Search for Summer 2026 Term Courses

*Counts for Honors Credit in Summer 2026* This interdisciplinary course explores the history of New Mexico, from the pre-contact era to the present. In the first half of the class, we will consider New Mexico's successive and overlapping waves of human settlement, from Pueblo Indians, the Spanish empire, the Mexican Republic, and the United States, with particular attention to the complex relationships between Native peoples, Hispanos, and Anglo-Americans. Then we will turn to a handful of key topics that continue to define the so-called Land of Enchantment even today: religion and spirituality; the natural world (particularly New Mexico's scarce water resources); and its enduring cultural symbolism as reflected in literature and film. Carefully planned field trips will significantly enhance student learning.

During summer terms, students have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities such as hiking, rafting, rock climbing, and fly-fishing. Students are able to apply the five components of health-related fitness to all of the activities that they pursue. Special activity fee: $800 in summer to cover all equipment and sports activities. (SMU-in-Taos)

*Counts for Honors Credit in Summer 2026* This course examines Native American, Spanish, and Anglo arts and cultures of the American Southwest between 100 CE and the 21st century. It considers the effects of ethnicity, gender, and community identity on regional art traditions and places artworks within their material, religious, political, and economic contexts. Astronomical alignments, water, earth and sky, spirits and saints, the living and their ancestors; these are among the themes in the art of the region. The course is designed for SMU Taos. Many class days include field trips or interactive projects. Films, readings, and PowerPoint slide talks set the stage for visits to artists' studios, archaeological sites, pueblos, churches, and museums. Hands-on art projects, collaborative projects, and engagement with the community help students understand the socio-political, religious, technical, and aesthetic qualities of the art and architecture we study in this class.

*Counts for Honors Credit in Summer 2026* This introductory biology course for non-majors focuses on aquatic ecosystems of the American Southwest, exploring how life adapts to challenges like drought, seasonal change, and wildfire. The Taos campus is the ideal setting because students can move directly from class discussions into the field to collect data, observe biodiversity, and connect theory to real-world examples. Our main reading, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, blends ecology with history, literature, and ethics. Leopold served as Forest Supervisor of Carson National Forest in the early 1900s, and many essays reflect his time in New Mexico, helping students link science to the landscape around them. By combining fieldwork, place-based reading, and small-group learning, the course uses the unique setting of Taos to create an immersive and memorable experience.

Psychology and the Challenges of Life course is an upper level course that aims to discuss how life trajectories and outcomes are shaped by both our history and experiences (including life challenges and cultural differences) and our differences in personality. It tackles individual growth and life challenges through a scientific lens incorporating findings and theories from multiple disciplines within psychology (i.e., developmental, cognitive, personality, and clinical). These discussions have large implications for student’s own lives and other studies, but seeing some challenges play out with hands-on activities at SMU Taos reinforces these lessons in ways that a traditional lecture course could not.

This drawing course is intended to place students in a mode of deep observation. With Taos as the backdrop for inspiration, students will be given an opportunity to learn fundamental drawing skills while exploring the textures of the New Mexican landscape. While a typical introductory drawing course tends to rely on the objects brought into the studio, the Taos course is designed to maximize experiential learning outside the studio. This course will be about exploring the landscape. From a small pine cone to a forest of trees my intention is to give students an opportunity to really see what Taos looks and feels like. Interdisciplinary themes could be museum studies, creative writing (students will be asked to keep a sketchbook/journal) and environmental studies.

Discusses information technology and information resources for business. Builds spreadsheet proficiencies focusing on the use of spreadsheets for business data analysis and reporting. Introduces database concepts along with tools and skills required to explore, analyze, extract, aggregate and report data. The Taos iteration of the course includes a field trip to the local datacenter (yes, Taos actually has a datacenter) along with the local internet service provider, uniquely enhancing the learning experience for the course through seeing practical applications for the skills in the course.

The Taos iteration of PHIL 1318: Contemporary Moral Problems course focuses on environmental ethics and Native American ethics to take advantages of the opportunities to explore nature, sustainability, and Indigenous culture and history in Taos. We will be studying ethical theories (including the work of Viola Cordova, a Native American philosopher from Taos), and then applying these theories in practice to questions that focus on the natural world, including our relationship to the environment, climate change and sustainability, and animal ethics.To enhance this study, students will visit Taos Pueblo to reflect on Native American philosophical theories in practice, Weeping Willow Farm and/or Earthships to reflect on human efforts towards sustainability, and a nature site (either Bandelier or Williams Lake) to reflect on environmental ethics and how to best understand the value of the natural world. We will also spend some of our class time outdoors on the Taos campus observing nature during our regular class sessions.

