Suzanne Sermon
Specializations
American West
U.S. Women’s History
U.S. History
Education
B.A. Communication, Sec. Ed., BSU
B.A. History, Sec. Ed., BSU
M.A. History, BSU
Ph.D. Work, University of New Mexico (ABD)
About Suzanne
Suzanne Sermon is a native Idahoan with over 25 years of teaching experience. She was happy to return to Boise in 2007 and begin teaching at her alma mater.
After finishing two B.A. degrees and becoming a certified high school teacher, Suzanne decided to continue with her education. Her master’s work focused primarily on women in the West and specifically on Boise’s Columbian Club, founders of the original Boise Public Library. After finishing her M.A., Suzanne attended the University of New Mexico where she specialized in Women in the American West. While there, she also became interested in regional history and environmental history.
After passing exams for her Ph.D., Suzanne took a job at Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington where she taught two sections of United States history, movie history and World History courses. While working at GRCC, Suzanne was asked to develop her first online course. She enjoyed the experience and has been teaching online ever since. Online courses allow for creativity that in-person courses do not, which is why Suzanne loves teaching online.
In 2021 she was nominated for and received the University Foundations Teaching Award for Foundations of Social Sciences. Despite the seemingly impersonal nature of online courses, Suzanne works hard to build good relationships with her students. She wants them to leave her courses feeling that their time was well spent, that they gained valuable insights, and that they haven’t only fulfilled an academic requirement by taking the course.
Suzanne is currently organizing and working through her father’s records. He was a decorated Vietnam War veteran and a career Idaho National Guardsman who served as Idaho’s third highest ranking officer during the 1990s. He was promoted to General upon retirement. One part of the collection includes dozens of letters between her parents starting in the 1950s when her father first joined the Guard and went off to boot camp. These primary documents provide insights that are important to understanding both the military experience of Idahoans as well as the Idaho home front during the Vietnam War. This is an understudied area of Vietnam War history. In her mind, Suzanne has also been working on a book about the owners of a small gas station in Irwin, Idaho during the 1950s. Let her know if you have any information that may be of interest to her!!!
Suzanne resides in Boise with her human family, plus three cranky felines, and one oversized mutt.
Contact
suzannesermon@boisestate.edu
(208) 371-8620
Office Hours by Appointment
Teaching
U.S. History 1
U.S. History 2
Published Work
Chapter: “The Creation of Eden: Boise’s Wealthy Citizens Turn Sagebrush into Gardens,” From Eden to Asphalt: A Landscape Analysis of Boise’s Grove Street, 1994.
Chapter: “Women of the Columbian Club: 1895-1905,” A Light in the Window of Idaho: Boise’s Public Library, 1895-1905, 1995.
Thesis: “‘Beyond Simple Domesticity’: Organizing Boise Women, 1866-1920,” Boise State University, 1996.
Article: “Early Women’s Organizations in Boise,” Idaho Yesterdays 41 (Fall 1997).
Women in the Twentieth-Century American West: A Bibliography, Richard Etulain, series editor, Center for the American West, 2000.