All posts by: Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque

Three UMBC student veterans adapt to a new mission: teaching science and math online

Graduating UMBC students Christine Crisostomo, Emily Satterfield, and Benjamin Park had expected that this May they would be finishing their student teacher internships in person. They would be leading classroom instruction in secondary schools across Maryland. COVID-19 changed all that, as they had to pivot quickly to an online teaching environment. 

But as military veterans, these student teachers are used to managing stressful and rapidly changing situations. They have drawn on skills and strategies from their years in the military to support their students and their own families during this time. 

After first serving their country in the armed forces, “they have chosen to serve again by being teachers,” says Cheryl North, clinical assistant professor of education. “I am proud of them. All of them are going to be an asset to their schools, and their students are going to get outstanding teachers.”

Unique school, special opportunity

Crisostomo ‘20, chemistry and modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, came to UMBC after eight years of service as a language analyst in the U.S. Navy. She chose UMBC because of its strong chemistry teaching program. Plus, “UMBC felt like an environment that supported adult learners and veterans,” says Crisostomo. 

For her, the partnership UMBC has with Fort Meade High School has offered a unique opportunity. Fort Meade High School is the only school in the country that is on military property but is managed by a county school system. The school includes a mixture of military and civilian families.

Crisostomo’s military experience helped her understand the challenges that children of military families face. Her passion for chemistry made her an engaging science teacher. In addition, thanks to her background in linguistics, she knows five languages and has been able to support many English Language Learners (ELL) at the school. These strengths provided an opportunity for her to serve as a lead teacher early on, guiding a classroom of students.

Learning to teach during COVID-19 school closures

Soon after COVID-19 began to affect Maryland, the state changed how it would deliver public education. As a student teacher, Crisostomo didn’t have immediate access to the teaching software. Once she could access the system, she had to develop strategies to help her ELL families, who were struggling with online materials posted in English. 

Thanks to her experience in the military, though, she was confident that she’d find a way to make it work. She would support her students and successfully complete her internship. 

“I knew there would be a solution… I may have some frustration, but I can’t worry about something I don’t have control over,” says Crisostomo. “In the military you develop skills to adapt to a change in plans and unforeseen problems, and how to step up. Teachers have to use the same skills.” 

Everything under one roof

Satterfield, M.A.T. ‘20, misses the classroom. She misses interacting with her students in real time. But she’s also found ways to make it work.

Satterfield while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. Photo courtesy of Satterfield.
Satterfield while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. Photo courtesy of Satterfield.

Even before public schools moved online due to the pandemic, Satterfield had a tight schedule. She managed her own course work while also planning and delivering lessons at Chesapeake High School, supporting her third-grader with special needs, and keeping up with her toddler. 

At night she would complete her course work, plan her lessons, and manage her family’s needs. It was a juggle, but the skills she brought from her time in the U.S. Marine Corps and the support of the UMBC community helped make it all possible. 

“I couldn’t have earned a 4.0 and kept balance in my life without the support of the education faculty,” says Satterfield. “It wasn’t only technicalities of teaching that they helped me with, but they helped me through my own son’s Individualized Education Program process and always truly listened when life became overwhelming.” 

Now, her life as a student, teacher, and parent are all under one roof. There are no clear schedules anymore, for her family or the families of students she is teaching. 

Satterfield with one of her two children. Photo courtesy of Satterfield.
Satterfield with one of her two children. Photo courtesy of Satterfield.

As Satterfield sees her own third-grader struggle with how to complete and submit lessons online, she knows her students must also be struggling. She has shifted focus to primarily offering support to students outside of the regular 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. school hours. 

Preparing for a new normal

Satterfield is leaning on her military training to persevere by preparing for a new normal. Faced with her husband’s shipping orders to North Carolina this summer and the uncertainty of COVID-19, she prepared her lessons far in advance. By the time public schools officially closed, she was ahead of the curve. 

Satterfield also completed online teacher development courses in Google Classrooms and online learning. And she maintains clear communication with her mentor teacher and her professors. 

“I was a little stressed at the beginning, but life comes and goes, and it is constantly changing. You never know what you are going to do,” says Satterfield. “I offer my own students the same empathy and support the UMBC education faculty have given me. Any time my mentor needs anything and students need me I am there for them.”

Finding a path to teaching

Park ’19, mathematics, and M.A.T. ‘20, left the U.S. Army after five years of service and began his studies at UMBC soon after. He felt UMBC was a great fit for him because of the diversity he experienced in the Army. “Our differences make our lives richer, so why not celebrate them,” he shares.

Park (right) in the Army. Photo courtesy of Park.
Park (right) in the Army. Photo courtesy of Park.

When Park arrived at UMBC as an undergraduate, he was confident in his love of mathematics, but didn’t yet clearly see his path as a teacher. Still, UMBC’s education department quickly noticed his skill in helping his peers understand complex math problems. 

Park remembers his professors encouraging him many times to consider teaching. With the support of Christopher Rakes, associate professor of education, he eventually took the leap, committing fully to pursuing the M.A.T. and becoming a high school math teacher. 

“Ben is quite simply one of the finest students with whom I have had the privilege of working. His intellectual curiosity exemplifies the best of scientific inquiry, which he instills into his mathematics classes,” shares Rakes. “He is dedicated to helping his students see mathematics as a way of thinking and a tool for understanding the world, not just a series of algorithms to memorize.”

“You have to pivot and adapt”

Park’s approach to teaching is grounded in his experience as a child struggling with dyslexia in an education system that was not able to identify or address his needs. Determined to not be left behind, Park discovered that he was able to understand concepts if he could break things down by starting at the end and working his way back. 

In the Army, he continued to grow and to hone his self-discipline. His mentors share that all of these qualities and experiences combined make him a dedicated, empathetic, and successful aspiring teacher. 

Park (center) with fellow student teachers at his baby shower. Photo courtesy of Park.
Park (center) with fellow student teachers at his baby shower. Photo courtesy of Park.

Park sees the shift from in-person to online teaching not as a challenge, but as an adaptation needed to fulfill a mission. “No battle plan survives a battle. Going to class, going to a physical building, teaching students, and having the students in that building all day so they can receive a proper education—that was the original battle plan,” he explains. “Things change and you have to pivot and adapt.”

“The first priority is the students,” Park says. “I think that is the main axiom that we need to focus on.”

Park (left) with his family. Photo courtesy of Park.
Park (left) with his family. Photo courtesy of Park.

Learning how to learn

Working alongside Park at home is his wife, Elpiniki Park, who is also a teacher. They manage their classrooms and two young children, in addition to Park’s course work, which means working day and night.

Park’s chief goal now is to help his students learn how to learn in their new environment. Recalling his own challenges in school, it is a mission that is close to his heart.

“It is more important right now to teach them how to study math individually, than to teach the subject,” shares Park. “Learning how to learn gives a good foundation. Then we can pivot and increase the probability of student success.” 

“We are going to make it work,” he emphasizes. “We are going to make sure kids get educated.”

Banner image: True Grit statue on graduation day. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

UMBC doctoral student Ciara Christian receives AAC&U 2020 K. Patricia Cross Award for equity and inclusion work

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has honored UMBC’s Ciara Christian with its 2020 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award. Christian, M.A. ‘18, sociology, is a doctoral student in the language, literacy, and culture program. She is one of just seven graduate students out of 117 applicants from across the country to earn this honor. 