Nonprofits at Work in the Community, examines how community-based organizations mobilize resources, empower stakeholders, and address complex social issues. The course blends sociological theory, organizational analysis, and practical engagement, allowing students to understand how nonprofits operate at the intersection of public, private, and civic life.The Taos campus and June term format enhance this course in unique ways. The small cohort model and immersive residential setting provide the opportunity for sustained, focused engagement that is difficult to replicate in Dallas. Students will not only study the nonprofit sector in the abstract but also experience how Taos-based organizations address pressing local issues such as youth education, homelessness, food sovereignty, environmental justice, and community health. The compressed term format supports intensive service-learning, creating a sense of continuity between seminar discussions, cultural field trips, and community service sites.Experiential learning is intentionally built into the structure of the course. Students will volunteer with local nonprofits like the Dream Tree Project and Weeping Willow Farm, develop reflective service photo journals, and conduct applied research projects tied to Taos' community challenges. Field trips to sites such as Taos Pueblo, Earthships, and the Gorge Bridge complement classroom content by situating nonprofit action within the cultural, environmental, and historical dynamics of Northern New Mexico. These experiences provide students with direct contact with community leaders, youth advocates, and environmental organizers, encouraging them to integrate theoretical frameworks with lived realities.The course also incorporates interdisciplinary themes highly relevant to Taos. It connects sociology with environmental studies, public health, indigenous studies, youth development, and civic engagement. By examining issues such as environmental injustice or indigenous community restoration, students encounter intersections of social inequality, cultural history, and sustainability that make Taos a living classroom. This interdisciplinary lens highlights how nonprofits not only deliver services but also embody values, bridge cultures, and foster social change.

*Counts for Honors Credit in Summer 2026* This is a version of 1301 especially geared to the Taos experience. Students will be invited to consider religious difference through fieldtrips to the Hanuman temple, Hokoji, Iglesia San Francisco, Taos Pueblo, and Masjeed Khadija. They will also be invited to consider issues of religious appropriation as they consider the marketing of native religious goods in Taos Plaza. The course is interdisciplinary as it utilizes methodology from Anthropology, Sociology, History, Oral History, Latin American Studies, Literary Studies and Material Culture. These are specific to Taos as students consider the paths various religious traditions take on their way to the Taos region, Crypto-Judaism, the marketing of indigenous goods and knowledge pathways, and the blending of diverse traditions at sites such as the Masjeed and Hokoji.

During summer terms, students have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities such as hiking, rafting, rock climbing, and fly-fishing. Students are able to apply the five components of health-related fitness to all of the activities that they pursue. Special activity fee: $800 in summer to cover all equipment and sports activities. (SMU-in-Taos)

*Counts for Honors Credit in Summer 2026* This interdisciplinary course uses Northern New Mexico as its classroom. We read food as text, which becomes a portal to understand historical and contemporary practices, technological advances, social issues, and power dynamics in the so-call 'American Southwest.

Provides a first introduction to the exciting field of data science using applications and case studies from various domains (e.g., social media, marketing, sociology, engineering, digital humanities). Introduces data-centric thinking, including a discussion of how data is acquired, managed, manipulated, visualized, and used, to support problem-solving. The fundamental practical skills necessary are taught in class, and each step is illustrated with small examples. Tools presented in this course include SQL and Excel, along with other state-of-the-art tools. No prior knowledge of statistics, math, or programming is necessary. There is opportunity to integrate Taos-related themes (tourism, environmental issues, etc.) into the classroom examples and projects including working with data from local companies that could be analyzed as part of the students' projects.

Students are able to fly drones and perform in-field experimentation that would otherwise not be possible on the main campus. We also engage with local Native American populations (Picuris Pueblo).

