URIs_MOMENTUM_Research_and_Innovation_Magazine_Fall_2022_Mel

HISTORY MAXIMIZING THE VALUE OF

What single research entity at the University of Rhode Island (URI) touches on topics as diverse as shipwrecks and abortion rights? The Applied History Lab in the History Department, affiliated with URI’s Social Science (SSIREP). The foundation of the lab’s work is that history bears significant importance for today’s decision-making. History Professor Rod Mather, and director of the archaeology and anthropology master’s program, says the Applied History Lab’s directive is: “To interrogate the past to inform public policy debates in the present. Sometimes that clarifies them, sometimes it adds new dimensions to them, sometimes it helps rephrase the questions. Often it helps identify potential solutions.” Mather was hired in 1998 to teach Atlantic maritime history and serve as an expert diver with experience working on archaeological sites including Bermuda’s outer reefs. He Institute for Research, Education, and Policy

written by DIANE STERRET

A TYPICAL JITNEY BUS, CIRCA 1920

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