CCHA’s Deans’ Committee on Humanities Education at Community Colleges
Community College Liberal Arts and Humanities Deans are in a unique position to help guide and shape humanities education for students. According to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), more than half of all higher education humanities courses in the United States are conducted at community colleges.
The Community College Humanities Association is now hosting The Deans’ Committee on Humanities Education at Community Colleges. As frontline administrators in the effort to perpetuate and advance strategic thinking on humanities education in community colleges, the CCHA Dean’s Committee will meet annually at CCHA and/or AACC events, as well as communicate regularly through asynchronous online platforms. The working committee will be tasked to share ideas and make recommendations on such issues as:
- What might humanities courses look like in the future? How do we preserve the great accomplishments of the humanities, those works and disciplines—the traditional canon—that served as the educational foundation for the greatest period of achievement in human history while adjusting to the austere demands of a quickly transitioning culture that values bio-, computer, medical, and communications technology above all else?
- Can/should the humanities integrate with other disciplines in ways other than serving as traditional general education requirements?
- How can we better message the value of humanities education through our respective colleges to reach a generation of students and a public at large that seems to devalue the humanities in favor of more utilitarian approaches to education?
- How can we shape future grant opportunities for community college humanities faculty to engage in research and publication that will advance the humanities in new directions?
- Should community college humanities departments reach out to the community at large, the general public, with projects and programs that strengthen appreciation for the humanities?
The committee will serve as a resource for Community College Humanities Deans, creating a space for the sharing of best practices and path breaking initiatives. It will also create a professional space for Deans to ask questions, seek advice, and coordinate institutional, regional, and national responses to the challenges and opportunities confronting Humanities education in the 21st century.
If you are interested in becoming a member of CCHA’s Dean’s Committee, please contact:
Brian Stipelman: President and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Frederick Community College at bstipelman@frederick.edu
Michael Jacobs: Vice President and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monroe Community College at Mjacobs20@monroecc.edu
Gwendolyn James: Secretary and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Spokane Community College at Gwendolyn.james@scc.spokane.edu