Ilse Schweitzer spent a year in Scotland studying Medieval Scottish literature. She will present her research at UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day. A New Perspective on a Legend   Ilse Schweitzer, a Humanities Scholar with a double major in English and history, spent a year in Scotland studying the Scot Gaelic language and Medieval Scottish literature at the University of Aberdeen. “I was fascinated with what I was learning,” says Schweitzer, who is also a student in UMBCÂ’s Honors College. “My study abroad experience sparked my interest for going to graduate school and was the starting point… Continue Reading A New Perspective on a Legend
On a Mission to Support Women and Minority Graduate Students On December 5, UMBC was honored by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) for its efforts to build a comprehensive, supportive environment for women and minority graduate students“There has been a 50 percent rate of attrition for doctoral students at U.S. graduate schools over the past 20 years—and among minority students, this figure is even higher,” said Scott Bass, dean of the UMBC Graduate School, as he accepted the CGS/PetersonÂ’s Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community at the CouncilÂ’s annual meeting in Washington, DC.“We must diversify and support… Continue Reading Making Engineering Exciting
/b> to address the longstanding issues surrounding the gender gap in IT. CWIT Advisory Board Member Anne Spence, a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, understands the challenges of being a woman in a technical field. “One of my college professors told me that women should not be engineers, so I got the highest grade in the class to prove him wrong,” she says. “When I graduated with my degree I had six job offers. I did encounter initial resistance as an engineer at Bell Helicopter, but I was always able to get… Continue Reading Closing the IT Gender Gap
A New Target in the Fight Against HIVÂ A team of researchers from academia and industry led by Dr. Michael Summers, UMBC professor of chemistry/biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, have discovered a new target on the HIV molecule that could potentially lead to a new class of drugs to fight the virus that causes AIDS. The discovery is the cover article of the April 11, 2003 Journal of Molecular Biology.Summers and his team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers in his UMBC HHMI lab collaborated with Achillion Pharmaceuticals, a privately held drug firm based in New Haven, CT,… Continue Reading A New Target in the Fight Against HIV
Tom Rabenhorst’s research blends his love of nature with modern technology to provide a valuable service to the community. Rabenhorst, Director of Instructional Cartography in UMBCÂ’s Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, is also an avid outdoorsman. As Spring draws nearer, the hikers from UMBC and all over Maryland who flock to nearby Patapsco Valley State Park will navigate park trails using new maps developed thanks to Rabenhorst’s dedication. Rabenhorst combined global positioning satellite (GPS) technology and sweat equity to give the park the most detailed maps in its history. Rabenhorst spent months hiking the trails on his own or… Continue Reading Mapping the Patapsco
A Global Perspective on Policy  While many UMBC students become accomplished researchers, not many have the chance to learn in an outdoor classroom with a stunning view of the Swiss Alps in the background. Every summer, the International Field Research Program in Culture, Policy and Practice, created by the Departments of Sociology and Anthropology and Health Administration and Policy, takes a small group of students to Switzerland to gain an international perspective on a variety of policy issues and to give students direct experience with social sciences field research methods. The program is open to all students and, in… Continue Reading A Global Perspective on Policy
>Bringing Politics Close to Home UMBCÂ’s resident expert on the American presidency, Tom Schaller, has more than enough to keep busy in these exciting political times. Whether he is drawing comparisons between the presidencies of William McKinley and George W. Bush or guiding undergraduates through internships in legislative offices throughout Annapolis or Washington, D.C., Schaller, an assistant professor of political science, brings his research to the most pressing political issues of the day. more… Â Â Evolution of an Honors University Diane Lee, vice provost for undergraduate education and associate professor of education, takes UMBCÂ’s tagline, An Honors University in… Continue Reading UMBC Homepage Profile Archives
Evolution of an Honors University Diane Lee, vice provost for undergraduate education and associate professor of education, takes UMBCÂ’s tagline, An Honors University in Maryland, personally. Lee works to ensure that the honors mission has practical meaning in everyday lives for UMBC students, faculty and staff.Lee came to UMBC in 1986 as a visiting professor. After teaching large lecture classes at another institution, she was excited to find small, seminar-style classes at UMBC. “This campus speaks community to me,” says Lee. “ItÂ’s large enough to be diverse and small enough to get to know students beyond their names, as individuals… Continue Reading Evolution of an Honors University
Building Leaders in the Community Mark Terranova has to think like a sixth grader – literally. As part of a new Shriver Center service-learning program, Terranova is sending a team of UMBC students back to middle schools to share their talents with teachers and children. The program is funded by a three year, $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation called The Teaching Enhancement Partnership Project (TEPP).In this first year of the project, TerranovaÂ’s goal is to take UMBC students studying math, science, engineering and technology and pair them with under-resourced middle schools in the Baltimore area. “IÂ’m looking… Continue Reading Building Leaders in the Community
 Jim Bailey, a history major at UMBC, is a park ranger at the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. “Learning from the Past”  Jim Bailey first became interested in the Civil War on a family trip to Gettysburg as a child. “I went to a Civil War reenactment of Gettysburg when I was 8 years old. A Union soldier let me wear his coat and hold his .58 caliber Enfield musket,” he says. “History was suddenly very real to me – I felt as if I could see it, hear it, smell it. I was hooked!” Now… Continue Reading Learning from the Past
“A World of Opportunity” Rebekah de Wit has studied and worked abroad in six different countries. She speaks fluent French, is pretty good at Dutch and Italian, and has taught undergraduate Latin. Now, thanks to a combination of programs at UMBC, she is on her way to turning her love of languages, foreign cultures and international education into an exciting career in study abroad administration.Both a Humanities Scholar and a Maryland Distinguished Scholar during her undergraduate years, de Wit has received numerous additional UMBC and Maryland state merit scholarships since beginning her studies at UMBC. She was drawn to pursue a… Continue Reading A World of Opportunity
 Shahza Somerville is a Ph.D. student in UMBC’s Neurosciences and Cognitive Sciences Ph.D. Program and a Meyerhoff Graduate Fellow. “Exploring the Neurosciences” “Neuroscience is a relatively new area and the more I read the more I realize how much research needs to be done. I feel like itÂ’s my calling to advance this field that could help so many people. IÂ’m interested in both biology and psychiatry, so to be able to merge the two is wonderful,” says Shahza Somerville, a Ph.D. student in UMBCÂ’s new Neurosciences and Cognitive Sciences Ph.D. Program (NACS) and a Meyerhoff Graduate Fellow. A… Continue Reading Exploring the Neurosciences