The award honors graduate students who are dedicated to teaching and learning in higher education. It highlights students whose exemplary work shows their commitment to academic and civic responsibility with a focus on equity and inclusion. 

Michele Wolff, director of UMBC’s Shriver Center and Christian’s mentor, describes her as a clear choice for this award. “She is a scholar and a visionary thinker,” says Wolff.

Working with communities, abroad and at home

Christian has long demonstrated a strong commitment to equity and inclusion in her work. Before enrolling at UMBC, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Rwanda. During her service, she helped to create curriculum and workshops to train incoming volunteers and Peace Corps staff. The volunteer training practices and materials she established actively addressed issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity.

After Rwanda, Christian joined UMBC as a Shriver Peaceworker Fellow, combining her graduate program with community service leadership and ethical reflection. She also served as a Sondheim Nonprofit Leadership Fellow. In that role, Christian assisted the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance with Baltimore Data Day. The day convened over 300 organizations to learn how to best use data to support Baltimore communities.

As a graduate assistant during her master’s program, Christian helped to develop the Grand Challenge Scholars Program. She worked with Marie desJardins, former associate dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology, to launch the program in 2016. 

Supporting major campus initiatives

Deepening her commitment to equity and inclusion work, Christian began to serve as a leader in campus-wide initiatives. She was part of the steering committee that established UMBC as one of ten AAC&U campus centers for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation. She continues to work with the Shriver Center on how to better incorporate those principles in the center’s work. These insights help them improve their programs, marketing practices, and recruitment.

More recently, Christian collaborated with Michele Wolff and Scott Casper, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, on a landmark project for the university. She served as the graduate assistant who helped develop UMBC’s application for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. UMBC received this classification from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching this spring.

“Ciara has shared her perspective, insights, and expertise to enhance the learning of others,” says Wolff. “She continues to deepen her understanding, passion, and area of research, which contribute to our community. I’ve learned—and I know I will continue to learn—so much from her!”

Continuing transformative conversations

Christian was formally acknowledged for her work at the AAC&U conference earlier this year. As she furthers her doctoral studies, she will continue working with Michele Wolff and other campus leaders on new, high-impact projects. Now, Jasmine Lee, director of inclusive excellence, and Christian are helping first-year residential students develop skills for intercultural dialogue. This project will shift to meet student needs during the current distance learning period. 

Whether students are living together on campus or connecting online, “empathetic listening and understanding cultural backgrounds, ideas, and beliefs are key to building relationships,” says Christian. “These are the cornerstones of equity and inclusion work.”

Banner image: Ciara Christian. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Three years in, UMBC’s Inclusion Imperative connects humanities scholars focused on diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice

UMBC’s Inclusion Imperative is now in its third year of promoting diversity and inclusion in the humanities—on campus and across the region. The five-year initiative, funded by a $750,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, began in March 2017. This grant provides support for a Visiting Faculty Fellows Program, Diversity Teaching Network in the Humanities, and Humanities Teaching Labs. All three programs have had a notable impact and continue to grow.

The Inclusion Imperative is led by Scott Casper, dean of UMBC’s College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, and Jessica Berman, director of the Dresher Center for the Humanities. The three core Inclusion Imperative programs support a regional community of scholars committed to diversity in the humanities. They also focus on expanding community-engaged humanities research and implementing new approaches to teaching and learning in the humanities.

“The Inclusion Imperative has created real excitement about the benefits of connecting humanities faculty with one another,” shares Berman. “Faculty at UMBC have learned a variety of new tools to practice inclusive and engaged teaching. They have been able to exchange ideas with visiting scholars about methods of inclusive research in the humanities.” 

Humanities Teaching Labs

Lindsay DiCuirci, associate professor of English, is the director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Teaching Labs (HT Labs). They bring together visiting fellows, UMBC faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and Baltimore community partners. Together, these collaborators examine issues of race, equity, inclusion, and justice. The labs share different approaches and strategies in humanities work, and show how faculty can create active learning projects. 

Anne Rubin, assistant professor of history, leading the Frederick Douglass Transcription Lab. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

One popular UMBC faculty-led HT Lab focused on integrating crowdsourced transcription projects into undergraduate coursework. Others have explored diversity-focused digital humanities projects in the classroom and best practices for interviewing and collecting oral histories. 

Faculty and staff review images from The Baltimore Sun archives at UMBC. Photo courtesy of the Dresher Center.

HT Labs led by external experts have demonstrated how to use software to create content and analyze data. Faculty also participated in a workshop on how to engage diverse communities by using Baltimore Sun photographs housed in UMBC’s Special Collections. 

Course transformations

The HT Labs initiative also offers Course Transformation Support Grants. With these grants, faculty redesign their courses to reflect new approaches and technologies, and more diverse perspectives. 

One of the first three faculty members awarded a transformation grant was Earl Brooks, assistant professor of English. He used the funding to purchase recording equipment for students to use in his Sounds Like Social Justice course. They created interactive media projects that use sound to tell stories related to social justice. 

Brooks presenting his course transformation work. Photo courtesy of the Dresher Center.

“The grant made it possible for my students to have the technology they needed to create high-quality digital media projects,” shares Brooks. “This was a pivotal improvement that strengthened our collective commitment to the digital humanities.”

Jennifer Maher, associate professor of English, combined two of her classes to create a more community-engaged experience. Maher’s communication and technology seminar focused on race, rhetoric, and technology. Students worked closely with Nina Duzhikhin’s Community Closet to create new marketing materials for the clothing donation group. The class also collaborated with UMBC’s Choice Program, New Media Studio, and WombWork Productions on promotions. They developed effective and culturally-sensitive marketing materials to create awareness of clothing drop-off locations throughout Southwest Baltimore.

“The intersections among race, rhetoric, and technology materialized for students in very real and important ways,” says Maher. “Topics such as gentrification manifested right in front of our eyes. These experiences could not be happen in a more traditional class environment.”

Nicole King, professor and chair of American studies and director of the UMBC Orser Center for the Study of Place, Community, and Culture, also received a grant. She used it to engage radio producer Aaron Henkin in her Public Humanities course. She also brought in local speakers to share their expertise in community-engaged humanities work. 

Visiting faculty fellows

The Inclusion Imperative also invites full-time faculty from colleges and universities across the region to apply for visiting faculty appointments at UMBC. This fellows program supports humanities scholars who commit to advancing diversity through research. The program works to connect them to the UMBC campus community. Fellows work with UMBC faculty in similar research areas.

(L to R) Bediako, Bankole-Medina, Runstedtler, King. Photo by Marlayna Demond '11.
(L to R) Bediako, Bankole-Medina, Runstedtler, King. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

UMBC has so far hosted four visiting faculty fellows. Katherine Bankole-Medina, professor of history at Coppin State University, researched the history of African Americans in clinical care settings based on 40 years of the Maryland Medical Journal. Her foundational work at UMBC evolved into a book project. She collaborated with Shawn Bediako, associate professor of psychology and director of UMBC’s Collaborative for the Interdisciplinary Promotion of Health Equity Research (CIPHER).

