Nevada’s Legislature is forecasting less funding for education this year, despite clear recommendations from their own $1.2 million commissioned study to invest more in our colleges and universities. 

At the same time, federal programs such as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) face renewed threats of cuts in Congress. These decisions jeopardize not just our institutions, but the future of our workforce. 

If we’re serious about “workforce development” in Nevada, then we must be serious about protecting the humanities. We need our state and federal representatives to lead Nevadans in speaking out against cuts to the NEH because Nevada’s workforce needs the humanities.

“Workforce development” isn’t just a buzzword for Nevada. Workforce development for a brighter, sustaining future means more than just making sure our nurses, teachers, and business leaders have checked all of the boxes they need for their credential requirements. 

It means training nimble thinkers with a strong capacity for self-awareness and self-reflection. It means training adept problem-solvers who know how to listen first, engage with different experiences and perspectives, and are comfortable with being uncomfortable. It means training professionals who know how to connect the histories of their professions and their communities with present challenges and opportunities. It means cultivating a mindset for lifelong learning.

At Nevada State University (NSU), we’re serious about training our students to contribute to Nevada’s future. That’s why we’re serious about the need for the humanities in Nevada’s workforce development. 

Gov. Joe Lombardo should lead Nevadans in calling our legislators in Washington to speak out against cuts to the NEH. As the U.S. recedes from global trade and tourism to the U.S. — and to our state in particular — is on a downward trend, our industries will require a labor pool with these key skills to address changes brought on by technological advancements, industry growth and change and governmental policy.

Nevadans may be familiar with the NEH through its support of our own fantastic nonprofit state humanities council, Nevada Humanities. In Fiscal Year 2024 alone, Nevada Humanities partnered with almost 200 cultural, education and arts organizations to create programming and initiatives that reached more than 300,000 in-person audience members and over 700,000 virtual connections. These programs were made possible by NEH funding that leveraged local state dollars at a 3:1 rate. Thanks to the NEH, Nevada Humanities is able to maintain Nevada history and showcase arts and culture unique to our communities. These programs also contribute to the state’s economic activities.

What many may not realize is the direct impact the NEH also has on preparing the next generation of Nevada’s workforce through our colleges and universities.

The NEH awards small- to medium-sized grants that make a big impact on regional institutions. From 2021 to 2022, an NEH Humanities Connections Planning Grant enabled us to train nearly 1,000 NSU students across our institution to apply humanities-based skills as part of their training for careers in business, education, nursing and the sciences. The grant enabled us to work with colleagues from the School of Nursing and School of Education on a curriculum that helped faculty embedded intercultural competency into their discipline-specific training and coursework.

This curriculum used humanities methods and frameworks to train students in self-reflection and deep listening, to engage with distinctly different experiences and perspectives, to thrive in unfamiliar situations, and to connect the historical roots of their professions to today’s challenges and opportunities.

Here’s one example of that work in action: 

Using the outcomes we designed as a guide, professor Heidi Batiste’s management students evaluated historical data visualizations of the Black population at the turn of the 20^th century (artfully crafted by W.E.B. Du Bois). Students learned to interpret these visuals as storytelling tools that encourage attentive “listening” to both spoken and unspoken experiences. 

They then applied those insights to develop ethical, historically grounded and empathetic solutions to workplace management challenges. In the process, they explored case studies tied to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its foundations in the Segregation Era and the Civil Rights Movement.

What Batiste and other faculty have seen is that when we implement these NEH-designed outcomes, our graduates don’t just leave NSU as outstanding business leaders, nurses, and teachers — they leave prepared to tackle complex, real-world challenges. And crucially, they do so in ways that appreciate the cultural and ethnic diversity that defines Nevada. Our NEH-funded project is just one example of how investments aimed at supporting underserved students end up benefiting everyone. 

Nevada deserves a future where our workforce has benefited from the critical thinking, cultural understanding, ethical reasoning and compassion that the humanities cultivate. Protecting the NEH means protecting an innovative and promising future for Nevada’s workforce.

Dr. Molly Appel is an Assistant Professor of English and Dr. Heidi Batiste is an Associate Professor of Business at Nevada State University. They are the co-authors of “Applying Latin American Cultural and Literary Studies to Diversity Management Education” in Management Teaching Review.