SLAM presenting seminar on Providence College’s new Ruane Center for the Humanities at SCUP 2014 North Atlantic Region Conference in Boston – The session will be held on Thursday, March 13, from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Boston, MA – The cornerstone of curriculum at Providence College has always been Western Civilization. As the college grew and developed, the faculty and administration focused on the need to create a new Western Civilization program and in doing so, create a new home for the humanities as well as a building for both academic and community use. The result is the new Ruane Center for Humanities, which according to Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., Providence College president, at the building’s dedication “… will be our signature building for the next hundred years.”
A year after opening, the positive response by both faculty and students to the building, designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative’s Boston office in association with Sullivan Buckingham Architects of Providence, is evidence that it is fulfilling the College’s vision for this signature building and focal point on campus, and a symbol of the importance of the humanities to Providence College.
Dr. Vance G. Morgan, professor of philosophy and Western Civilization program director, said a humanities center has been a dream for all of his 19 years at the College, and he finds himself smiling and pinching himself in disbelief as he walks its hallways. Meanwhile, his colleagues have reported the best seminars of their careers. “The beauty and elegance of the building matches the beauty and elegance of what takes place inside,” he said.
A session featuring the Ruane Center, to illustrate a number of important planning and design issues such as how creating a new program is translated into built form, will be presented at the SCUP 2014 North Atlantic Regional Conference on Thursday, March 13, from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. The session will be led by two Principals of the SLAM Boston Office – Richard A. Polvino, AIA, LEED AP and Neil H. Martin, AIA and will include John Sweeney, Senior Vice President for Finance and Business/Chief Financial Officer of Providence College. According to Martin, the presentation will examine the thrust of humanities to the collegiate settings and the particular objectives, based on the institutional mission, in creating the new campus icon.
