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Clemente students are a very diverse group! They range in age from 18 to 80, with an average age in the late 30s. They come from all parts of the city of Boston and beyond, and bring personal experiences and perspectives from around the world to the classroom.

Some students take Clemente with only a high school background, while others have done some college-level classes before. Clemente does not presume nor require college experience; we meet the class where it is and move forward together from there.

The educational journeys Clemente students undertake are various as well. Some take the course intending to transfer the credits they receive and go on to further higher education and bachelor’s degrees. Some take the class for skill improvement which may lead to career advancement. Still others have personal enrichment in mind. The program is flexible when it comes to student goals and ambitions.

Listen below for why three students chose Clemente and their experiences with the course.

Jack Cheng, Art history.

Jack has been with the Clemente course in Dorchester since it began in 2001. He received his Ph.D. in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard and his BA from Columbia. An archeologist who has worked on digs in Syria and Sudan, Jack introduces Clemente students to the history of art and architecture, primarily but not only in the West, moving from the Royal Cemetery of Ur in Iraq (2300 BCE) to the works of contemporary artists like Shepard Fairey, Kehinde Wiley, Faith Ringgold and El Anatsui.

Dominick Knowles, Writing and Critical Thinking.

 Dominick has taught Writing and Critical Thinking with Clemente since 2021 and is the incoming Co-Director for 2023-2024. They hold a PhD in English from Brandeis University.  wiDom’s scholarly work focuses on modernist and postwar poetry in the U.S. and Latin America with particular emphasis on anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and anti-imperialist literary histories. Dom works with Clemente students throughout the year on discovering and refining their writing abilities and skills.

Julia Legas, Moral philosophy.

Julia teaches at Boston College and Suffolk University. She has her PhD(ABD) from Boston College in philosophy, and an MA at California State University in English, and a BA from Notre Dame. She has been teaching with Clemente for 15 years. She teaches moral philosophy as an engaged and conversational exploration of the moral issues defined by ancient philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and further explored by more recent thinkers including Kant, Mill, and Held. She combines a rigorous attention to the texts with an open exploration of the meaning of these philosophers for our own lives.

Timothy McCarthy, American history.

Tim has taught in the Clemente course in Dorchester since it began in 2001. He received his BA and MA from Harvard and his PhD from Columbia University. Author of, among other works, The Radical Reader, Tim focuses on using primary texts to explore one of the major themes of American history – freedom. Working with Tim, Clemente students investigate the meaning of freedom from before the American Revolution to beyond the Civil Rights Movement using a variety of sources representing different perspectives and voices of Black, brown, and working class citizens, male and female..

Linda Chavers, Literature.

Linda joined Clemente in 2022 as the Professor of English. She has a BA from New York University and PhD in African American Literature from Harvard University. She taught in the Intellectual Heritage and Honors Program at Temple University and in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University with a focus on marginalized authors in the history of literature and Black feminism.  Her focus in literature Clemente classes is on encouraging students to find their own voices as they read while learning techniques to express themselves more clearly, and on helping students use the tools of literary analysis to discover how literature speaks to and about their own lives.

American history

This is an introductory course in the history of the United States focusing on one of its major themes: freedom. Throughout the term, we will investigate the contested and changing meanings of freedom over time using a variety of sources representing different perspectives. Since history is first and foremost an integration of stories, we will devote most of our attention to the social experiences and individual voices of a diverse group of Americans: artists and activists, radicals and reformers, political figures and ordinary folks. In the process, we will discover that ideas like freedom—as well as other key concepts like rights, equality, democracy, citizenship, and the like—have always meant different things to different people.

This course is designed to inspire a reckoning with history by highlighting key moments—what we might call “democratic dramas”—throughout the nation’s past that help to illuminate these important and still unfinished stories of American freedom. Though we will ground our weekly discussions in history, we will also work to connect the dots between the past and the present, concluding our time together by exploring the question: where do we go from here?

Moral Philosophy

This course offers the student an introduction to the great texts of Western moral philosophy. For as long as people have been thinking, they have been asking themselves three fundamental questions:
1. What should I do?
2. Who should I be?
3. How can we live together?

Philosophy is best when it is a practice of a community, the kind that seeks understanding through dialogue and appreciates what the experiences of other people have to say to their own life. We will proceed in this class in the same way. We will read the great texts, attempt to understand what each philosopher is saying, question and challenge the ideas, and come to conclusions of our own. This involves some risk. You will be putting your own ideas out on the table for others to examine, and potentially criticize. We must also take an attitude of respect toward one another and realize that there is a way to challenge ideas that does not diminish people.

Art History

This section of the course has three main goals:
to introduce some of the most influential monuments in the history of art;
to develop the skills of looking at and describe images; and
to instill some sense of visual pleasure.

Assignments include short writing assignments and “looking exercises” (also known as drawing—to be judged on effort, not talent). Reading assignments in Marilyn Stokstad’s Art, A Brief History may seem long (around 25 pages) but they are meant for looking at the pictures on the pages indicated, not reading every word.

Literature

“If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day.  For there would be an intolerable hunger.” – Muriel Rukeyser

Clemente literature classes focus on making personal connections to a wide range of literary texts while introducing students to new techniques for reading and analyzing literature to explore the complicated relationship between the individual and the larger community.  Traditionally, the class begins with Antigone, the classical Greek drama by Sophocles and a central text in western culture defining complicated moral questions of personal loyalty and civic responsibility, individual integrity and political obligations.  The class reads and analyzes poetry, short stories, and drama that examine the question of how an individual shapes and is shaped by family and the larger community, and how we respond to the moral challenges of the world.

Writing and Critical Thinking

Clemente writing classes focus on different forms of writing – informal, formal academic, and personal, reflective writing. At the end of the year, students create a writing portfolio in which they collect their work and present it to the faculty. In all of these writings, our aim is to help students become more comfortable with writing, and more aware of techniques and skills that can help them write more effectively. Writing classes include weekly 30 minute classes as well as private writing tutorials with Brandeis writing interns, and regular longer writing workshops, in which students work with faculty and interns to develop academic essays. Students receive regular responses and feedback on their writing from writing interns and faculty, and have the opportunity to work on their writing individually with the interns and faculty.

Supported by Mass Humanities, the Clemente Course offers educational opportunities for adults facing economic hardship and adverse circumstances, so they can further their education and careers, advocate for themselves and their families, and engage actively in the cultural and political lives of their communities. The course provides a free, college-level introduction to art history, literature, American history, moral philosophy and writing.

In effect, students receive a full scholarship for a year-long six credit college course, including books and materials and field trips. Assistance with technology is also available for those with a demonstrated need. Students who complete the course satisfactorily are eligible for college credits from Bard College and the scholarship includes the administrative cost of maintaining and transferring those credits.

The student experience in the Clemente classroom is focused on a supportive, open, welcoming, and engaging atmosphere. Classes are small, usually around 20 students or less. Faculty are all expert teachers who have a passion for personally interacting with all students and fostering lively intellectual exchanges.

The Clemente classroom prioritizes open conversation and dialogue, where students can bring their own experience and background to the space of discussion.

Clemente students often form very close bonds with one another as they work together to support each other’s learning, while creating a real community of learners.

Individual writing tutorial support is also available for students as they progress through the various subjects. Developing writing skills individually is a central feature of Clemente.

For more information visit our sister locations

Mass Humanities

• Brockton
• New Bedford
• Springfield         

Worcester

A sixth Massachusetts Clemente course is hosted independently by The Care Center in Holyoke.