Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences
Humanities
The Humanities build intellectual and creative awareness.
The Department of Humanities provides study in the fields of art, art history, communication,
foreign languages, humanities, literature, music, philosophy, and western civilization.
The curriculum uses a broad-based approach, often developing linkages between the
humanities and the science, engineering, and technical fields that School of Mines
students enter after graduation.
Although the South Dakota Mines offers no degrees in specific humanities and social
sciences disciplines, Humanities and Social Sciences are designed to complement the
technical curriculum and enrich the academic and intellectual lives of South Dakota
Mines' students.
Social Sciences
The Department of Social Sciences provides courses in disciplines that focus on the institutions of human society and the social, cultural, and psychological aspects of human behavior. By utilizing empirical and quantitative methods in the study of human beings, the curriculum often demonstrates how profoundly scientific and technological developments affect and are affected by society and the environment.
Although South Dakota Mines offers no degrees in the social sciences, your social science courses will complement your technical study and enrich your academic and intellectual life.
To learn more about what we are doing, please visit the STS blog: The Novum.
Academic Excellence
Meet Our FacultyKyle W Knight
Haley S Armstrong
Recent Publications by Faculty in the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Gibson, Jonathan. (2024). Trauma, early life stress, and mindfulness in adulthood. BMC psychology, 12(1), 71.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40359-024-01563-6
Showler, Paul. (2024). The moral status of social robots: A pragmatic approach. Philosophy & Technology, 37(2), 51.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-024-00737-9
Showler, Paul. (2024). Putting the Pragmatic Account of Moral Status to Work: a Reply to Gordon. Philosophy & Technology, 37(3), 78.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-024-00770-8
Tellmann, Bryce. D. (2024). Memories on Steel and Vinyl: The Northern Pacific Railway and the Sound of Memory. International Journal of Communication, 18, 18.
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20799
Tidwell, Christy. "Haunted Earth: Genre, Preservation, and Surviving the End of the World in Jeff VanderMeer’s Hummingbird Salamander." Studies in American Fiction, vol. 50 no. 1, 2023, p. 253-273. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/saf.2023.a923103.
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/923103
Pritchard, Kayla. (2023). Unclear Motherhood: Ambiguity and Role Conflict Among Double Mothers. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 64(2-4), 130-155.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10502556.2023.2211181
Thomas, Evan & Haugtvedt, Erica. (2023). Serial characterization as a feminist ethics of care in Better Call Saul. Journal of Popular Television, 11(3), 245-260.
https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jptv_00105_1
Van Nuys, Frank. 2023. “The Politics of Nature: ‘Conserving, Protecting, and Improving’ Wildlife and Parks during the ‘Age of Norbeck,” in Old Trails and New Roads in South Dakota History, edited by Jon K. Lauck (Center for Western Studies, Augustana University).
https://www.augie.edu/old-trails-and-new-roads-south-dakota-histor
Haugtvedt, Erica. Transfictional Character and Transmedia Storyworlds in the British Nineteenth Century. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-13463-0
Activities and Organizations
Participation in student organizations allows you to develop the teaming and leadership skills integral to professional success. You’ll also build a record of volunteer work valued and expected by the professional and graduate programs in your chosen career field.
The Future Health Science Professionals club promotes volunteer activities such as blood drives and wellness fairs and sponsors speakers from the Rapid City health and medical community. Join club members for MCAT study, tours of local medical facilities, and more. For information on joining, contact the FHSP here.
Chartered in 2011, the South Dakota Mines Weather Association designs activities to increase students’ knowledge of atmospheric science and meteorological phenomena. The club operates in coordination with the Black Hills chapter of the American Meteorological Society; with the BHAMS, students participate in SkyWarn Training and weather safety outreach programs. Learn more about the club: Weather Association.
Have more questions?
Department Head Humanities - Kyle.Knight@sdsmt.edu
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
501 E. Saint Joseph St.
Rapid City, SD 57701