Bobby Hom

Information

About Me:

I came to Santa Fe in 1994 as the Assistant Curator of the Santa Fe Gallery, started teaching as an Adjunct Instructor in 1995, and was hired as a full-time Assistant Professor of Humanities in 2001.  I am now Professor of Humanities and Coordinator of the Honors Program at Santa Fe College.

About the Humanities:

The Humanities are simply the stories we tell about others and about ourselves.  Through these stories, we uncover the human experience, and through the human experience, we find answers to enduring questions, such as "What is a good life?", and to essential questions, such as "What is happiness and how do we achieve it?"

My Teaching Philosophy:

"Knowing" content is important, but "knowing" how to read, write, and think about that content is even more important.  Most important is figuring out for yourself and expressing to others how what you know is relevant to who you are (or who you want to become). 

My Teaching Style:

If you take my on-campus class, you'll find that I don't lecture very much.  In fact in my Honors classes, I don't lecture at all.  My on-campus classes rely upon student engagement and participation in discussion.  But in order to have a fruitful discussion, I also rely upon students to prepare for each and every class meeting by completing and thinking about assigned readings, videos, and podcasts.

If you take my online class, you'll find an organized series of modules, each of which contains lectures, additional readings, videos, and podcasts.  My online students need to be independent learners who like to read and who are self-disciplined enough to schedule time daily to complete my coursework.  Students who succeed in my online class come prepared to learn and view it as a responsibility (rather than as something to do on-the-side).

Education

University of Florida, M.A., History, 1994.  (Thesis: The Image of Women in Film, 1935-1950:  From Glamour Girl to Working Woman to Spider Lady)

Emory University, B.A., History, 1991.