Language, Literacy and Cultural (LLC) doctoral candidate John Fritz has been named editor of the “reflective practitioner” section of the new Journal of Learning Analytics published by the Society of Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR). Earlier this year, the Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) published Fritz’s research bulletin “Using analytics at UMBC: Encouraging student responsibility and identifying effective course design” (free Educause login required until October 30, publicly available thereafter). Several LLC students have published book reviews in HyperRhiz, the peer-reviewed online journal specializing in new media criticism and net art: Quinn Slobodian, Foreign Front review by Romy Hubler Stacy Alaimo,… Continue Reading Language, Literacy and Cultural PhD Students Publish and Present
As the nation again faces the risk of a government shutdown, media have been turning to political science professor Roy Meyers’ research on past shutdowns to understand what is at stake. In 1996, the Office of Management and Budget reported that the two major shutdowns of the decade cost approximately $1.4 billion ($2 billion in today’s dollars), but Meyers has suggested that estimate didn’t account for several factors, such as the lost value of work that wasn’t done, $300 million federal parks would have taken in if they had remained open, and the reduced pace of IRS audits. Inefficiencies and… Continue Reading Roy T. Meyers, Political Science, in the Washington Post, USA Today and More
The Nassau County Legislature unanimously approved a $229 million bid by Forest City Ratner to restore and update the Nassau Coliseum on Monday. Naussau County voters turned down a plan to borrow $400 million to build a new arena two years ago and this deal is intended to save taxpayers the expense of the renovation, but critics wonder if the Coliseum can be successful without the New York Islanders, as the team will move to the Barclays Center after the 2014-15 hockey season. UMBC economics professor Dennis Coates tells The New York Times that he doubts the arena can generate the… Continue Reading Dennis Coates, Economics, in The New York Times and Newsday
UMBC Language, Literacy & Culture doctoral student Kevin Wisniewski is publishing the lead chapter in the new anthology Kidding Around: The Child in Film and Media (Bloomsbury, January 2014). The chapter, “Betwixt and Between: Reading the Child in M. Night Shyamalan’s Films,” appears at the start of the first section of the book, “Rites of Passage and Impasse.” Wisniewski will also present a paper at the upcoming conference of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) & Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP), Nov. 8-10. Wisniewski will present his paper, “Improving the Art of Paper War:… Continue Reading Kevin Wisniewski, LLC Doctoral Student, Publishing and Presenting Research
Political science professor Thomas F. Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun opinion column responds to the Western Maryland Initiative — an effort to organize Maryland’s western counties to secede and create their own state. Organizer Scott Strzelczyk’s main complaint, Schaller notes, is that Maryland is so heavily Democratic that non-Democrats are not as well represented. Strzelczyk has suggested, “If we have more states, we can all go live in states that best represent us, and then we can get along.” Schaller recognizes Maryland as a blue state and “leader nationally even among liberal Democratic states on issues like gay marriage and gun… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun
Tyson King-Meadows, associate professor of political science and chair of Africana studies, will speak this afternoon on the panel “Protecting the Right to Vote” at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference. Panelists will discuss voting rights issues in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent invalidation of key parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Panel organizers share: Through its opinion in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court substantially altered the web of laws protecting the voting rights of the African-American Community. While the federal government still retains formidable authority under the Voting Rights Act, Congress… Continue Reading Tyson King-Meadows, Political Science and Africana Studies, Speaks on Voting Rights Panel
In a thought-provoking new op-ed in The New York Times, Erle Ellis argues that when it comes to global sustainability “overpopulation is not the problem.” Ellis, an associate professor of geography and environmental systems at UMBC and visiting associate professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, writes, “Many scientists believe that by transforming the earth’s natural landscapes, we are undermining the very life support systems that sustain us. Like bacteria in a petri dish, our exploding numbers are reaching the limits of a finite planet, with dire consequences. Disaster looms as humans exceed the earth’s natural carrying capacity. Clearly, this… Continue Reading Erle Ellis, GES, in The New York Times
Mathematics professor Manil Suri has made quite an impact with a fresh New York Times op-ed ed that re-introduces readers to mathematics through an approach based in the humanities. In “How to Fall in Love with Math” Suri writes, “Despite what most people suppose, many profound mathematical ideas don’t require advanced skills to appreciate.” One idea that he finds often intrigues people is the origin of numbers. He writes, “Think of it as a magic trick: harnessing emptiness to create the number zero, then demonstrating how from any whole number, one can create its successor. One from zero, two from… Continue Reading Manil Suri, Mathematics, in The New York Times and on Public Radio
Gloria Chuku, associate professor of Africana Studies and affiliate associate professor of both Gender and Women’s Studies and Language, Literacy and Culture, is editor of the new volume The Igbo Intellectual Tradition: Creative Conflict in African and African Diasporic Thought. Chuku’s publisher, MacMillan, shares: In this groundbreaking collection, leading historians, Africanists, and other scholars document the life and work of eleven Igbo intellectuals who, educated within European traditions, came to terms with the dominance of European thought while making significant contributions to African intellectual history. Mediated through a variety of interpersonal relationships, debates, and changing ideas over the course of… Continue Reading Gloria Chuku, Africana Studies, Publishes New Edited Volume “The Igbo Intellectual Tradition”
Under the Affordable Care Act everyone who files a federal income tax form will soon be required to have health insurance or face a penalty. Open enrollment in the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange and similar exchanges across the nation begins on October 1. In the Baltimore Sun‘s “Picture of Health” blog, analysts from The Hilltop Institute at UMBC demystify this insurance requirement, explaining the penalty as well as exemptions, such as for individuals whose income is below a certain threshold or who can claim one of the exemptions specified in federal law (e.g., religious conscience, hardship). Read the full article… Continue Reading The Hilltop Institute on Baltimore Sun “Picture of Health” Blog
The Baltimore Sun reports that Texas Gov. Rick Perry will hold private meetings with companies during a visit to Maryland next week as part of his “mission to rustle up business for the Lone Star State.” Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, suggests it’s not just about jobs for Texas, saying, “It’s an effort by Perry to get his name out there.” Perry is viewed as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016. Read the full story in The Baltimore Sun.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a 3-year, $750,000 grant the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR), The Hilltop Institute at UMBC, and the Green and Healthy Homes Initiativeâ„¢ (GHHI) to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the reduction in asthma and associated Medicated expenditures resulting from the implementation of GHHI interventions. GHHI is a national program spearheaded by the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. GHHI integrates health-based housing interventions with weatherization to create access to healthy homes for children in low-income neighborhoods. The UMBC study will focus on GHHI interventions in the homes… Continue Reading MIPAR and Hilltop Awarded $750,000 Grant for Healthy Homes Research