*Counts for Honors Credit in Summer 2026* In this course, students will engage directly with the people, communities, environment, and ecologies of Taos, NM to explore how our environments shape our health. Ecologies of human health encompass all sorts of processes and structures, including social, built environments and cultural, political and economic contexts across not only individual human life courses, but also intergenerationally. I have cultivated connections in various sectors in Taos, through teaching and research activities in the Taos community and draw from these to create the unique experience this course offers. It is designed with an interdisciplinary perspective, to benefit students from across the university, from pre-health, civil engineering, to the arts, in its attention to how built and natural environments across time and space, and in the context of the intensifying impacts of climate change, impact human health. The course is relevant to a wide audience of students with the goal of cross-pollinating among disciplines and broadening interdisciplinary inquiry, knowledge, and practice around environmental, both natural and built, and human health. In this course, which I have intentionally cultivated with my connections with the Taos community while teaching and researching in Taos over the past several years, students will learn experientially to apply anthropological epistemologies to understand various ways of knowing about relationships of nature, community, and health and the intergenerational knowledge that undergirds them.

BIOL 1303 explores the ecological roles of organisms, the ecological impact of human activity, and our role in building a sustainable future. This course draws heavily from the natural surroundings in Taos. Students will go on hikes, learn to observe their surroundings, and participate in citizen science by identifying local plants and animals using iNaturalist. Students will also visit local sustainable businesses and learn practical ways to incorporate environmentally sustainable practices into their careers and everyday life. This course is extensively interdisciplinary as it incorporates biology, environmental science, art, technological advances, and ethics.All around, I think this course will add lots of value to the student experience in Taos.

This nationally recognized award-winning course is experientially based. Most projects are developed in collaboration while in class. Regardless of whether you want to be an entrepreneur or not, you will professionally benefit from this class. Entrepreneurial skills make you more valuable as an employee and will also enable you to found an new organization—whether for-profit, nonprofit, social, corporate, arts, or creative in nature. Topics include branding, creativity as the keystone of entrepreneurship, crowdfunding, event-based fundraising, leveraging inherent assets, website creation, pitching angel investors and venture capitalists, acting entrepreneurially within existing organizations, navigating startup processes, and other critical entrepreneurship topics.

Examine contemporary and real-life challenges in business ethics & corporate social responsibility in the context of New Mexico and the legacy of colonialism that has impacted Native Americans. Build and hone your ability to understand, adapt to, and evaluate the current challenges in business ethics and CSR. Grow in your personal awareness of your own ethics and will develop an understanding of how to create real social impact through the variety of tools that will be at your disposal as you enter the business world. Develops managerial decision-making and stakeholder analysis through a study of ethical dilemmas in contemporary business. Topics include whistle blowing, corruption, bribery, human rights, crisis management, role of corporate boards, lobbying, philanthropy, externalities, and sustainability.

Covers research and theory in the psychology of interpersonal conflict, as well as mechanisms for resolving, managing, or avoiding conflict. Emphasized domains are alternative dispute resolution, close relationships, and workplace and international conflict. Learn how to identify conflict styles and generate predictions from those styles about conflict and conflict resolution, as well as how to diagnose a conflict and provide recommendations for resolution.

Examine how personal mindsets, choices, behaviors, and outcomes impact their lives, other people’s lives, and their communities. Through coursework grounded in the Assets-Based Community Development Model, students are challenged to think critically about the effect of values, beliefs, and identities on how they engage with others and their communities at large. In a term-long community engagement project, students learn about themselves and others, apply class content to a community need, and reflect on the experience through a process that can benefit them throughout their lives.

Building key traits of authentic leadership and emotional and cultural intelligence that are critical to leadership success, including self-awareness, awareness of others, & managing self & relationships. Effective teamwork, interpersonal skills, empathic listening, mindfulness, inclusivity, and conflict resolution. Community engagement to complete a service learning project in an underserved community. Learn from local leadership through first hand experiences and strategies for addressing leadership challenges.Two field trips will visit significant cultural and spiritual sites for the tribes. Ongoing journaling and discussions will enhance this experiential learning. Improve clarity about personal mearning and purpose, values, and aims. Increase compassion, ethics, and connection with underserved communities in an increasingly interdependent world. Gain appreciation of the role of mindfulness techniques for increasing emotional intelligence, reducing stress, and improving focus, decision making, and creativity through the Koru Mindfulness Program, which was developed at Duke University for college students. Build self-trust, the foundation of trust in relationships, and learn how to increase trust in personal and business situations.