Theresa Runstedtler, associate professor of history at American University, explored the intersection of blackness, masculinity, labor, and criminalization through the lens of 1970s professional basketball. In the fall of 2019, Runstedtler received a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar award for the project she worked at UMBC. Nicole King collaborated with Runstedtler during her time at UMBC, which led to joint presentations at national meetings and other continuing projects.

This year’s fellows

This year’s fellows are Elizabeth Groeneveld, assistant professor of women’s studies at Old Dominion University, and Tracy Perkins, assistant professor of sociology and criminology at Howard University. 

Groenveld is exploring how lesbian pornographic media has shaped ideas about objectification and the body by developing a discourse of sex-positive feminism. Kate Drabinski, senior lecturer of gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, is her faculty collaborator.

L to R: DiCuirci, Groenveld, Perkins, and Berman. Photo courtesy of the Dresher Center.

“Working with Liz has been a great experience. We learn about each other’s research and write together regularly. It keeps both of us on track while also building real community around the writing process itself,” shares Drabinski. “I am excited for the ways our work in queer histories will intersect long after the fellowship year is over.”

Perkins’s project covers a 1990s campaign to stop the construction of a nuclear waste landfill in the Mojave Desert’s Ward Valley. Dillon Mahmoudi, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, serves as her UMBC collaborator.

Diversity Teaching Network

The Diversity Teaching Network brings together faculty at UMBC, HBCU partners, and other institutions in the Baltimore-DC region. The network’s activities expand conversations on diversity in curricula, socially-aware humanities pedagogies, and community-engaged research. These activities create a supportive environment for faculty to pursue inclusive teaching practices. 

The inaugural Diversity Teaching Network event last year was headlined by noted scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings. Kerrie Kephart, associate director of the UMBC Faculty Development Center, led a workshop about practicing inclusive teaching in the classroom.

The workshop “challenged faculty to collaboratively develop responses to real-life teaching challenges,” she explains. “This includes how to create inclusive syllabi and assignments, and how to facilitate class discussions around ‘hot button’ topics.” 

One event included discussions about the history and evolution of African texts. It provided suggestions on how to integrate them into U.S. university settings. Another discussed linguistic diversity as a cultural resource.

In the spring of 2019, the Diversity Teaching Network held its inaugural symposium, “Being Human: How the Arts and Humanities Expand Boundaries and Inspire Action in the 21st Century” at Bowie State University. Faculty from UMBC, Bowie State University, Coppin State University, American University, and Howard University participated in panels on the intersection of teaching, action, and justice. 

Faculty at the event shared best practices in community-engaged humanities research. They built on connections developed over the past three years and generating ideas for future work together.

“The Inclusion Imperative is fostering an increasingly collaborative, inclusive approach to humanities teaching and scholarship,” shares Dean Casper. “I’m excited about continuing this work, both within UMBC and with our partner institutions.”

Banner image: (L to R) Courtney C. Hobson M.A.’14, history, coordinator for the Dresher Center; Joby Taylor ’05, Ph.D., LLC, director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program; and Beverly Bickel, clinical associate professor of language, literacy, and culture doctoral program. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC psychology faculty work to prevent intimate partner violence and support survivors

UMBC’s psychology faculty closely collaborate with communities on research to prevent intimate partner and gender-based violence and to support survivors. Their work to transform systems is earning support from government agencies and colleagues in their field, with new awards that will enable them to have an even greater impact. 

Meeting the needs of the community

Chris Murphy, a professor of clinical psychology, has received a $420,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women. The three-year grant will fund a research collaboration with the Gateway Program at the House of Ruth Maryland in Baltimore City to assess their Batterer Intervention Program (BIP) supportive services model. 

The 26-week court-ordered rehabilitation program is designed to hold offenders of intimate partner violence (IPV) accountable and to maintain survivors’ safety. It focuses on changing participants’ violent behavior through lessons about power and control as well as nonviolent strategies for communication.

“We know that one abusive partner can create multiple victims and, if they have children, they begin a generational cycle that is difficult to interrupt,” says Lisa Nitsch ‘01, psychology, a social worker and director of training and education at the House of Ruth Maryland. “It is time for us to stop asking why victims choose to stay in abusive relationships and start asking why abusive partners feel entitled to terrorize their victims.”

To better meet the needs of the communities they serve, the Gateway Program developed a culturally sensitive approach to their BIPs over the last two years. Through that process, they found that BIPs don’t usually address several issues impacting clients, such as past trauma, mental health, employment, or parenting. 

In collaboration with a number of city agencies, the Gateway Program developed a supportive services model to complement the BIP. This includes optional on-site services related to mental health, parenting, and employment. By addressing these intersecting needs, the Gateway program aims to reduce IPV.

“We have to find more effective ways of addressing abusive partners and engaging them in a change process,” says Nitsch. “We are invested in this project because it is essential to our mission ‘to lead the fight to end intimate partner violence.’”

When Murphy heard about the Gateway Program’s new supportive services model, he offered to develop an assessment to evaluate its effectiveness. “A lot of the field has focused on holding offenders accountable for their behavior, but not necessarily what will make them less likely to engage in abuse or violence,” explains Murphy. 

A team approach to IPV research

Murphy brought together a team from across disciplines and institutions to help design a holistic assessment. The team includes Tara Richards, co-principal investigator, assistant professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska, Omaha; Charvonne Holliday, assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Nitsch, who is also a board member of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.

The program evaluation is a three-part process. Murphy and his team will first assess if there is a decrease in IPV incidents among offenders in the Gateway Program after they’ve participated solely in the Batterer Intervention Program. Second, they will examine if there is also a decrease among clients who choose to access additional support services. Third, they will assess the challenges and values that clients express, and if how they receive services fits their expectations and needs. 

“We have been working with the Gateway Program for over a year to collaboratively develop the assessments needed to determine who will benefit the most from certain services,” says Murphy. 

Richards explains that to identify clients’ needs the team assesses factors such as substance abuse, low educational attainment, and antisocial behavior, which are correlated with criminal behaviors among other types of offenders. She explains her role as evaluating how integrating knowledge of those factors and of abusive behaviors “with a culturally sensitive curriculum to help develop individualized services” can reduce recidivism. She explains, “We can’t separate these issues and expect to get the best outcomes.”

In addition to this research, Murphy also offers training on motivational communication strategies for service providers, to increase the likelihood that their clients will utilize the available services. 

The results will be used to improve the delivery of Gateway Program services. They will also inform other programs nationwide, and inform training materials for service providers in other agencies.

“Those of us who work in this field know intimate partner violence tends to carry on through generations,” says Murphy. “If we can stop someone now from being abusive who is in their twenties and has young children, it can benefit everyone else in their family and system.” 

Community-based participatory research with survivors of gender-based violence

Nkiru Nnawulezi, assistant professor of psychology, has received the Linda Saltzman New Investigator Award for her work with communities to support survivors of gender-based violence. The award is funded by the Center for Disease Control Foundation, Futures Without Violence, and RALIANCE. It honors her ongoing research and will be formally announced at the 2020 National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence in late April.

Nnawulezi. Photo courtesy of Nnawulezi.

“The award is such an honor because it isn’t just my work, but also the communities I work with. It’s about the people who I have a privilege to know and be surrounded by,” says Nnawulezi. “It is a community honor.”

