leaving the hermeneutics at the door, plzkthx

December 16, 2007 10:18 AM

I want to make stuff and do stuff in the Boston area (accessible by the T) that's not intellectual and academic, and as a welcomed respite during grad school. A friend and I have been thinking about things like shop class (making stuff you can use is incredibly fulfilling!) or stilts walking, or something interesting and fun and active - besides a dance class, sports, or pottery class - that we can do with some regularity (once maybe twice a week).

Have you taken any super fun "extra-curricular" classes in the Boston area? What were they? How and where did you take them?

posted by raztaj to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 answers total)

Cambridge Center for Adult Education has classes like this.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 10:26 AM on December 16, 2007

Every Friday at 4:30 (?) the MIT Juggling club meets on Killian court or in the lobby of building 10 (the big dome building on Memorial drive). They do some cool stuff and they're always happy to give new people lessons and I've seen people there occasionally with stilts and unicycles.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 10:34 AM on December 16, 2007

Somerville, Mass has some very cool events at Union Square and most are free.

http://www.unionsquaremain.org/visiting/news.html
posted by 45moore45 at 10:42 AM on December 16, 2007

Some self-guided walking tours of Boston's made land?

Sailing lessons at Community Rowing?

A class at Spark Craft Studios?
posted by tiburon at 10:44 AM on December 16, 2007

Well, there's...
- the barely T accessible Flying Trapeze Academy in Waltham (but it's closed for the season until June '08).
- jewelry workshops at MetalWerx (also in Waltham).
- all kinds of things at MassArt continuing ed (I've taken about four classes here in different departments and they've all been pretty good).

Spark and Cambridge Center for Adult Ed leapt to mind, as tiburon and kuujjuarapik have already mentioned.
posted by cocoagirl at 11:02 AM on December 16, 2007

I don't have any Boston-centric recommendations, but I've recently started playing ping pong in a semi-competitive environment. It's incredibly fun and surprisingly good exercise (I've worked up quite a sweat after a few good matches). Table tennis clubs offer a variety of play--from beginner to near-Olympic level, and it should be pretty easy to find one in your area.
posted by slogger at 9:42 PM on December 16, 2007

Seconding Cambridge Center for Adult Education classes. I've had good experiences with their language classes (Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian) and dance (salsa).
posted by whatzit at 3:58 AM on December 17, 2007

If you can afford it, definitely try one of the MassArt continuing ed classes. There are all the usual painting and drawing and photography classes, of course, but there are also classes in stuff like glassblowing, foundry, blacksmithing, lithography, etc. - types of art that require a fair amount of equipment and that you're unlikely to be able to try on your own. Classes are once a week during term, and twice a week during the summer. You might even be able to cross-register for their normal classes and thus avoid having to pay. I know that MIT at least has a cross-registration program set up with both MassArt and the Museum School.
posted by ubersturm at 4:52 AM on December 17, 2007