Each October and November, I spend a lot of time driving around the state. That's usually when the staff at the rental car company begin to recognize me as I walk in the door. "Are you planning on driving to other states?" they always ask. "No. Just Mississippi," I respond. They then usually ask me where I'm going. This past month, my answers have included Wesson, Perkinston, Moorhead, Starkville, Cleveland, and Summit. MHC board and staff members together have traveled to 30 different communities over the last several weeks.

The purpose for all this travel is what we call "HTAs" or humanities teacher awards. Every year, we ask each of the 32 colleges and universities in Mississippi to name an outstanding teacher in a humanities field, to be publicly recognized at their institutions and celebrated statewide by the Mississippi Humanities Council. The winners are expected to present a public lecture on the subject of their choice sometime in October or November. We try to have an MHC representative at most all of these presentations (we came pretty close this year-Blue Mountain College and MUW, we promise to be there next year) to say a few words about the council and present the award to the winner.

This fall was my second time attending the Humanities Teacher Award presentations as the MHC's executive director, and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to visit different campuses around the state and meet students, faculty, and administrators. Driving back to Jackson after the programs, even late at night, I always feel energized by the quality of the humanities teaching at our institutions of higher learning. Admittedly, much focus has been placed on the importance of math and science and disciplines that are perceived to be more directly tied to remunerative careers. Yet if my HTA travels are any indication, the humanities remain strong in Mississippi colleges. Indeed, one of the central goals of our Humanities Teacher Awards is to highlight the importance of the humanities within these institutions.

I usually feel energized by the quality of the humanities teaching at our institutions of higher learning. Admittedly, much focus has been placed on the importance of math and science and disciplines that are perceived to be more directly tied to remunerative careers. Yet if my HTA travels are any indication, the humanities remain strong in Mississippi colleges. Indeed, one of the central goals of our Humanities Teacher Awards is to highlight the importance of the humanities within these institutions.

I also enjoy the wide array of topics I get to learn about: from the religion and culture of India, Shakespeare's sonnets, and African American quilting traditions, to the philosophical underpinnings of beliefs, the evolution of the English language, and the modern art of Edward Ruscha. As an academically trained historian, I especially enjoy engaging with other humanities disciplines, most of which I haven't studied since college. What ties these diverse subjects together is they all teach us something about the human condition. As Dr. Robert Thompson, this year's HTA winner at Mississippi State University, taught me, the humanities are a form of "mindreading," in which we learn to understand others by putting ourselves in their place. Ultimately, such empathy helps us to better understand ourselves and our place in the world.

On a more mundane level, the HTA program connects our small office of five employees to every college and university in the state. The strong relationships we have built through this program with our state's institutions of higher learning are the envy of other state humanities councils. The MHC has always worked best through partnerships, and the HTA program is a wonderful example of this.

Those partnerships extend to the citizens of our state. The HTA program and everything else we do would not be possible without your support. As 2015 draws to a close, I urge you to become a partner by donating to the MHC. There is a donate button on the top of our webpage. Together, we can ensure the humanities remain strong on the college campuses and main streets of Mississippi.