Welcome to SPAsm!
Well, I’ve been claiming that it would be nice to have an instrument with which we could hold a conversation with our members and the larger citizen planning community. While this is an admittedly imperfect start (I’m still trying to decipher the available functionality in this blog service) and the form and function of this space are likely to evolve over time, I’m looking forward to providing the opportunity for planning, PA, and urban affairs students as well as others interested in related issues to engage in extended conversations on various topics of mutual interest.
While I don’t see technology as a panacea to decaying social capital, it stands to reason that it can at least play a role in mitigating the individual isolation that often derives from an academic programs designed to serve a non-traditional student body. SPA is also working on developing a sanctioned Web site that will provide other capabilities and meet other needs (e.g., posting of student project work and résumés), but I hope that this blog will give us the opportunity to talk to one another on-the-fly.
At the very least, SPAsm will provide visitors with an information hub from which they can access a variety of planning and related information. With your input, this content will be updated regularly with links and material that you indicate useful to you in your studies and work. If you have any suggestions for improved content and/or usability, please send them to me at klhurst AT uta DOT edu.
And don’t miss our first poll (”SPAsm Polls” under “Categories” to the right)!
/K
Good that you’ve carried through on this threat, Kent. The blog will be a good tool for the group and for SUPA.
It occurs to me that, with the deadline for ACSP abstracts coming up on Wednesday, it would be useful to publish the titles and abstracts of papers that faculty and students will present. This would provide a useful overview of our current work.
It would also be useful, in the longer term, to ask all planning faculty and students to provide a brief description of their research — perhaps in the form of a set of keywords and a summary. This info would be useful on both the SPA and SUPA web pages …