The accolade acknowledges her work using transformative Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to evaluate the systems and institutions that serve survivors of gender-based violence. Her work in this field spans from her dissertation, through her time as a UMBC Postdoctoral Fellow for Faculty Diversity, to her current scholarship as an assistant professor of community psychology. 

Nnawulezi explains that transformative CBPR focuses on shifting the status quo from institutionally-focused research to community-driven research where the community acts on its power and determines what knowledge is generated and how it is used.

She works with survivors to research structures and policies related to domestic violence housing programs. When it comes to her specific focus in that area, she explains, “As a community, the survivors and practitioners decide what they want to research. It may be understanding what it takes for survivors to experience power, whether the organizational policies and culture create a loss of power, or if they support survivors having and using power.”

A focus on intersectional identities

Nnawulezi specializes in working with survivors with intersectional identities and community-based practitioners, exploring how survivors navigate institutions intended to support them. This includes survivors who are people of color, living with HIV, queer and trans, low-income, homeless or housing insecure, experiencing addiction, or experiencing severe mental illnesses. 

She finds transformative CBPR to be particularly suited to working with survivors with histories of multiple marginalizations because it questions why and how researchers can support communities facing multiple forms of oppression. This approach dismantles the traditional views of psychologists as altruistic professionals saving people in need, she explains. Instead, it moves toward supporting the liberation of historically marginalized communities by challenging systems of oppression and creating social change with community members.

“The purpose of my work can be summed up by this quote from Lilla Watson, an aboriginal elder, activist and educator,” shares Nnawulezi. “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Banner image: Murphy. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC historian Anne Rubin examines food scarcity in the Confederate South through NEH fellowship

“Historians know that the Confederacy ran out of food by the end of the Civil War, and it shouldn’t have because it was an agricultural society,” says Anne Rubin, professor of history at UMBC. “I want to understand the causes of this, and the lived experience of different social classes during this time.” 

Rubin has just received a 2020 – 2021 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship to write a book examining how food shortages in the South affected wealthy and poor people, both white and black, during and after the Civil War, ultimately shaping Southern foodways.

Anne Rubin. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Rubin’s award follows an NEH grant received last year by her colleague Susan McDonough, assistant professor of history, whose award supported more inclusive research on medieval women. 

Everyday documents as research tools

A resurgence in the popularity of Southern foods inspired Rubin to take a closer look at Southerners’ experiences with food during the Civil War. “There is a real nostalgia when people talk about heritage pork and heritage grains,” she reflects. “I want to cut through that. This kind of reverence for the past does not include a conversation of who was preparing the food or any of the racialized aspects of Southern cooking.” 

Rubin will research the differences between rural and urban food scarcity, and how that scarcity was felt by people at different places in society. There were white elites that for the first time had to manage with ingredients they deemed subpar. There were also enslaved people who had to continue cooking for elite whites and for themselves with less and less food. 

Rubin will also explore the experiences of poor whites, who may have already had to adjust their diets drastically as resources waned, and the 500,000 African Americans who fled to the Union Army, where they were given inadequate rations and suffered from sickness and malnutrition. All of these changes influenced the strategies Southerners used to modify traditional recipes, replacing inaccessible ingredients with alternatives. 

A page from Mrs. Prudence M. Sutherland’s handwritten cookbook. Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Photo courtesy of Rubin.

“A lot of the scarcity has to do with questions of supply,” explains Rubin. “Research shows that wealthy people in the South who were used to cooking with white flour and white sugar began to make substitutions with ingredients usually reserved for the poor, like molasses and cornmeal.” Recipe adaptations were recorded in homemade recipe books, letters, diaries, relief receipts, and ration logs from army camps.

Her research thus far also shows that the adaptations made by elite white Southerners became a way to show allegiance with the Confederacy. Southerners accepted not being able to have coffee and were willing to make other sacrifices as long as it meant the Confederacy could keep fighting. 

“These responses create a narrative of patriotism and nationalism around food,” shares Rubin. “There is an intention of using food and the history of food as a way to express loyalty to the Confederacy. But the experience of African Americans, poor whites, and elites varied drastically.”

Surviving famine and starvation

Two key questions Rubin hopes to answer focus on the management of food: Why did an agricultural society struggle to feed its citizens? And how did people survive the compounding effects of the 1867 famine that followed the Civil War, caused by crop failure? 

“Part of my research is looking at the response of the Freedmen’s Bureau to feed African Americans. I also explore the work of elite Northerners providing relief,” explains Rubin. 

Next, she will travel to archives in North Carolina, Louisiana, and other states in the South to piece together a social network analysis. This will help her better understand those affected by food scarcity in the South, those who provided help, who was receiving help, and what kind of help they were receiving.

Rations issued by the Freedmen’s Bureau at Fort Smith Arkansas, June-July, 1867.  National Archives. Photo courtesy of Rubin.

The historian’s toolbox

Rubin teaches a Civil War and Reconstruction class as well as two Southern history classes—one that goes through the Civil War and one that starts with emancipation. She wants to share with her students the research methods she is using to develop this book, to broaden their sense of how we can learn about the past by looking beyond military history. 

“I research people who don’t always leave letters or diaries, but can be found through a receipt for the food they were given,” says Rubin. “I want students to think of food history as another tool in the historian’s toolbox—that you can look at a recipe and you can piece together a whole social network from it.”

This approach to history is also reflected in Rubin’s work as associate director of UMBC’s Imaging Research Center, known for providing visually immersive websites and exhibits that bring a greater understanding to historical events. 

Continuing excellence in historical research

Rubin’s award is one of several that faculty in the history department have received this year, honoring and advancing their scholarship in a broad range of subject areas. 

Constantine Vaporis will soon be a fellow in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Vaporis is both a professor of history and director of Asian studies. He will research portraits of Samurai in early modern Japan. 

Christy Chapin, associate professor of history, has won an American Council of Learned Societies fellowship for her research on flexible finance. She previously received a Kluge Fellowship to study the banking and finance collections at the U.S. Library of Congress.

Banner image: Rubin at The Humanities Teaching Lab: Frederick Douglass Day. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC is named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution

UMBC is proud to be named a 2019 – 2020 Fulbright Top Producing Institution, an honor granted by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. Over 2,200 U.S. students are awarded Fulbright grants annually, from hundreds of colleges and universities. Only a small portion of these institutions are designated as top producers each year. UMBC is one of 45 doctoral universities nationwide and three in Maryland to receive a Fulbright Top Producing Institution designation for 2019 – 2020. Over 43% of UMBC’s Fulbright U.S. Student Program applicants earned awards. This is the third-highest proportion among all top-producing doctoral institutions, speaking to the quality of UMBC student applications.

The 2018-2019 UMBC Fulbright U.S. Student recipients.

“The Fulbright Top Producing Institution designation honors our entire UMBC community,” reflects President Freeman Hrabowski. “It recognizes how UMBC prepares students to get beyond their comfort zones and to tackle global challenges through engagement with communities around the world.”

UMBC global ambassadors

In the last decade, UMBC has received over 60 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards. In the 2019 – 2020 academic year, fourteen students and alumni earned awards to teach, conduct research, or pursue graduate studies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, South America, and Europe. 

“These Fulbrighters serve as citizen ambassadors for the United States in their host communities, and we will benefit from the skills, knowledge, and global connections they build on their exchanges long after they return home,” shares Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.

