Author Talk: Jim O’Connell on Boston and the Making of a Global City

Event

Location

Commonwealth Salon, Central Library in Copley Square

Date

Jan 8, 2026

Time

12:00 EST

Cost

Free

{{< alert-box type=“success” icon=“fas fa-calendar-check” title=“Registration required” >}}

Advance registration is required to attend this program. Registration is free.

{{</ alert-box >}}

Join Boston University professor Jim O’Connell for a conversation about his new book, Boston and the Making of a Global City. The book explores how Boston has been shaped by globalization and how it has also affected the processes of globalization.

Lunch will be served and registration is required to attend.

Jim O’Connell teaches in the City Planning-Urban Affairs Program at Boston University. His latest book is Boston and the Making of a Global City. Jim’s other books include The Hub’s Metropolis: Boston’s Suburban Development; From Railroad Suburbs to Smart Growth; Dining Out in Boston: A Culinary History; and Becoming Cape Cod: Creating a Seaside Resort. O’Connell has a Ph.D. in Urban History from the University of Chicago. He formerly was a planner for National Park sites in New England and New York State. He leads urban planning/design tours of different areas of Boston and Cambridge. His personal website can be found here.

In discussion with O’Connell is Marilynn S. Johnson. Johnson is a Research Professor of History at Boston College where she specializes in modern US urban and immigration history. Her books include The New Bostonians: How Immigrants Have Transformed the Metro Area Since the 1960s (2015), Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City (2004), and The Second Gold Rush: Oakland and the East Bay in World War II (1993). She is co-director of the public history website, Global Boston, which explores and documents immigration history in greater Boston.

More events