What is the Humanities Honor Society?
Created in 2015 as the History and Philosophy Honor Society, the organization hoped to open a space for students with an interest in teaching and researching memory and traditions of thought. As time progressed, it became evident that understanding humans required a broader approach. Addressing that need, in 2018, the organization became the Humanities Honor Society. The Humanities Honor Society is a very unique honor society in that it was created at Middlesex County College for the students of Middlesex County College. We are happy that we are able to offer membership free of charge to students who meet the academic criteria. We only ask them for their time and intellectual work in order for them to participate in the honor society.
The Humanities Honor Society engages its members in the art of understanding humans as beings who feel, think, imagine and create. As importantly, members learn about the beauty of teaching others. This is accomplished in two ways. The first is that honor society students work with a faculty member to create a research paper that can be published in our annual scholarly journal. The second way members meet these goals is by participating in tutor training and volunteering as a tutor at the Middlesex County College Learning Center under the supervision of the Learning Center Coordinator, Joseph Pascale.
How does the journal accept submissions of writing and art?
When a Middlesex County College student joins the Humanities Honor Society, they determine a topic of research and find a faculty mentor who can guide them in the process of creating a scholarly article for publication in the journal. Winners of the Humanities Honor Society Essay Contest are also published in the journal.
Because humans express themselves in more than words, the Humanities Honor Society collaborates with Middlesex County College’s Fine Arts program to select students who are interested in contributing art for the journal.
Finally, because humans are a diverse community, the Humanities Honor Society collaborates with the MCC ESL program to select written work by our community of international student scholars.
What is the copyright ownership of the published works in the journal?
Free Thought/Pensamiento Libre requests First North American Serial Rights to publish authors’ work in print and online. The Humanities Honor Society reserves the rights to make unlimited copies of the journal and its unrestricted distribution in any format. All copyrights revert to authors and artists upon publication, so authors and artists maintain their own copyrights.
What is the Humanities Honor Society Essay Contest?
While you are perusing the journals, you may notice that certain essays are highlighted as winners of the Humanities Honor Society Essay Contest. This contest is held annually in conjunction with the Middlesex County College Library. The contest is only open to students of Middlesex County College. The Library website features the details of the contest and resources to help students perform research to write an academic essay.
How Can I Contact the Humanities Honor Society?
Please send an email to one of the co-advisors:
o Cristóbal Espinoza-Wulach, PhD, Associate Professor in History: CEspinoza@middlesexcc.edu
o Joseph Pascale, MA/MFA, Learning Center Coordinator: JPascale@middlesexcc.edu