Morgan Chadderton ’18, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, a village in Kyrgyzstan where she is teaching English.

This year, 27 UMBC students and recent alumni, a record number, have been selected as Fulbright semifinalists. This selection recognizes their academic merit, leadership potential, and vision to create solutions and serve as leaders around the world. 

Support on the Fulbright journey

Each year students must complete a rigorous application process to apply for a Fulbright. They receive support from Brian Souders, M.A. ‘19, TESOL, and Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy and culture, UMBC’s Fulbright program advisor, as well as faculty and staff across campus. This process asks applicants in all majors to provide evidence of their academic excellence, commitment to global community partnerships, and a record of leadership through service. 

“Dedicated UMBC faculty and staff mentor students and alumni annually from across the campus, from film-making and anthropology to quantum physics to mechatronics,” says Souders. “They support them through the application process, and help them prepare their work to reflect their academic purpose and goals for this globally prestigious and life-changing award.” 

Flora Kirk ’18, ancient studies, is conducting research on Roman coins at Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Romania.

Study abroad as a pathway to Fulbright

Many future Fulbright recipients begin their international experience with study abroad through International Education Services. This UMBC office offers students opportunities to study and research internationally as early as the summer before their incoming year. In UMBC’s 2019 – 2020 Fulbright class, ten out of fourteen recipients had already pursued research and education abroad. For the 2018 – 2019 class, that number was six out of eight recipients. 

Jessica Linus '19, health administration policy, at an orphanage during a service trip to Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Photo courtesy of Linus.

“Studying abroad gives students that first foundational taste of being in a new global environment,” shares Caylie Middleton, associate director of education abroad. “International academic, social, and cultural experiences help develop the curiosity and skills that prepare students for prestigious international opportunities in the future.”

Fulbrighters have also participated in other international opportunities, including with student organizations like Engineers Without Borders, class-based online international exchanges like Global Engineering, faculty-led study abroad courses, and online language exchanges, which UMBC offers in Spanish and Japanese. 

Liam Connor ‘18, information systems, with colleagues in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Connor and the Vietnam Medical Assistance Program.

Souders is proud that so many Retrievers are accessing opportunities for international learning experiences, through Fulbright and a broad range of other UMBC international programs. The Top Producer accolade is a milestone that represents an important trend—more UMBC students and recent alumni are researching, learning, and teaching abroad each year.

“Retrievers have a deep understanding of the value of diverse experiences, identities, and cultures,” Souders says. “They know that the world they dream of can only be made possible by reaching together in mutual understanding.”

Feature image: Souders with UMBC’s 2019 – 2020 Fulbright U.S. Student recipients. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 unless otherwise noted.

The Carnegie Foundation honors UMBC as a leading community-engaged university

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has honored UMBC with its distinguished Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. This classification acknowledges UMBC faculty, staff, students, and community partners for their deep commitment to strengthening the bonds between campus and community. 
UMBC is one of only 67 public colleges and universities in the U.S. just announced as receiving this honor. To date, 359 U.S. institutions hold this classification. These institutions “are doing exceptional work to forward their public purpose in and through community engagement that enriches teaching and research while also benefiting the broader community,” says Mathew Johnson, executive director of Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Engagement, the administrative and research home for the classification. 
This achievement required a rigorous self-study of UMBC’s work with communities in Greater Baltimore and beyond. That process involved more than 120 members of the UMBC community as well as dozens of community partners. 

Joby Taylor, Ph.D. '05, language, literacy, and culture, (fourth on the right)director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program at UMBC, with Shriver Peaceworker Fellows participating in a leadership development activity. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Keniston, MFA '14, intermedia and digital art, associate director of the Peaceworker Program.
Joby Taylor (in yellow coat), Ph.D. ’05, language, literacy, and culture, director of UMBC’s Shriver Peaceworker Program, participates in a leadership development activity with Shriver Peaceworker Fellows. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Keniston, MFA ’14, intermedia and digital art, associate director of the Peaceworker Program.

This recognition is a testament to UMBC’s unwavering support for increasing equity in the Baltimore region and in communities nationally and internationally through work that honors existing sources of community strength, fosters investments in communities, and actively works to address disparities in health outcomes, education, and other core issues. 

Preparing public servants

The Shriver Center has stood at the center of UMBC’s community engagement work for decades, preparing and connecting faculty, staff, and students from all academic programs with community partners. The Shriver Center’s applied learning experiences have helped thousands of students to develop as community-minded agents of change and hundreds of partner organizations to meet their goals. 

A group of students poses together on a staircase.
2018-19 UMBC France-Merrick Scholars. Photo by Raquel Hammer ’20.

“Carnegie’s definition of community engagement emphasizes the importance of reciprocity and mutual benefits in the partnerships that are created,” explains Michele Wolff, director of the Shriver Center. “Shriver Center programs ask us to think about how we can make our partnerships more authentic, to effectively meet the needs of all involved. In this way, the longstanding approach of the Shriver Center also reflects the Carnegie Foundation’s principles of reciprocity and mutuality.”

Maggie Holland (center, rear), geography and environmental systems, interviews a group of farmers in the Amazon about the forests on their properties. Photo courtesy Maggie Holland.
Maggie Holland (center, back row), associate professor of geography and environmental systems, interviews a group of farmers in the Amazon about the forests on their properties. Photo courtesy Maggie Holland.

Investing in change

BreakingGround is one long-standing UMBC community engagement initiative with significant impacts, both on and off-campus. This initiative supports work by students, staff, and faculty to address issues they care about, as innovative coalition builders, problem solvers, and agents of social transformation. Examples of projects funded by BreakingGround include environmental justice initiatives and work to improve Baltimore City’s aging water infrastructure.
The work of BreakingGround now fits within UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life, launched in late 2018.

David Hoffman, director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life with students.
David Hoffman (left), director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, with UMBC students in a class on democracy and civic engagement.

The Baltimore Traces project, a collaborative teaching initiative in the arts and humanities, amplifies the community voices of Baltimore residents and neighborhoods through various media. This key example of community-engaged teaching, which has been recognized by the National Humanities Alliance, has produced short video documentaries, a website, an interactive map, and radio programming that aired on Baltimore’s WEAA 88.9 FM.

Baltimore community members and students participate in the Baltimore Traces Mapping project. Photo courtesy of New Media Studio.
Baltimore community members and UMBC students participate in the Baltimore Traces Mapping project. Photo courtesy of UMBC’s New Media Studio.

Scholarship and teaching rooted in community engagement also play a significant role in the social sciences at UMBC. In the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, for example, students spend years honing their skills as future public servants and advocates in local, national, and international communities. Recent UMBC graduate Maheen Haq, global studies and economics, is a Sondheim Scholar who has worked to support communities facing discrimination, from Syria to Baltimore.

Maheen Haq giving out toys to children in a Syrian refugee camp. Photo courtesy of Haq with permission from Helping Hand for Relief and Development.
Maheen Haq (left) giving out toys to children in a Syrian refugee camp. Photo courtesy of Haq with permission from Helping Hand for Relief and Development.

