From the Classroom to the Field: Salem State University's Humanities Brigade Reports After First Year

Initial SSU Cohort Partners with Gables, North Shore CDC on Impactful Projects

SALEM, Mass., Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- When Salem State University launched The Humanities Brigade last fall, it set out to answer a question that has long followed humanities education: What does it look like when students apply the humanities to real-world challenges?

One year later, the university's inaugural Humanities Brigade cohort has provided an answer.

Supported by a $480,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, the Humanities Brigade brings together first-year students in a year-long cohort that combines integrated humanities coursework across both semesters, community-engaged learning and paid professional experiences focused on social justice.

Over the past academic year, nine first-year students partnered with The House of the Seven Gables and the North Shore Community Development Coalition, applying lessons from courses in American studies, art history, philosophy, and media studies, to projects ranging from museum accessibility and historic preservation to resident services, community storytelling and neighborhood research. The experience culminated in 120-hour paid summer internships that allowed students to continue and expand that work alongside professionals at both organizations.

Designed by Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello, professor of American studies and interdisciplinary studies, the program was created to help students see the humanities as both a viable academic pathway and a practical and powerful set of tools for civic life, professional work and community problem-solving. It was designed with students from area school districts in mind, particularly those who might enjoy the humanities but have not been made aware of the varied real-world applications and practical career pathways they offer.

"We've partnered with these two organizations all year long as a way for the students to not just get to know the community, but also to see firsthand how the work we're doing in the classroom and in the humanities bears out and has relevance in the real world," Duclos-Orsello said. "They're bringing their humanities skills to bear in the work they do with these two organizations."

In the classroom, the program supports students even further by covering the costs of all materials for courses central to the program. Costs related to trips out into the field are also covered by the program, which allows students to participate without consideration of cost.

Throughout the spring semester, Humanities Brigade students worked with the North Shore CDC on the Faces and Places of The Point project. They conducted interviews and community research that will help inform a future initiative highlighting the people, places and stories that define Salem's The Point Neighborhood and its vibrant Latino community.

During the summer, students continued that work through internships in both the social service and cultural sector that included developing historical content, supporting public programming and helping expand the Punto Urban Art Museum's storytelling efforts.

"Our partnership with the Salem State Humanities Brigade program has been incredibly meaningful. The students bring energy, creativity and a genuine commitment to their internships at the North Shore CDC, which in turn strengthens our work and deepens our impact," said Lisl Hacker, chief program officer at North Shore CDC. "Their dedication to supporting North Shore CDC programs and the clients we serve demonstrates the power of the humanities in action and the difference that young leaders can make in our communities. We are grateful to be involved in this initiative and proud to help cultivate the next generation of civically minded leaders."

At The House of the Seven Gables, students tackled projects that addressed real institutional priorities. Working alongside museum staff, interns evaluated the site's audio tour through the lens of accessibility and historical interpretation, documented oral histories connected to the organization's settlement programs and contributed to long-term preservation planning for the museum's historic campus.

"Students that have had a full year to really focus on the practical application of the humanities —who are thinking not just about the coursework but how the coursework applies to the real world—it has prepared them for the internships in a way that we don't always get from students coming in, because they've already been primed to think about the bigger issues and the bigger picture," said Dakota Russell, executive director of the House of the Seven Gables. "The humanities can really inform your perspective on so many practical matters in the real world."

For Mia Polanco, a student who entered Salem State undecided about her major, the experience helped shape both her academic trajectory and her understanding of where a humanities education could lead.

"I was extremely unsure about my next steps after high school. I had no idea what each major meant or what I could pursue as a profession. It felt a little hopeless," Polanco said. "I saw the Humanities Brigade as a way to gain some understanding of what I want to do with my life. Instead, I was introduced to a bridge—it got me off my hopeless island and gave me direction."

Polanco, now a liberal studies major with declared concentrations in history and philosophy, spent the summer reviewing and evaluating the House of the Seven Gables' audio tour. It was there that she worked to identify opportunities to improve historical interpretation while making the experience more accessible for children and visitors with disabilities.

As Polanco started her internship this past summer, she shared that the Humanities Brigade allowed her to look at different subjects outside of the humanities through a social justice lens.

"Professor Duclos-Orsello showed us that our paths don't have to be linear," Polanco said. "The humanities aren't just for one type of person or career; they're something everyone should engage with."

For Duclos-Orsello, the students' work with both community organizations represents exactly what the program was designed to accomplish.

"Working with these organizations helps them to articulate to the students that what they're doing in the humanities is actually practical, valuable, essential learning and knowledge for their personal lives, their community lives and their careers," Duclos-Orsello said. "And that has been spectacular."

The Humanities Brigade is open to incoming first-year students who are interested in the humanities and want to gain practical skills in applying them to work and life. The university will welcome the program's second cohort this fall, continuing Salem State's partnership with community organizations while helping students explore the role the humanities can play in building stronger communities across the North Shore.

For more on the Humanities Brigade, please visit its website at salemstate.edu/humanitiesbrigade.

About Salem State University
Known as the Commonwealth's civic engagement university, Salem State University, established in 1854, is a comprehensive, public institution of higher learning located approximately 15 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. One of the largest state universities in the Commonwealth, Salem State enrolls about 6,500 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 32 undergraduate programs and graduate programs that offer degrees in 24 fields. The university also has a continuing education division that offers both credit and non-credit programs. Salem State proudly participates in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement and has shown a student voting rate above the national average, earning it a Silver Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. In 2020, Salem State received the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification and was designated a Best for Vets College by Military Times. Salem State is proud to be a developing Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution.

SOURCE SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY