In what ways can the 200-year-old poetry of William Wordsworth speak to school children in El Paso, Texas, today—and how can the children of our El Paso community help enrich the understanding of Wordsworth’s humanistic legacy for scholars, artists, educators, and community groups in both the West Texas borderlands and Wordsworth’s native England?

Just ask Jeff Cowton, Curator and Head of Learning at the Wordsworth Trust library in Grasmere, Cumbria.

Media denouncing Mexicans as criminals and permanently un-American.  White vigilantes, stirred by such rhetoric, using violence to “take matters into their own hands” and punish the Mexican community for perceived transgressions. 

Sadly, this narrative is true both of today and in the past.

People tend not to notice the important role that reading literature can do for an individual or a community. Often, we see reading as simply another entertainment choice, just an idle pleasure to while away the time. 

I began my work as an Undergraduate Research Fellow for The Humanities Collaborative at EPCC-UTEP in The University of Texas at El Paso's Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens in March 2018, which coincidentally also marked the commencement of my first official job in my life.  The entire transition of having this new responsibility gave me a jittery feeling in my stomach—the product of nerves, excitement, and the fact that I had finally reached adulthood.

One of the greatest experiences being a Master's Research Fellow for The Humanities Collaborative at EPCC-UTEP was organizing our first student conference for UTEP and EPCC students, which we titled Discovering the Humanities.