Community Colleges and the Future of the Humanities

Our session highlights how students and faculty can communicate the value of the humanities in community college/university collaborations and to audiences beyond campus. We will focus on the deep humanities collaboration in New Hampshire between the seven college Community System of New Hampshire (CCSNH) and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire. The NH Humanities Collaborative (NHHC), generously funded by the Mellon Foundation, will be in its third year in Fall 2018. The NHHC is a comprehensive state-wide approach to higher education humanities engagement, with faculty members at NH╒s colleges working together creatively to demonstrate how the humanities can inform discussion and deepen engagement in addressing grand challenges in the state and society. Our project shows how enriched curriculum and intentional pathways in the humanities at NH╒s community colleges can benefit students and the communities served by our colleges, including better enabling and supporting transfer to university humanities programs. Significant progress to date includes public humanities events with participation by community college and UNH faculty, students and community members; course equivalencies established; and deep faculty collaboration.