Everett Currier ’24
Refining the Third Space
Everett Currier came to Purchase College in fall 2022 as a transfer student in the New Media program.
After beginning classes, he quickly came to find a passion for Anthropology and Communications, which led him to apply for the Arts and Cultural Management, MA (formerly Entrepreneurship in the Arts, MA) upon graduating in spring 2024. Within the program, Everett began to refine his ideas around the “third space” and how his studies could influence his academics, his campus, and his future career goals.
For those unfamiliar with the term, people are thought to have three spaces anthropologically. Your first space is your home—where you sleep and eat. Your second space is what provides for your life—where you work or volunteer.
In Everett’s words, your third space is, “your space of relaxation for creativity and play.” He shared that the third space has taken a number of hits in the modern world ranging from the privatization of group meeting areas to the impact that COVID had on combining all of our spaces together.
With the revitalization of the third space in mind, Everett came to participate in the Purchase 2025 Shark Tank competition run by the Economics department with the intention of creating a board game café space on campus. The goal was to give students and community members a space to go to be creative and play outside of the more structured academic or residential settings available to them.
“Shark Tank was really fun, first and foremost. The students here are loud, creative, and confident. They love being together—I know that because I am one of them….”
Everett received the Audience Favorite prize, which allowed him to bring his dream to life.
“Through the backing of this program we were able to test it out… Between two events, more than 150 people attended. So that dictated the rest of my program.”
The event’s concept and execution served as both a pilot program for the school as well as the focus of his graduate degree program. He now has bigger plans.
“I’m getting the support of the staff and faculty in the department to transition to a PhD program to study how play as a concept can embody, reflect, and progress the human experience.”
As he prepares to apply for his PhD, he reflects on those who inspired him on his journey toward his own professorship.
“I loved how [the faculty] encouraged me to escape perspective and to think about the world and socialization as more than just something in passing. What does it mean? How does it impact me and how can that influence others?”
In his remaining semester, Everett will continue to refine his board game café concept as he encourages more students to get familiar with the idea of a third space that works for them.
“Third spaces are a dying, if not dead, concept at the moment. People don’t go out with others to experience true camaraderie in a playful way. It’s so important to the human existence”
Everett praises the Arts and Cultural Management MA program for giving him the opportunity to turn his ideas into action.
“Now I get to put my theoretical ideas into to practice. This next semester will be about refining the concept.
“What is the best way to appeal to the greatest number of people and can that turn into tangible research into how play can literally be connected to every aspect of human life.”
*Quotes edited for grammar and clarity.