UMBC also trains future scientists and engineers to conduct community-based research. The National Science Foundation-supported Bahama Oriole Project, a collaborative research initiative with Bahamian scientists and conservationists, works to save the critically endangered Bahama Oriole. An affordable infant incubator that originated in a UMBC engineering course is now in clinical trials in India and recently won the 2019 Global Health Research Award from the Academic Pediatric Association. And UMBC’s Engineers Without Borders student group has taken trips to Kenya and Costa Rica, working collaboratively with local communities and local university students to improve access to clean water. 

Maggie Holland and Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, about to plant trees at a coffee plantation in Costa Rica with a group of UMBC students. Photo courtesy Maggie Holland.
Maggie Holland (far left); Lee Blaney (second from right), associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering; and UMBC students prepare to plant trees in Costa Rica. Photo courtesy of Maggie Holland.

UMBC is also invested in the local community immediately surrounding campus. Recently, the university celebrated the opening of OCA Mocha, the brainchild of students in an entrepreneurship class. OCA stands for Opportunities for Community Alliances. The coffee house and community activity space is located a few minutes from UMBC’s main campus and has already found success hosting UMBC and non-university groups and bringing them together in conversation.

Co-founders of OCA Mocha (l-r): Krishna Gohel ’18, biological sciences; Deep Patel ’19, biological sciences and financial economics; and Michael Berardi ’19, media and communications studies, with community leaders.

“Thanks to the Carnegie application process, we know the extent and the depth of the community-engaged work that UMBC students, faculty, and staff have achieved over the last five decades,” shares Scott Casper, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “The Carnegie classification is an opportunity to celebrate that work. It’s also an opportunity to keep growing—coordinating this work to understand better the impacts of our community-engaged partnerships for our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and our partners.”

Featured image: Jennifer Mata-McMahon (third from left), associate professor of early childhood education, working with Baltimore City teachers at the Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities' summer institute.
Jennifer Mata-McMahon (third from left), associate professor of early childhood education, working with Baltimore City teachers at the Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities’ summer institute.

“Community engagement and a strong sense of purpose are at the heart of UMBC teaching, learning, and research,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is a reflection of our values and our character. It affirms that together we can achieve great things locally, nationally, and internationally.”

Featured photo: Sherman STEM Teacher-Scholar, Vanessa Gonzalez ’19, American studies, works with Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC unless noted.

Baltimore Field School: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports UMBC’s inclusive approach to community-based research

UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is pleased to announce the launch of a fourteen-month initiative to promote diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the public humanities, supported by a $125,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project, Strengthening UMBC’s Public Humanities Infrastructure: The Baltimore Field School, will create a framework for faculty to collaborate with community organizations in building ethical and sustainable research and teaching projects focused on public humanities. 

A new view of public humanities

The Baltimore Field School is coordinated by UMBC’s Orser Center for the Study of Place, Community, and Culture and led by Nicole King, associate professor of American Studies and director of the Orser Center, and CAHSS Dean Scott Casper. It aims to advance UMBC’s humanistic scholarship and teaching, rooted in deep and meaningful engagement with communities and neighborhoods.  “We want to think differently about how public humanities work can be done by reflecting on what ethical community-university partnerships look like,” says King.  “This collaborative process takes a great deal of time, listening, and building trust,” King explains. “The people living and working in city neighborhoods and building grassroots organizations should be centered in the process of defining challenges and ways to address them in Baltimore and cities like it.” UMBC students interviewing a local business owner.

The field school’s three pillars

This new initiative is rooted in three pillars. First, it seeks to enhance the understanding and visibility of communities in South and Southwest Baltimore, including their cultures and the challenges they face, from a variety of humanities-centered methods. Second, it will cultivate a national model of effective ethical humanities research, teaching, and learning about Baltimore and cities like it. Finally, it will expand UMBC’s infrastructure of engagement for public humanities research and teaching based in Baltimore.  This project builds on previous innovative humanities work at UMBC, supported by The Mellon Foundation. In 2017, The Mellon Foundation provided a five-year, $750,000 grant for UMBC’s Dresher Center for the Humanities and CAHSS to create the Inclusion Imperative. The project was designed to grow a regional community of scholars committed to diversity in the humanities. It has also sought to expand community-engaged humanities research and teaching around issues of race, equity, inclusion, and justice. Baltimore city locals buy produce from an Arraber cart. “Faculty, staff, and students in the humanities have for many years been at the forefront of UMBC’s engagement with communities in and around Baltimore,” says Casper. “Thanks to this support from The Mellon Foundation, we look forward to deepening our work and strengthening its foundations across disciplines and beyond individual projects.” To meet these goals, the Orser Center’s advisory committee and graduate students will convene, listen to, and plan with community organizations on an ongoing basis. They will also work with community partners to develop ethical principles for public humanities research and teaching. This information will be used to develop and execute a planning pilot of the Field School in summer 2020 and a Community Fellows Program in public humanities in fall 2020.  “The Baltimore Field School is a powerful standard for our community-focused work across campus and part of UMBC’s vision to Extend Beyond,” shared President Freeman Hrabowski, in voicing his support for the project. “It is rooted in UMBC’s proud history of diversity, inclusion, and social justice, and it helps us put those commitments into action in our local communities.”   Banner image: Discover Baltimore group tour of historic Lexington Market, UMBC summer session 2017, by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. All other photos are courtesy of Bill Shewbridge, media and communications studies, from the Baltimore Traces project, unless otherwise noted. 

UMBC and UMB partner to become Maryland’s first “age-friendly” universities

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) are partnering to become Maryland’s first “age-friendly” universities. They join fifty-eight institutions worldwide that make up the Age-Friendly University (AFU) Global Network, led by Dublin City University in Ireland.

Universities earn the “age-friendly” designation by committing to ten guiding principles related to opportunities and resources that support active and healthy aging. The initiative is inspired by the World Health Organization’s age-friendly cities movement.

“What I love about the UMB and UMBC connection is that we draw many people together for a greater good. This is an interdisciplinary journey to address aging through a policy, business management, life sciences, entrepreneurship, and technology lens,” said UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski at a kickoff event for the partnership. 

“This is about mindset,” he continued. “It is a challenge that we face in our society to rethink how we think about aging and pull people into the work to listen to those perspectives. The more we grapple with these challenges, the more joy we will have in our societies.”

UMB Interim President Bruce Jarrell, said, “This worthy endeavor amplifies the many ways our institutions work separately and in collaboration to support healthy aging.” For example, UMB is developing an Academy of Lifelong Learning and, together, UMBC and UMB offer a gerontology doctoral program.

UMBC and UMB age-friendly campus steering committee.

The launch event included representatives from UMBC’s Erickson School of Aging Studies and the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at UMB’s School of Pharmacy, as well as UMB’s campus-wide Center for Research on Aging. Joining President Hrabowski were Jay A. Perman (then UMB president, and now the chancellor of the University System of Maryland) and Robert L. Caret (then USM chancellor).

Members of the UMBC-UMB steering committee for this project also participated in the announcement. These include faculty, staff, and student ambassadors who will help move this work forward on each campus.

Building on each other’s strengths

UMBC and UMB are the first universities in the State of Maryland to receive the AFU distinction. Each is positioned to implement the ten principles of the program in unique ways. 

Together, UMBC and UMB offer a geriatrics and gerontology education and research doctoral program through UMBC’s Center for Aging Studies. UMBC’s Erickson School of Aging Studies also offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees and certificate programs educating the next generation of leaders in the business of longevity. 

