We often think of history as large, impersonal events and not something in which we participate daily and in the most unlikely ways, as we often do with food. Food shapes cultures and histories, politics and economics, personal relations and geographies.

We often don't realize just how intertwined the diverse fields of the humanities are until we encounter a situation where it all becomes clear.  

In preparing for our interdisciplinary activity presentation at the El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus, "Shadows in the Cave," I learned the great value of being part of the Humanities Collaborative at UTEP and EPCC and learned so much from working with my mentor, Crisol Escobedo, a Philosophy instructor at El Paso Community College.

Man is dear to man; the poorest poor
Long for some moments in a weary life
When they can know and feel that they have been
Themselves, the fathers and the dealers-out
Of some small blessings; have been kind to such
As needed kindness, for this single cause,
That we have all of us one human heart.

--William Wordsworth, “The Old Cumberland Beggar”

Often as a community we forget about the origins of the land we live in and, in some cases, where we come from. The El Paso region is an area full of different Indigenous communities that we tend to ignore. Some reasons for this include: not having Indigenous recognition from the government, fear, or other similar reasons. It is frightening how many of us do not have a general understanding of who the Indigenous community are and how they live, especially considering they lived here before us.

Though we sometimes forget, the study of music is always intertwined with the study of the humanities.  As a part of the Humanities Collaborative between EPCC and UTEP through the Mellon Foundation, the EPCC Music Department invited several faculty from the University of Texas at El Paso to give masterclasses and lectures.