The first course, “Boise Part I: History, Politics, and Policy” runs June 21-25. The five day, forty-five hour course studies the city’s function and form. Topics include housing, transportation, commerce, preservation, public art, and brownfield reinvestment. Evening activities include a Boise-noir back-alley walking tour.

The second course, “Boise Part II: City, Suburb, and Region” runs July 5-09. Like the first course it is intensive covering five days and forty-five hours of class time. This course explores the regional dynamics of annexation, conservation, and urban impact zones. Bus tours through the Boise Valley contemplate the suburban future of prime agricultural land.

Students can earn undergraduate lower division, undergraduate upper division, or graduate credit for these classes. Credit can be earned in History, Political Science, Sociology, and Social Work. Area II credits can be earned by registering in the SSPA (Social Sciences and Public Affairs) course numbers. The SSPA 597 courses may count toward a graduate degree in certain degree programs. In either case - area II credit or SSPA graduate credit - please consult your academic advisor.

Course numbers include:
HIST 297 part one: 42597, part two: 42613
HIST 397 part one: 42596, part two: 42612
HIST 597 part one: 42595, part two: 42611

POLS 297 part one: 42599, part two: 42615
POLS 497 part one: 42598, part two: 42614

SSPA 297 part one: 42606, part two: 42622
SSPA 497 part one: 42605, part two: 42621
SSPA 597 part one: 42604, part two: 42620

SOCWRK 297 part one: 42603, part two: 42617
SOCWRK 497 part one: 42602, part two: 42616

SOC 297 part one: 42601, part two: 42619
SOC 497 part one: 42600, part two: 42618

Want more information? You can check out the syllabus from last year’s class, or watch the short video about the courses.

For more information contact professor Todd Shallat at 426-3701 or Chris Blanchard at 426-1333. You can register for summer classes through BroncoWeb.

You are invited to attend the Idaho memorial service for Forrest Church at 2:00pm, Saturday, Jan. 16 in the Simplot Ballroom of the BSU Student Union Building. Parking available at the Lincoln Garage across University Ave. In addition to members of Forrest’s family from New York, speakers will include his longtime friends, Peter Fenn, President of Fenn Communications in Wash. D.C. and Pat Shea, former Director of the Bureau of Land Management from Salt Lake City. Both Forrest and his wife, Carolyn Buck-Luce have been speakers at Frank Church Conferences at BSU where Forrest served on the board of the Frank Church Institute.

The inaugural urban lunch was a big success with well over 100 people showing up to hear City of Boise Economic Development Director Cece Gassner talk about the street car proposal. If you missed it, Nate Hoffman at the Boise Weekly has been doing great work covering the streetcar, including a piece on our Urban Lunch. He also wrote a GREAT piece on the various TIGER grants that Idaho has out there, and another piece on where the City and CCDC plan to get the rest of the dough to build the streetcar in the event that they are TIGER recipients.

We want to thank Sherry McKibben, Lindsay Dofelmier, Ashley Ford, Jenny’s Lunch Line, Idaho TechConnect and Krissa Wrigley, and Dave at Phy.La Design for partnering with us to do this event. It took the work of a lot of dedicated volunteers to make this successful - not the least of who was all the people who showed up. Thanks too to NPR who did a nice story, and Zach at the Idaho Business Review (but where’s the story, man?).

Next month we’re slated for the Urban Lunch January Edition, scheduled for noon on Wednesday January 20th, at the Water Cooler. Tentatively speaking is City of Boise Comprehensive Planning Manager Patricia Nilsson giving an update on Blueprint Boise - or what the City envisions land use and development to look like for the next decade. RSVP to the event on the Urban Lunch Facebook page.

It’s “Urban Lunch!” What is it? A new monthly lunch where we get together and talk about the urban issues of the day. Brought to you by the University of Idaho Urban Research and Design Center, Boise State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs, and friends from ULI Idaho and the USGBC, Urban Lunch is designed to be an easy opportunity for those interested in urban affairs to get together for a quick bite, some conversation, and a short presentation on a pressing topic.

The inaugural Urban Lunch happens Tuesday, December 8 from 12:00 - 1:00 pm at the Water Cooler at 1401 W. Idaho Boise, 83702. Lunch will be available from Jenny’s Lunch Line for $5. If you plan to eat at the event, please RSVP to Sherry McKibben.

Our guest speaker is City of Boise Economic Development Director Cece Gassner who will talk about the proposed streetcar/downtown circulator.

For more information contact Chris Blanchard or Sherry McKibben.

A new report from the National Governor’s Association shows the number of “green jobs” in the state. Idaho’s largest concentration of green jobs is in the area of air and environment. Idaho also places far ahead of the national average in the green agriculture category. Would have been very interesting for the NGA researchers to come up with some comparative statistics. I guess they had to leave something for the social scientists to do!

The Frank Church Institute at Boise State University has announced that it will hold its annual conference on Tuesday October 20, 2009. Conference activities will begin that morning in the Jordan Ballroom in the Student Union Building. This year’s topic is The Global Environment: From Kyoto to Copenhagen. Speakers include:

• William Meadows, President, The Wilderness Society
• Former Representative Matt McHugh (D-NY). Former member of the House Committees on Intelligence and Foreign Operations; former Chari of the Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus; former counselor to the World Bank.
• Former Representative Dan Miller (R-FL). Former member of House Appropriations Committee; Professor at the University of South Florida; Ph.D. in marketing and statistics; former Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
• Dr. Richard Slaughter, former Chief Economist for the State of Idaho.

Dr. Roger Stark from the Washington Policy Center will offer market-based assessment and prescription for America’s health care system while Dr. Louis Schlickman from Idaho Health Care for All and Physicians for a National Health Program will describe why he believes universal coverage and tax financed health care is the best option for America.

Monday, October 26, 2009
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Boise State University
Special Events Center
in the Student Union Building

This event is free and open to the public with parking provided in the Lincoln Garage on University and Lincoln. Space is limited, so please let us know if you plan attending by sending us an e-mail.

History Professor Todd Shallat received the award for excellence in history, and former SSPA Dean Bob Sims received the award for excellence in history education.