The Humanities department is located in
Douglas Hall, a newly renovated building
that houses classrooms, the Writing Center, the Language Learning Center, and offices
for faculty and graduate assistants in the
humanities.
The English program provides the services of
the Writing Center to students in all university
courses as well as in English composition
courses. The facility offers individual tutoring
and small group work. Teaching assistants
in the English M.A. program begin learning
tutoring pedagogy while working at the
Writing Center during their first semester.
The English program houses Sendero, a
national humanities journal that publishes
poetry, fiction, and essays in Spanish, Navajo,
and English. Students earn practicum credit
for their work in the production of the journal.
The department also sponsors a chapter
of the international English honor society,
Sigma Tau Delta.
The socio-cultural richness of northern New
Mexico provides one context for historical
and political studies at New Mexico Highlands
University. Las Vegas is one of the outstanding
historical communities in the Southwest,
making it a living laboratory for studies in
regional history and historical preservation.
The programs capitalize on the University’s
proximity to Santa Fe, the state capital, in offering
contacts with state policy-makers and
research opportunities to both faculty and
students in the New Mexico State Archives
and State Library.
Research in local history and politics is based
in the area’s old Hispanic villages, nineteenth
century towns, Fort Union and Pecos
National Monuments, local churches, and
schools. Genealogical and archival studies
are conducted through the University
library’s resources in local journals, the Arrott
collection of regional military materials,
and microfilms of major county and church
records. The history discipline sponsors a
chapter of the national honor society in history,
Phi Alpha Theta.
Students of language at NMHU hear Spanish
spoken in the community and on campus
every day. The university’s location in
northern New Mexico, where 70 percent of
the population is Hispanic, offers a richly
varied setting for studies in local, regional,
and international culture and languages. The
program off ers beginning and intermediate
courses in Spanish language to students
across campus. Spanish is the language of
instruction, except when noted otherwise
in course descriptions. The Spanish major
emphasizes skills and knowledge in Spanish
language, literary analysis and appreciation,
international and cultural contexts, and
applied course work in written and oral communication.
Introductory and intermediate-level courses
are offered in American Sign Language and
other languages to meet the demand for
exposure to the important languages of
the world. Courses may also be offered in
French, Portuguese, Navajo, Italian, and other
languages as the department continues to
grow.
The program’s Language Learning Center
(LLC) is equipped with computers, recorders,
and a large media collection of audiovisual
programs and recordings. Thomas C. Donnelly
Library has more than 5,000 titles in
Spanish culture and literature, with especially
rich holdings in the Golden Age of Spanish
literature. International studies are enhanced
by the university’s International Students’
Club, and language students participate in
an active Spanish Club.
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