At UMB, students and faculty focus on the needs of older adults through medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and other fields. Nicole Brandt, executive director of the Lamy Center and a professor of pharmacy practice and science, says, “UMB, with its six professional schools and graduate school, addresses real-world health and social issues affecting the human condition and has a strong history of teaching, research, and service activities related to aging.” 

The principles of an Age-Friendly University are also embodied through the activities of UMB centers such as the Center for Research on Aging, based at the UM School of Medicine; the Biology and Behavior Across the Lifespan Organized Research Center, based at the UM School of Nursing; and the Lamy Center. And UMB’s interprofessional education efforts, such as the Aging in Place program and Stepping On fall prevention program, will continue to engage older residents of West Baltimore while also educating the future workforce.

“Being part of the Age-Friendly Global University Network is the perfect opportunity for UMBC and the State of Maryland to put a fresh lens on how society perceives aging in a population that is growing at rates we have never seen before,” shares Dana Bradley, dean of UMBC’s Erickson School of Aging Studies. 

“I am excited to be at the forefront of preparing students to develop innovative products and services across all industries in the longevity economy,” says Bradley. “Together, we can support a healthier and stronger society.”

Banner image: UMBC and UMB Age-Friendly University steering committee. All images by Matthew D’agostino for UMB.

Baltimore Bonds

If you had the chance to interview someone you look up to, what would you ask? Sydney Fryer ’22, psychology, had the opportunity this fall when she sat down for a chat with fellow Sondheim Scholar Alicia Wilson ’04, political science. (The Sondheim program is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, by the way!) Fryer came ready to find out more about Wilson and her trajectory from growing up in Baltimore City to being a Retriever (and winning a prestigious Truman Scholarship), to becoming vice president for Economic Development at Johns Hopkins University. 

Sydney Fryer:

I, like you, am a Baltimore girl. The city has changed a lot since I was a child. What is your view about all the development that happened over the years in Baltimore?

Alicia Wilson:

Growing up in Baltimore, I’d hear about development projects at Harbor East but I didn’t have any real concept of what it meant other than brick and mortar. Development is complicated; historically development has been about the building of buildings rather than the building of community. 

But the reality is, there are local people living adjacent to those developments and they should be part of the calculation of how we design, create, and impact the existing landscape. As we think about development in the city, we always need to keep an eye on what is good for the people. 

I think everyone agrees vacant homes need to be developed. Life needs to be developed. Things need to be developed. Even if they were great at their time, things evolve. Cities evolve. The needs of people evolve. 

Fryer:

What are some things college students can do to help the state of things when we find they are not up to code in our city?

Wilson:

Students have the luxury of time, passion, and resources. You’re in a place that allows you to look at a problem, learn about it, and have a great amount of time to figure out how to solve it. Students have a huge role in changing things and shaking it up. Don’t diminish your youth and ability to bring forth a new, fresh perspective on things people have been looking at for years. 

Pick the problem you are passionate about and apply what you are learning about. Make the uncomfortable statements. Learn through the process. Take a position and advocate; be open to having your position challenged and shifted to get the results you want. 

Fryer:

Is being a public servant hard?

Wilson:

There are enormous challenges out there but I find joy in serving. You have to take the time to replenish yourself. Many times you will want to solve everything with a sense of urgency because you believe the work demands it. But the reality is, you need to be a soldier in that fight for a long time. You can’t burn yourself out at the expense of a cause. You have to pace yourself.

Fryer:

How did being a Truman Scholar shape your journey?

Wilson:

Being a Truman Scholar really opened me up to thinking about how I see issues in my community on a much more national/global scale. Food deserts aren’t just about being very neighborhood-centric. It’s about what happens on the national scale and what happens on the global stage which allows food deserts to happen in Baltimore. We have to see the interconnectedness between our plight here and the plight of people in rural America and across the world. The Truman Scholarship gave me a big platform to work on these issues and help create positive change for all people in our country.

Fryer: 

What was the greatest takeaway from all of your education?

Wilson:

My time at UMBC was blessed because I was able to be friends with and be mentored by Walter Sondheim. He was vibrant with passion, vigor, and intellect. Walter was thoughtful about how he was going to contribute to the city and the world in a way, I think, which would ignite young people today. He didn’t have a self-serving agenda. He was pure about being effective in the world. 

I think understanding to live with purity in service to others was something that gelled at UMBC, which I think has been helpful. 

*****

Header photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

A Day in the Life of a Student Teacher

“In the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, we drive home two points. One: we teach children. Two: children are people. It sounds simple, but we tend to forget that children are younger versions of us. Sometimes in a “STEM” program, we become fixated on the math or biology, when what belongs at the center of all we do is the students.” — Rehana Shafi, director, Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program

Lydia Coley ’20, American studies, has started a new adventure this semester. Twice a week she wakes up by 5:30 a.m., crosses Baltimore City from north to south, and arrives at Maree G. Farring Elementary/Middle School by 7 a.m. to do what she has been preparing for over the last three years—be a student-teacher. As a scholar in the Sherman STEM program, Coley is among a group of future mathematics and science teachers who will eventually work throughout the Baltimore region and across the state, focusing on high-need schools.

She listens, observes, supports, and learns from her mentor teacher. Sometimes, this means she’s in the front of the classroom or leading small groups as she begins to transition into next semester’s role as a full-time lead student teacher. But what we found when UMBC Magazine followed Coley for a day, was not a student but a natural leader. 

Coley smiles at the beginning of the day and enthusiastically welcomes each of the 90 students she is there to support. “This is a collaborative effort. I am here to learn from my mentor and to support students, but really most of the learning comes from what students are willing to share with me. They are also my teachers.”

It is 7 a.m. and Lydia Coley, a first-semester student teacher at Maree G. Farring Elementary/Middle School smiles at her day ahead. Her duties include supporting students while her mentor teacher leads lessons and, when possible, Coley leads parts of the lesson in small groups.

Coley runs into her mentor teacher, Theresa Frey, who has been teaching for 19 years. They take a few minutes to review the day and head in to prepare.

Coley signs in at the office and makes her way to her classroom. Maree G. Farring is 23% English language learners. Many students’ first language is Spanish.

It’s preparation time! Coley finalizes the details as she changes the date and takes note of the objective for the day. The cactus theme of the classroom encourages students with signs like “Looking Sharp” and “We Are on Point.” Coley’s classroom has about 30 students in each of the three blocks throughout the day. She helps the first block by putting all the chairs down for them because soon the students will come in with breakfast baskets and books in hand. 

The day starts quickly. Frey and Coley go over the materials for today’s lesson—telling time counting by fives and a number line. Every minute literally counts!

Students begin to arrive but there is no time to waste. Coley goes over last night’s homework with a student while she finishes her breakfast. One-on-one time is precious and Coley is happy to provide it. She is also passionate about students eating fresh food as she studies the correlation between nutrition and academic behavior. She wants them to have time to eat so they also have time to think.

Coley leads the students through some critical thinking about how a clock ties into multiplication and number lines. Students compare answers and discuss the possible options by using their own clocks.

It’s time to delve deeper. Coley engages students to identify parts of a clock and determine the correct time using a variety of strategies. When she asks what time is shown on the clock (2:30 p.m.) one student smartly calls out “dismissal time!” The rest of the students show their work on whiteboards and raise them for a quick check.

