About FractalU Boston
FractalU Boston is an experiment: what if your neighbors ran a school? We organize affordable, in-person classes across Somerville, Cambridge, and the greater Boston area. They meet in coffee shops, living rooms, and wherever else a class fits.
We borrowed the model from FractalU in New York City. The idea is simple: education shouldn't stop at graduation, and the person teaching doesn't need a title, just something worth sharing. Plenty of people here are students one semester and teachers the next.
Come to pick up a skill, or to finally read the book you've been avoiding. Either way you'll end up learning next to people worth knowing.
What we believe
The long version: we want a model for neighborhood-scale education that other cities can copy. The short version: learning is fun and teaching feels good. A community gets stronger when its people build things side by side.
Classes lean practical. Theory shows up when it's needed, in service of the thing you're actually making or doing.
A community of teachers and learners
Anyone can join, and plenty of people end up on both sides of the room. It takes surprisingly little to make a great class: a few interested people and someone glad to teach them.
Past classes have covered, among other things:
- How The Somerville City Government Works
- Chakra-Inspired Yoga
- Pencil Portraiture
- Intro to Negotiation
- How To Listen To Jazz
- The Mythology of Progress: Modern Science and its Origins in Faith
The catalog looks like the neighborhood: a little of everything.
What students are saying
“The exercises were fun, and really tested my creativity and ability to think on my feet.”
“Accessible, well paced, concrete results, interesting ideas, well prepared.”
“The course created a great space for discussion… Overall was really impressed with the depth and structure of the class.”
Join us
FractalU Boston is open to anyone nearby who wants to learn something or teach something. Bring a skill, or just bring curiosity. We'd love to have you.