Attention to Place

There are many reasons why attention to place in higher education is good for our students, good for the discipline of history, good for the humanities and the liberal arts, and good for Connecticut. In an era when we seem to be losing in each of these categories, we educators can make some simple shifts in our teaching praxis to stem the narrative of decline that seems so pervasive and daunting.The narrative of decline, unfortunately, is not made up. Disparities in education are real, and they are drawn along racial lines. We live in segregated towns, where white children continue to have more advantages than children of color.1 In Connecticut, our capital city is consistently ranked among the poorest cities in the nation, while its surrounding region ranks among the wealthiest.2 Where Americans once valued education as a public good, a vital means of educating its citizenry for a functioning democracy, we now tend to view college as a means of individual attainment.3 History, the humanities, and the liberal arts are increasingly perceived as boutique degrees for the enjoyment of the elite but not a real path to a career. And Connecticut? Until the pandemic made Fairfield County and other wealthy areas of the state popular in a New York exodus of the rich, Connecticut was seeing steady declines in population as retirees and young people alike sought other pastures. Whatever we may think about attempts to address these issues (shoring up K-12 productivity through revised standards and standardized testing, investments in technology, consolidation of community colleges, and increased workplace development), the structural solutions tend to be beyond our ability as individual educators to control or influence. A sense of helplessness and foreboding creeps in.What I offer in this paper is not a panacea to our educational woes, but I do suggest that a place-centered approach to teaching in any discipline can make a difference in our efficacy as educators that, especially if extended to a broad application, can make a positive impact in important areas such as inclusion, civic-mindedness, student engagement, and authentic learning. In order to provide concrete examples of place-conscious teaching, I will share a variety of approaches we have developed at Capital Community College through the Hartford Heritage Project, which was recently named by CT Explored as one of twenty top history “Gamechangers” in Connecticut.The Hartford Heritage Project (HHP) is a humanities initiative that promotes and supports place-conscious teaching in the college. The aim of the HHP is to engage students in the rich mosaic of historic and cultural content in the city of Hartford in order to deepen learning in courses, broaden student experience with museums and other cultural institutions, and inspire civic attachment and civic engagement. 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some of the of this educational we will concrete examples and the Hartford Heritage with many our to this one do we a of The seems is a the that our experience with place is so that we tend to its and in our is is to our and our We are in and not do be at in any to be and to be is to be in some of is as as the we the which we the we We are by We and through We live in to in in we do is be we to this its to our or of place is we tend not to think We can to our for We may of other but have with our many have they our so rich and of a state that New York and Connecticut especially this of in its as an and and to and this is one capital Hartford is a good place to is a good place to The New York and by of the Connecticut capital its or a of a but a of the that at this are to young people the of place to The especially in a perceived seems and in to the of other And our are by where we the a of our of the and in that We as in We may and the but we the of place that is to our we have and we 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