate Student)
23 September             Audrey McCullough (Graduate Student)
30 September             Karen Dropps (Graduate Student)
7 October                    Kerry Pintabona (Undergraduate Student)
14 October                  JP Harwick (Undergraduate Student)
21 October                  Sarah Vedrani (Undergraduate Student)
28 October                  Jason Joyce (Undergraduate Student)
4 November                Amy Damon
11 November              Audrey and Karen
18 November              Kerry and JP
25 November              (Thanksgiving - blog break!)
2 December                Sarah and Jason

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Regis Way Archaeology Project

HI 216/516 students digging test pits.
The Regis College "Regis Way Archaeology Project" is officially underway!  For the experiential component of HI 216/516 (Public History and Archaeology), a group of graduate and undergraduate students have started the process of digging in a small section of the Northeast campus.  The site is at the base of what was once a stone wall and perhaps the original Wellesley St. and given initial test pit findings, hopes are high!  Future updates will be posted, but for the time being watch our progress via our Flickr site!