Architecture/urban design, equine therapy among programs to receive funding

Summer@Syracuse announces the recipients of the Innovative Summer Program Development Fund (ISPDF) for summer 2013. The fund provides financial support to encourage faculty and departments to design and deliver new summer courses and programs.

Fourteen program submissions, representing nine schools/colleges across campus, were chosen to receive funding (up to $20,000) to develop or advance long-term growth of summer curricula.

Among those selected is the School of Architecture, which will offer a course that focuses on a unique view and hands-on experience. The course intersects the architecture and urban planning disciplines with local examples of urban revitalization by engaging policy makers, developers and funders. Led by Marc Norman, director of UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research and Real Estate at the School of Architecture, the students will create new models for affordable, high-performance homes in urban residential neighborhoods.

The David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics received funding for its proposal to introduce a course based on the therapeutic use of horses in helping individuals of all ages with various physical, cognitive and emotional challenges. Undergraduate and graduate students will work with children as young as 4 years old who have physical and/or cognitive challenges, as well as teenagers and young adults with autism, Down Syndrome and other cognitive/intellectual disabilities. Children and adults with traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, etc., as well as military veterans with health and mental problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, will also participate. Paul Caldwell, associate professor in Falk College’s School of Social Work, will lead the 400/600 level class.

The Innovative Summer Program Development Fund is administered through University College. For more information, contact Chris Cofer, executive director of SU’s Summer@Syracuse at 443-1988 or clcofer@syr.edu.