About Us Founded at Franklin Pierce College in 1996, the Monadnock Institute of Nature, Place and Culture seeks to foster the creation of a place-grounded existence for individuals and communities in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire and beyond. Through research and through interdisciplinary programming in education, community development, environmental stewardship, and regional heritage, the Monadnock Institute promotes intellectual understanding of and direct experience in the values of place.

Each year the Monadnock Institute sponsors an annual symposium on a topic related to the theme of place. Symposium participants have included Scott Russell Sanders, David W. Orr, Jane Brox, John Elder, Sy Montgomery, and John Hanson Mitchell. In addition, members of the Monadnock Institute conduct stories circles, informal opportunities for local residents to share recollections and anecdotes in towns across the Monadnock region. Since 1999, the Monadnock Institute has worked with faculty and students at Keene and Conant High School to enhance interdisciplinary place-focused learning and community history. For the past three years, we have helped sponsor and coordinate “Home Ground,” an honors level summer enrichment program for secondary school students focused on the natural and cultural history of our region.