Cortney Holles

Cortney got her master’s degree in English in 2003 and came to Mines in the Fall of 2004 to teach Nature and Human Values.  She has enjoyed working with Mines students to improve their communication skills and explore the impacts of the natural world on human behavior and society ever since.  She directed the Nature and Human Values class for several years and developed new courses for HASS in science communication and service learning. She earned her doctorate in Education in 2021 from University of Northern Colorado in Curriculum & Innovation and her dissertation research on faculty and student well-being in higher education, especially in engineering and STEM environments is the foundation for her passion for research.  She believes that faculty and students need good support from the university system to navigate life challenges and mitigate mental illness and is working to expand the focus on care and wellbeing in stressful academic environments through future research and workshops for professors.

Courses Taught

• Nature and Human Values (NHV) (HASS 100)
• NHV Short Form (HASS 198/110)
• Intro to Science Communication. (HASS 323)
• Advanced Science Communication. (HASS 423)
• Service Learning (HASS 376)
• Research, Values, and Communication (HASS 360/GPGN 350)

Publication

• A Student’s Guide to Nature and Human Values with Paula Farca and Shira Richman, Hayden-McNeil, 2010.
• “Student-Faculty Interaction and Impact on Wellbeing in Higher Education,” dissertation for EdD, https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/758/

Curriculum Vitae