Coley becomes a student as she quietly observes her mentor teacher think out loud about the various ways to solve a word problem. “I became a teacher because I love learning. The classroom is full of ideas. It’s not only a place for academics but a place to build empathy,” she explains. “It is important for students to experience someone that respects, supports, and has a positive influence over them.” Coley looks forward to transitioning into a lead student teacher for third-grade mathematics and sixth-grade social science in the spring.

Each student requires a different type of support. Coley takes time to help a student think through the connection between her diagram and her multiplication process. “One of the greatest challenges in teaching math is that many students don’t feel they are good at math,” she explains. “It is my job to help them believe in themselves by showing them how these skills are connected to their lives.”

The first block of math is done. Students follow Coley to computer science for more applied math. Two more 90-minute blocks of math follow with two other classes of students to support before calling it a day.

The bell rings. It’s 2:30 p.m. and raining but students don’t mind. It is time to head home. Coley helps a student keep their hood on as they rush out the door. Teachers and students share smiles all around.

Quiet fills the classrooms and the hallways. It is the perfect time to catch up with a fellow alumna, Olivia Grimes ’19, individualized study and early childhood education, a first-year teacher at MGF. They exchange stories and Grimes gives advice on how to adjust to the full-time workload when Coley comes back in the spring.

It’s 3:15 p.m. and the day is done. Grimes and Coley head home with thoughts of equations, stories, and fun ways to educate their students tomorrow.

*****

Since its inception 12 years ago, the Sherman STEM Teaching Scholars Program has supported more than 150 students in becoming culturally responsive and compassionate STEM educators by collaborating with UMBC faculty and local, high-need schools. Currently, nine students and 13 alumni of the program are leading and learning in zip codes across Baltimore City. 

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11.

 

UMBC graduates create their own paths to excellence, focused on succeeding together

Each graduating student’s path looks different. For many Retrievers, UMBC offers an opportunity to develop not just knowledge and skills, but also self-awareness that enables them to pursue personal passions. That self-awareness often means understanding what kinds of support made an impact on their experiences, and how they can lend support to those coming up behind them. Excellence for these seniors is about more than accolades; it is about succeeding together. 

Supporting student-athletes’ mental health

As a volleyball player, Taylor Dunn ‘19 is very familiar with stereotypes of athletes as powerful, invulnerable, and self-assured. This media and communications studies major with minors in psychology and entrepreneurship has worked hard to help her fellow student-athletes become more comfortable discussing mental health concerns. 

Taylor Dunn, in action on the court, about to hit a volleyball.
Dunn on the court. Photo courtesy of Dunn.

Dunn is a co-lead in UMBC’s #RetrieverProject, a student-led mental health initiative for athletes. She helps others open up about challenges they might be facing, and shares with them how they can access support. “Athletes have many demands on them and are far away from home,” says Dunn, “Managing all those demands when you are playing regularly is hard, but when you are injured or not playing as much it can actually be a greater challenge.” 
Dunn has also excelled in the classroom and on the court. This fall as she became the first player in conference history to be named America East Setter and Defensive Specialist of the Week in the same week. She also applied her communications and marketing skills to an internship working on social media campaigns for nonprofits—skills she hopes to integrate with a master’s degree in psychology that she’ll soon start at UMBC. 
“I see all that is possible in helping organizations manage their communications to promote their mission and vision,” shares Dunn. “A master’s in psychology will allow me to understand the social behavior that drives communications and combine it with work similar to the #RetrieverProject.”

Bridging anthropology and genetics

Zachary Nicholas ‘19, anthropology, with a biology minor, remembers encountering genetics for the first time in his eighth-grade biology class, then learning about gene function and individual differences in high school anthropology. By the time he got to UMBC, these fledgling interests grew into a passion for human genetics—a passion he has explored through broad-ranging research. 

Zachary Nicholas
Zachary Nicholas. Photo courtesy of UMBC.

This past year Nicholas earned an Undergraduate Research Award and a Distinctive Undergraduate Experience and Research Award from his department for his research project “Deciphering Cultural Roles and Social Pressure on Parents of Children with Special Needs.” At the same time, he’s also completed research in the biology lab of Michelle Starz-Gaiano, where he examined cell migration in fruit flies to track development, wound healing, and disease progression. 

Nicholas at URCAD.
Nicholas at UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD). Photo courtesy of Nicholas.

How has he been able to bridge these varied interests? “I work two jobs,” Nicholas explains, “one as a physical therapy technician and another as a youth counselor at an organization helping young people with mental health needs.” This work helps him gain a broader sense of the experiences of people facing physical and mental health challenges, which has shaped his perspective on scientific research.
Nicholas looks forward to pursuing a Ph.D. in human genetics. For students at the start of their UMBC careers, he shares, “This is a really tight-knit community. You have to take advantage of how much professors want to help you. It makes all the difference in what you get out of college and what your next right step is.”

Academic rigor meets community impact

Shiona Wijesekara ‘19, economics, with a minor in statistics, chose UMBC for its rigor but fell in love with the university for the ways UMBC empowers students to impact communities. Wijesekara served as a mentor through the REACH initiative for two years, eventually taking on the roles of assistant director, fundraising chair, and assistant research chair. 
Through REACH, she supported young women in high school who were interested in STEM careers. “Many of the young women were scared of the college-level STEM college classes,” initially, she explains. When her team focused on demystifying college STEM, and explaining some of the major concepts in accessible ways, she says, “they became more confident in what they were capable of doing.” 

A diverse group of students pose for a photo on a staircase at the Shriver Center.
Shiona Wijesekara (at left) with fellow 2018-19 UMBC France-Merrick Scholars. Photo by Raquel Hammer ’20.

Wijesekara also completed internships running data for a financial intelligence start-up in Baltimore called Ortus Academy and helping with research in education psychology at AIR. Combined, these two experiences have inspired her to pursue a career that will continue to improve the gaps in education with her knowledge in data analysis. She looks forward to supporting future students on a larger scale through quantitative education research. 

“Creating a community of doers”

Arif Abdul Kareem’s path toward a career in education and tech has taken unique twists and turns. “After high school, I went to New York to work for five years. I wasn’t ready to go on to college,” shares Kareem. “I returned to Baltimore and enrolled in Baltimore City Community College and, eventually, at UMBC for its computer science engineering program.”
Part-way through his UMBC degree, Kareem took two years off to launch his business, which focuses on K-12 STEM educational technology. He returned to UMBC as a Cyber Scholar, through a program of the Center for Women in Technology that focuses on increasing the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in the cybersecurity field. 

Arif with Bianca Monge receiving CWIT honors cords.
Arif Abdul Kareem with Bianca Monge ’19, receiving CWIT honors cords. Photo courtesy of CWIT.

“UMBC helped me strengthen the foundation I came with,” says Kareem. It also “reflected my passion for a STEM-minded business whose intent, like UMBC’s CWIT, is to create access in STEM fields for as many underrepresented students in the earliest stages of education,” he shares. “This isn’t just about me, it’s about creating a community of doers.”

Banner image: UMBC volleyball team. Photo courtesy of Dunn.

UMBC UMBC
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 Directions & Parking

Resources

Important Contacts

Emergency Info

Contact Us

Apply

Top Stories of the Week

© UMBC: A University System of Maryland Member Institution