The purpose of this study is to highlight Mexican American Studies programs in community colleges, a sector where Ethnic Studies has largely gone unstudied. Drawing on interviews from 13 faculty members across Texas, this study describes these instructors' approach to teaching and the impact they feel this type of curriculum has on students'…

Humanities have traditionally played a limited role in STEM education, yet their natural connections may be used to enrich academic understanding and student experience. Authors explore their mutuality by presenting an interdisciplinary curriculum, Humanities-Driven STEM (HDSTEM). Unlike other iterations of blended disciplines, HDSTEM provides…

In 2013, the state of Texas passed House Bill 5 (HB 5) which established high school course pathways tailored to student interests by labor market area via the Foundation High School Program (FHSP). The pathway options for students include STEM, Arts and Humanities, Business and Industry, Public Service, and Multidisciplinary. While the intent of…

Through a combination of large-scale data analysis and analysis of culturally responsive ways of embracing Latino students, we provide insight on the work of three Hispanic Serving Institutions in the humanities.

This study investigated attitudes of linguistically diverse students towards writing in English in four different domains: general academic writing, writing in humanities, writing in science-related subjects (STEM), and writing in electronic communication. A total of 77 Hispanic bilingual/ELL adult students at an alternative high school in…

Though 80 percent of the 1.1 million community college students who enroll each year intend to transfer and earn a bachelor's degree, only about 14 percent of them end up getting a bachelor's degree within six years, according to a 2016 report from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University's Teachers College. Across the nation,…

This article describes the Sue Rose Summer Institute for Teachers at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, which, for 30 years, has treated teachers as intellectuals. To that end, the nonprofit educational organization offers teachers from all grade levels and all disciplines an experience that either reacquaints them with or introduces…

To support youths' early motivation for higher education and careers, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 5 in 2013 to adopt a new foundation high school program, which allows students to pursue endorsements as they begin 9th Grade. Endorsements prepare high-school students for specific STEM, business, public service, arts and humanities, and…

Funny thing about pebbles dropped and the ripples they create. The pebble the author dropped years ago was agreeing to serve as a student liaison to the department in her graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin. That position, which normally meant little more than attendance at regularly scheduled graduate student and department…

Ideal for faculty and administrators looking to blend business education and the liberal arts, this toolkit combines exemplary syllabi from 26 leading institutions with step-by-step strategies to advocate successfully for curricular innovation. Conceived with comprehensiveness in mind, these resources cover both inspiration and implementation for…

In this article, the author discusses digital humanities (DH) and what future it holds for graduate students who are riding the digital-humanities bandwagon. He spoke with several graduate students about their interest in the field: how they got into it and began their first projects. Laura Mandell, director of the Initiative for Digital…

This study examines whether bans on affirmative action across four states-- Texas (during "Hopwood v. State of Texas"), California (with Proposition 209), Washington (with Initiative 200), and Florida (with One Florida Initiative)--have reduced the enrollment rates of underrepresented students of color in graduate studies and in a…

This study examines the effects of affirmative action bans in four states (California, Florida, Texas, and Washington) on the enrollment of underrepresented students of color within six different graduate fields of study: the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, education, and humanities. Findings show that affirmative action…

"Higher Education Exchange" publishes case studies, analyses, news, and ideas about efforts within higher education to develop more democratic societies. Contributors to this issue of the "Higher Education Exchange" examine whether institutions of higher learning are doing anything to increase the capacity of citizens to shape…

In this article, the author presents an interview with Thomas F. Staley, director of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas. This interview touches on many issues that have cropped up in his long stay at the helm of the center, where Dr. Staley juggles the demands of multiple constituencies that include scholars,…