Lone Star College-Online awarded nearly $150,000 to develop customized courses

HOUSTON, TX -- Lone Star College-Online made history by securing a nearly $150,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to transform its U.S. History curriculum. R. Chris Davis, Ph.D., LSC-Online History and Humanities professor, will lead the three-year project to introduce thematic tracks within popular U.S. History survey courses, allowing students to specialize in subfields that align with their interests and career goals.

"I've always wanted to tailor my courses to the interests of my students. When you have such a diverse range of interests, majors and career paths, it is hard to do that in just one course," said Davis. "So, I had this idea of creating tracks, different modules, and different assignments that students can self-select. For example, nursing students or healthcare professionals might want to look at U.S. History through the lens of health and medicine, focusing more on pandemics and vaccines and how they have informed this subject while still covering the basics."

The NEH grant, valued at $148,594, was highly competitive, with only a few humanities grants awarded each year to community colleges. Davis has been instrumental in securing this fund, collaborating closely with colleagues from other campuses and external contacts from Texas Southern University and San Jacinto College. He plans to continue working closely with internal and external partners throughout the project development and delivery.

"I had some great help with the grant writers and had colleagues who joined me and spent a lot of time on the application," he said. "I had great support from the Lone Star College-Online administration, and we put together a good application. This is the first NEH grant, or at least of this kind, that Lone Star College has ever received."

The project is expected to start in the 2025-2026 academic year, with a larger pilot planned for the following year. Students will benefit significantly from this initiative. By allowing them to study U.S. History through themes that align with their interests and career goals, the project aims to make learning more relevant and engaging.

"Something that makes more sense to you is more interesting to you and makes you more invested in the course as a result," said Davis. "Increasing not only your appreciation of U.S. History but also improving your grades."

Davis has a long history with Lone Star College, starting as a student in the mid 1990s', before rejoining later in his career to teach and eventually becoming a full-time history professor at LSC-Online.

"The idea, too, is that Lone Star College is an open educational resource," he said. "I plan to have a repository of these different modules that faculty can use to create their tracks, mix and match some of these modules, and tweak them as they see fit. Other classes, not just U.S. History, can also use this model."

If you are interested in studying at Lone Star College-Online or would like to know more, you can explore our full list of available programs.