This year’s Arts and Humanities Afternoon at UMBC Homecoming on Saturday, October 15, 2011 will focus on alumni filmmakers. To whet your appetite for our afternoon discussion on the art of moving images, we’d like to introduce you to some of the filmmakers who’ll be coming to the event, which will be held in the Skylight Room of the UMBC Commons from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. We’re also planning some screenings of the work of these filmmakers on campus in the week before the event. Please stay tuned! Films by the alumni filmmakers will be shown at the Skylight… Continue Reading Q&A with Alumni Filmmakers
This year’s Arts and Humanities Afternoon at UMBC Homecoming on Saturday, October 15, 2011 will focus on alumni filmmakers. To whet your appetite for our afternoon discussion on the art of moving images, we’d like to introduce you to some of the filmmakers who’ll be coming to the event, which will be held in the Skylight Room of the UMBC Commons from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. We’re also planning some screenings of the work of these filmmakers on campus in the week before the event. Please stay tuned! Films by the alumni filmmakers will be shown at the Skylight… Continue Reading Q&A with Alumni Filmmakers
Kevin Cepelak ’05, political science, has a job that comes with a pass that gets him into any Major League Baseball (MLB) park. And when he gets to his office near New York City’s Grand Central Station each day, he rubs elbows with former greats of the game and a chance to work with former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and former New York City Police Department investigators. And he spends his days compiling reports that help MLB officials tackle problem issues in professional sports ranging from steroids to gambling. Cepelak’s work as an analyst for MLB’s Department of… Continue Reading Policing the Pastime – Kevin Cepelak ’05, PoliSci
The academic landscape is perpetually shifting, and UMBC is reshaping existing departments and introducing innovative new programs to stay ahead of those changes. The transformations often bring opportunity as well – especially in UMBC’s ability to attract talented researchers. Two recent changes – a merger in the College of Engineering and Information Technology to create a new Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering Department, and the introduction of a new interdisciplinary Asian Studies major – offer new vistas for Upal Ghosh, currently an associate professor and graduate program director in the department of civil and environmental engineering and Meredith Oyen, an… Continue Reading Over Coffee – Summer 2011
With Dr. Jay Freyman, Associate Professor, Department of Ancient Studies Picture yourself trapped on a desert island. What book or books would keep you best occupied for, say, the rest of your life? Dr. Jay Freyman’s answer is simple: The Oxford English Dictionary (or OED for short). At a time when fewer and fewer of us are cognizant of the history of the words that surround us, Freyman argues that this hefty tome (or the two-volume shrunken print version with magnifying glass) teaches not only the story of human language, but of humanity itself. English is a hodgepodge of languages… Continue Reading How to Stay in Touch with Your Human Roots
MERGERS AND MAJORS When it comes to shifting tides in disciplines from the social sciences to the humanities to engineering, UMBC’s academic leadership and its scholars aren’t standing still. They’re exploring new vistas that respond to the challenges of our moment. The growing importance of Asia in world affairs, for instance, has led the university to create a new interdisciplinary Asian Studies major, minor and certificate program. The effort was spearheaded by professor of Japanese and East Asian history Constantine Vaporis, who has pursued the new program since 1993 and finally achieved his goal. “What seemed like a prohibitively expensive… Continue Reading Discovery – Summer 2011
STEPPIN’ WITH A STAR Rap legend Snoop Dogg can usually be found selling out huge venues such as Madison Square Garden or the L.A. Coliseum, so the hip hop star’s late April performance at the UMBC’s Retriever Activities Center was a unique event. What made it even more special? Step performers from a few UMBC fraternities and sororities can now brag that they opened for Snoop Dogg. UMBC Greek organizations entertained the 2,500 people waiting for the headliner with a step show competition encompassing styles from shimmy to stomp. UMBC’s Kappa Alpha Psi walked away with top honors at the… Continue Reading At Play – Summer 2011
With Jennifer Lepus, Director, University Health Services It’s February, and many of us have love on the brain. Storefronts are bathed in pink and red, and boxes of chocolates line the store shelves. You’ve made reservations at that French restaurant downtown, prettied yourself up for the big night… but wait! You’ve forgotten something: there’d be no love – or life – without the palpitating pump that makes it all possible. In honor of Valentine’s Day and National Heart Health Month, Jennifer Lepus, director of UMBC’s University Health Services, is here to share a few tips for keeping your heart happy,… Continue Reading How to (Not) Break Your Heart
With Esther Read, Field Archaeologist So you’re digging a garden in your backyard, and all of a sudden the point of your trowel hits something hard. You poke around a little more, brush the soil away – probably just a rock, right? But on further inspection, the “thing” you have discovered is rather glossy, with faint drawings and a whiff of history about it. When you wash it off in the sink… Voila! You have a ceramics mystery in your hands. Since Antiques Road Show only comes around town once in a blue moon, you might be scratching your head… Continue Reading How to be a Pottery Detective
When Robin Keller Mayne ’69, American studies, graduated from UMBC, she wore no robes and no mortarboard. There was no crowd to cheer her across the stage. In fact, there was no stage. It was 1969, just three years after the university opened its doors, and one year before its first official commencement ceremony. So instead of publicly turning a tassel – or even giving much thought to her pioneer status in UMBC’s history – Mayne quietly collected her books and resumed her daily life as a mother and teacher. “I feel as though it was just an accident that… Continue Reading First of the Fab Fours – Robin Keller Mayne ’69, American studies
With Jim Lord ’99, Design Director, Creative Services They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but how about an old Dawg? As universities change, mascots evolve along with them, and so it goes for True Grit this summer with the rollout of a brand-new look, as voted upon by more than 2,500 students, faculty, staff and alumni. Creating a new athletics mascot for UMBC was more than a simple point of pride for Design Director Jim Lord ’99, visual arts – it was a matter of keeping up with the big boys of university athletics. As designer… Continue Reading How to Give a Dawg a Facelift
With Dr. Timmie Topoleski, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Back in 1958, when the late Japanese food magnate Momofuku Ando developed his first package of ramen – a dried noodle requiring boiling water and a simple flavor packet to deliciously “activate” in your lunch bowl – little did he know he had created what would become a staple of college culinary life. He probably also didn’t realize the wavy bricks held yet another potential use: noodle bridge. In honor of UMBC Magazine’s very first food issue, we asked UMBC mechanical engineering professor Dr. Timmie Topoleski to consider ramen as a legitimate… Continue Reading How to Build a Ramen Bridge
