Academic Affairs

University of Massachusetts > AASAIR > Creative Economy Awards 2008 - 2009

UMass Amherst

Developing a Master Plan for Heritage Tourism at the W. E. B. Du Bois Boyhood Home site and Other Areas in Great Barrington PI: David Glassberg, Department of History

The University of Massachusetts's W.E. B. DuBois Legacy Committee, in partnership with the Friends of the DuBois Homesite and the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail, plan to transform the site of the W.E. B. DuBois boyhood home in Great Barrington into a regional, national and international tourist destination in order to create an enduring memorial to celebrate the life and legacy of DuBois, a pioneering African-American scholar and activist born in Great Barrington in 1868.

Forty Years of Women's Creative Economies in Western Massachusetts: 1965-2005
PI: Laura Lovett, Department of History

This project will collect oral histories, produce an historical narrative and develop an online database that will detail forty years of women's contributions to the creative economy of western Massachusetts and publicly document what has been a long history of remarkable tolerance and talent in the Pioneer Valley.

Architecture and Design Exploration Program for Inner City Youths in Springfield
PI: Stephen Schreiber, Architecture + Design Program

The UMass Amherst Architecture+Design Program will start a design exploration program in Springfield that will introduce at-risk high school students to careers in architecture and design. The program, which will target students who live in the Mason Square community of Springfield, will be a collaborative effort between the UMass Amherst Architecture+Design Program, Dunbar Community Center in Springfield, the Springfield Public Schools, Springfield Technical Community College, and the Western Massachusetts American Institute of Architects.

UMass Boston

To Enhance Use of the Arts in Early Childhood Education.
PI: Joan Arches, College of Public and Community Service

This grant will support a pilot program in the Columbia Point and Dorchester communities of Boston that will develop reliable techniques to enhance use of the arts in preschool programs, leading to better return on investment in preschool education and, ultimately, the improved quality of urban life that results from more effective education.

Study of the Film Industry and Its Economic Impact on Massachusetts
PI: Pacey Foster, Management and Marketing, and David Terkla, Economics

The project will combine formal top-down economic modeling with qualitative bottom-up approaches to better understand this critical sector of the creative economy in Massachusetts. In turn, this improved understanding will allow us to explore in more sophisticated ways the economic costs and impacts of the film tax credit on the economy in Massachusetts.

Change and Transition: A Reading Series of One-Acts
PI: Barbara Lewis, Trotter Institute

The William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black History and Culture at UMass Boston, with The Color of Film in Roxbury, Massachusetts, will produce a series of four staged readings for Black History Month 2009, which will help create, support and foster works that embody diverse images of people of color in the media and on stage.

Developing the University of Massachusetts as a Leader in Growing the Green Economy
PI: Joan Becker, Academic Support Services
Additional Participating Campuses: Dartmouth, Lowell

This ambitious project, which will involve UMass Boston (the lead campus), UMass Dartmouth and UMass Lowell, will showcase UMass' leadership in the green economy. "UMBe Green", the Boston Campus' sustainability program works with academic, administrative and student constituencies to engage the campus community in sustainable practices in a cosmopolitan city like Boston to help fulfill UMB's obligations towards its sustainability commitments. The overall project will explore three aspects of the "Green Economy": (1) Clean Energy-a growing new industry; (2) creating smart growth in a long-established sector (cities and ports); and (3) developing the workforce to grow these sectors by engaging a new generation (K-12 and pre-collegiate students).

UMass Dartmouth

The LORE Music Group Project
PI: Morgan J. Peters, Department of English

The LORE Music Group Project will employ an economic development model that combines live regional artistic and cultural programs with a component designed to explore the use of internet-based promotion and sales of sound recordings. The objective is to expand the opportunities for Greater New Bedford regional soul, jazz and dance music artists to generate income from music sales and enjoy increased national exposure leading to bookings and performances.

UMass Lowell

Global Trade, Social Justice and Community Development
PI: Rachel DeMotts, Department of Regional Economic and Social Development

This project will advance understanding of university and city roles in the global economy and introduce and explore fair trade principles within the university community by establishing a UMass Lowell-sponsored fair trade store in downtown Lowell as a centerpiece for interdisciplinary projects, community outreach, and new course offerings.

Concord River Greenway
PI: Chad Montrie, History Department

Building on the current Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust efforts to construct a Greenway along the Lower Concord River, this grant will support three related initiatives: (1) development of an historic tour along the east bank of the Lower Concord River; (2) creation of an interactive website focused on this historic area; and (3) production of a documentary film on the history of the area.

Reading New England: Using Digital Resources to Explore Landmark Texts
PI: Susan Gallagher, Department of Political Science, Lowell
Additional Participating Campuses: Amherst; Boston, also UMass Press

This project will support creation of Reading New England, a new imprint at UMass Press which will publish an ongoing series of digital critical editions of landmark works by New England's most important authors, and will make these offerings available on the internet.

Taking Care: the Costs and Contributions of Care Work in Massachusetts
PI: Mignon Duffy, Sociology Department, Lowell
Additional Participating Campuses: Amherst, Boston

This project will conduct research on the role of the care sector in the Massachusetts economy and will, for the first time, quantify the paid and unpaid labor involved in the work of caring for dependents in Massachusetts; as well as the amount of public funding invested in this growing segment of the State economy.

View the Creative Economy Fund Awards for 2007-2008