Starting in January
History of Public Education in the U.S.
This course will outline education history from colonial times through the progressive era. While addressing early formations of schools, indigenous populations, education policy, civil rights, and school choice, we will focus on purposes of public education: social efficiency, social mobility, and democratic equality.
Presenters: Dr. Phil Kelly, retired professor, College of Education, Boise State University, and Dr. Jennifer Snow, Professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies, College of Education, Boise State University
Dates and times: Tue., Jan. 17 and 24, 10:00 a.m.-noon
Cost: $25
The Renaissance: A Global Phenomenon (Livestream/Recorded Only)
We will examine an ancient pagan past that met with the expanding influence of Islam to propel Christian societies of Renaissance Europe towards new artistic heights and to the other side of the unknown ocean. From syncretism within the colonial art of the Americas to Chinese and West African art, we will look at early global exchanges that connected creative expression with innovation. We will witness human ingenuity that continues to influence the cutting-edge technology of today’s world, from non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrency to top-secret microbes.
Presenter: Hugh Leeman, multidisciplinary artist and educator
Dates and times: Tue., Jan. 17, 24, and 31, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
Power and Control: Domestic Violence and Child Sex Offenders
In the first session, we will learn how abuse impacts all of us when we consider that one in four men and one in three women will be abused at some point in their lives. We will examine the Power and Control Wheel to understand the tactics that abusers use against their loved ones. In the second session, we will discover that virtually all child sex offenders groom their victims. Ninety percent of victims know their abuser, yet victims don’t disclose identities almost 80% of the time. We will explore the process of how offenders groom victims, the phenomena of delayed disclosure, and the dark myths of child sexual abuse.
Session One Presenter: Paige Dinger, Executive Director, Faces of Hope
Session Two Presenter: Jean M. Fisher, former Chief of Special Crimes, Ada County Prosecutor’s Office
Dates and times: Wed., Jan. 18 and 25, 10:00 a.m.-noon
Cost: $25
History of Weather and Climate Science (Livestream/Recorded Only)
This course will discuss the history of weather, climate science, meteorology, and climatology in America from 1800 to 1870; climate change science from 1800 to 2000; ideas on modifying the weather and climate from about 1890 to the present; the first American female PhD in meteorology, Joanne Simpson; and the tropical atmosphere from 1950 to 2010.
Presenter: Dr. James Fleming, Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and Society, Colby College
Dates and times: Thu., Jan. 19, 26, and Feb. 2, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
NEW! The Supreme Court Under Scrutiny: The Least Dangerous Branch?
The Supreme Court, dubbed the “least dangerous branch” by Alexander Hamilton, is under intense public scrutiny. American citizens, increasingly concerned about the Court’s recent decisions, as well as those cases on its docket that have profound implications for the Bill of Rights, have raised questions about the nature, scope, and limits of judicial power more sharply than at any time in the last century. This lecture will address these issues and examine the implications for American democracy of cases involving voting rights, women’s rights, the LGBTQ community, affirmative action, religion, gerrymandering, religious freedom, and presidential power.
Presenter: Dr. David Adler, President, Alturas Institute
Date and time: Thu., Jan. 26, 10:00 a.m.-noon
Cost: $15 (Please note: Refunds will not be available for this lecture.)
Reading Idaho
This lecture will focus on three creative writers (while interweaving their literary ancestors) whose writing echoes the Idaho experience: Kim Barnes, Beth Piatote, and Grace Jordan. Participants will enjoy brief readings and biographies, and will explore questions such as how place affects writing, the Native American experience in Idaho, and accurate versus romanticized writing of the West.
Presenter: CMarie Fuhrman, author; Director of Poetry and Nature Writing Faculty, Western Colorado University; and 2021-2023 Idaho Writer in Residence
Date and time: Mon., Jan. 30, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Cost: Included with membership
Writing Idaho (In Person Only)
Idaho’s unique landscape of deep gorges, high desert, big rivers, mountains, plains, and public land creates a diverse population and different ways of seeing and explaining the state through creative writing and poetry. In this workshop, we will look at the myriad and complex ways Idaho is presented in literature, poetry, and prose. Using prompts and imaginative engagement with the landscape, we will produce our own literature to expose, protect, or celebrate — or all of the above — the rich landscape and culture we call Idaho.
Presenter: CMarie Fuhrman, author; Director of Poetry and Nature Writing Faculty, Western Colorado University; and 2021-2023 Idaho Writer in Residence
Date and time: Tue., Jan. 31, 10:00 a.m.-noon
Cost: $15
Capacity: 25