The Arts and Humanities Institute at Boise State champions the work of arts and humanities by bringing together disciplines and promoting collaboration.

The Arts and Humanities Institute at Boise State sustains and champions the traditional work of arts and humanities, and bridges the arts and the humanities in transformative ways by promoting creative and humanistic collaborations across all areas of inquiry. We embody and advance the cultural and ethical values necessary to flourishing democratic societies, and and we exemplify engaged and experimental learning for our students, our faculty, the community and the region.

AHI pursues this mission by bringing together disciplines that differ in their modes of expression but share common interests and methods of inquiry; supporting scholars, artists, and practitioners in all disciplines, as well as students and community members; providing programs that fulfill the mission of AHI; funding activities related to the collaborative mission of the AHI; and serving as an administrative hub for mission-related grant facilitation and management, exhibits, research and creative activities, performances, lectures, publications, media communications and community outreach activities.

Arts and Humanities Institute operations began in FY 2011, following several years of consultation between university faculty, the President, and Vice President for Research and Economic Development. The faculty task force sought to create an office that would (a) support the research and creative activity of Boise State University faculty and students, and (b) contribute to the building of more effective collaborations between the university and the community. The VPR agreed to fund faculty fellows in the Arts and Humanities to initiate the programming. In spring 2012, the State Board approved the AHI. As the initial faculty fellowship program concluded, AHI has established and developed a suite of programs including small grants; faculty flexible workspace grants; interdisciplinary research communities; affiliated programs; public events and exhibitions; program support and advocacy; summer workshops; and curricular initiatives including the ISLE program.