Humanities
The Humanities area encompasses four academic departments and two academic support centers, and programs of study in history, philosophy, political science, American Sign Language, world languages, and women's and gender studies. The division employs over 30 full-time faculty, four department chairs, 14 full-time staff, and over 80 adjunct instructors.
Annual Humanities Cherry Blossom Conference: See a virtual exhibit of some of the best of the work our students are doing in Humanities courses at Montgomery College.
Global Classrooms: Global Classrooms is an approach to teaching and learning that brings together geographically distant instructors and students from different lingua-cultural backgrounds to communicate and collaborate through online tools and innovative teaching methodologies.
Philosophy Courses (PDF, 
) : Explore philosophy classes and enroll now. In Montgomery College's philosophy courses,
you will hone your critical thinking and reasoning skills, improve your writing, and
learn how to effectively understand, evaluate, and construct arguments. The skills
you gain with your philosophy training are transferable to other academic disciplines
and additional endeavors in your life.
Confluence Conference: Learn more about Montgomery College Confluence Translation Conference and a career in translation.
A member of the Montgomery College community since 2008, Ms. Haydel served as a professor
of political science, earning an Outstanding Faculty Service Award in 2015, as well
as an Outstanding Faculty Award For Excellence in Teaching and Advising in 2023. Ms.
Haydel was also a nominee for the prestigious CASE Professor of the Year Award. She
has mentored internship students at the Paul Peck Humanities Institute and students
presenting papers at the Maryland Collegiate Honors Council and the Beacon Undergraduate
Research Conference.
She has successfully written grants including the College’s own Innovation Grant, “Bridging the Urban/Rural Divide, and the University Systems of Maryland First in the World and Civic Engagement Collaborative Grant Fund with two colleagues titled, “Exploring Voter Turnout in US Elections 2020: An Interdisciplinary Module for Introductory Statistics.”
In her leadership role as acting chair of the Germantown Humanities Department she oversaw the hiring and onboarding of new full- and part-time faculty, expanded outreach to majors within the discipline to increase engagement and retention, and collaborated with colleagues from other campuses on the implementation of a Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language grant, all of which continues to underscore her commitment to academic excellence and student success.
Ms. Haydel has also served on numerous committees and workgroups including the International Studies and Political Science College Area Review Workgroups, Program assessment, and Outcomes Assessment, MC Votes, International Studies Advisory Board, and has served on many more since 2008. In addition, her institutional service includes acting as co-coordinator and co-facilitator for the Quantitative Reasoning in the Disciplines Fellowship Program, coordinator of Political Science and International Studies for the Germantown Campus, past coordinator of the Germantown Jefferson Café, and past acting director for the Renaissance Scholars Honors Program. She has facilitated workshops through ELITE, and has presented at numerous events.
Ms. Haydel earned a bachelor of arts in Integrated International Studies from Knox College and a master of arts in political science from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
Departments
Acting Department Chair: Dr. Michael Harding
Department Chair: Dr. Joseph Stumpf
Department Chair: Ivonne Bruneau-Botello
Department Chair: Dr. Maria-Elvira Luna Escudero-Alie