On December 9, 2022, four Boston By Foot volunteer guides were invited to attend fall semester presentations by Suffolk University honors students completing their "City of Stories: Walking Tours of Boston's Past" coursework.

Sami Alouani, Jim Dougherty, Anne O'Loughlin and Lauren Sterling listened to five presentations from 30 students, then provided feedback and thoughts on content, marketing, and public interest for each group project.

All of the tours were based in Boston’s North End. Students had attended a BFF North End tour - led by Alouani - at the start of the semester to kick off their creative process.

Presentations represented different aspects of the North End's appeal and had to include promotional materials as well. They created logos, t-shirts, websites, QR codes, and printed brochures to offer meaningful and engaging history interpretation. Their themes covered hidden stories, overlooked personalities, food, cultural and holiday celebrations, as well as civil unrest. Students shared their promotional materials and themes with the entire class via visual and oral presentations.

Many of the students confided that they were not interested in history prior to the course, but signed up to fulfill an elective requirement. However, all of them agreed that they became history 'buffs' at the conclusion of their work! Professor Katy Lasdow developed and presented a truly engaging and informative experience, and all were honored to be included in the successful completion of the student projects.