STC History professor aims to add regional perspective to national Humanities board
“NHA is engaged in humanities activities through the preservation of history. NHA advocates for the value of those activities as well as humanities classes in higher education.”
South Texas College now has a seat at the table on a national board dedicated to humanities education, research and public programs.
STC History faculty member Trinidad Gonzales, Ph.D. was recently selected to the board of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) and says he will seek to convey the perspective of communities on the South Texas border as well as Humanities students at two-year colleges nationwide.
“I think the ability to bring in new perspective from a border that is often vilified in national media to this board is very important,” Gonzales said. “It’s also important to note that a majority of people in the humanities majors are at community colleges right now so that's one of the reasons why they asked me to be on the board – they want that perspective from a faculty member who's working with students who are majoring in humanities courses. So bringing a regional voice to a national board puts us in a seat at the table where we can advocate, hopefully, for more resources of programming coming to South Texas in general and in particular to McAllen and the Valley.”
NHA is a nonprofit organization comprised of members from higher education institutions, scholarly societies, museums, libraries and historical societies dedicated to humanities education, research and public programs.
The board convenes twice a year in Washington, D.C. to explore best practices for humanities advocacy on campuses across the nation and on Capitol Hill, Gonzales said.
“NHA is engaged in humanities activities through the preservation of history,” Gonzales said. “NHA advocates for the value of those activities as well as humanities classes in higher education.”
Gonzales earned his doctorate from the University of Houston and later received a Center for Mexican American Studies Graduate Fellowship and a Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship.
His areas of research include the borderlands and Chicano and Civil Rights histories, specializing in early 20th century Lower Rio Grande Valley history. Gonzales’ most recent publication is “The Mexican Revolution, Revolución de Texas, Matanza de 1915,” in War Along the Border: The Mexican Revolution and Tejano Communities, edited by Arnoldo de León and published in 2012.
“We are so pleased to have Trinidad Gonzales join the National Humanities Alliance board,” said current NHA Executive Director Stephen Kidd, Ph.D. “Trini brings a wealth of experience as a scholar and an advocate to the NHA board at a time when community colleges are increasingly central to the humanities experience of students across the country.”