All posts by: UMBC News Staff

Urban policy expert calls for more investment in public transit after D.C. metro shutdown

In a new op-ed published in The Conversation, School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short comments on the growing infrastructure gap in the United States and questions why there isn’t more investment in public transportation in major cities.

Short’s op-ed “Why is the U.S. unwilling to pay for good public transportation” came after officials in Washington, D.C. closed the entire Metro system after frayed electrical cables were discovered in 26 locations.

“The quality of a country’s infrastructure is directly linked to its competitiveness because it makes businesses more productive and improves the quality of life. Why has the U.S. let its public transit slip so far?,” explains Short in his article.

Having just visited Switzerland, Short described how many European capitals have more advanced public transportation systems, stating that “our competitors are out-investing us in the vital infrastructure necessary to make our economy efficient and internationally competitive.”

Further analyzing what has contributed to growing public transport issues, Short mentions increased use of cars, investment in the national highway system, and constrained funding for transportation improvements, among other issues, but writes “there is some room for optimism.”

Read the full article in The Conversation. The op-ed has been circulated widely and has been picked up by Slate and Sea Change Radio. Professor Short also wrote a similar article on April 13 for Market Watch titled “Our crumbling infrastructure is hurting U.S. competitiveness.”   

Image: John Rennie Short. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Jessica Berman publishes new book that examines Virginia Woolf in global contexts

Jessica Berman, director of the Dresher Center for the Humanities and professor of English, has published a new edited volume of 33 essays by leading scholars on the life, work, and multiple contexts for Virginia Woolf’s writing.

Virginia WoolfThe book, titled A Companion to Virginia Woolf, was published last month by Wiley. It is one of the first to examine Woolf in global contexts with essays on “Reading Woolf in India,” “Woolf in Hispanic Countries,” and “Woolf, the Hogarth Press and Global Print Culture.” It approaches Woolf’s writing from a variety of perspectives, including colonialism, modernism, queer theory, and digital humanities, among other disciplines.

Berman introduces the volume and also writes an essay in the book on Woolf’s Three Guineas.

The work has already received strong praise, including a review from the University of Oxford’s David Bradshaw: “A probing and compendious crow’s nest of a handbook that splendidly epitomises the global reach and indisputable genius of the, full-range of Virginia Woolf’s writings. Diligently up-to-the-minute while equally alert to the deeper histories of her critical heritage, it deserves to become a standard primer for scholars and general readers alike.”

Berman’s teaching and research interests include modernism from a transnational perspective, literature and culture, and feminist and literary theory. Her previous books include Modernist Commitments: Ethics, Politics and Transnational Modernism (Columbia University Press, 2011), and Modernist Fiction, Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Community (Cambridge University Press, 2001, paper 2006). She is second vice-president of the Modernist Studies Association, to succeed to vice-president (2015-16) and president (2016-17).

Read more about her work on the English department website.

Header image: Jessica Berman speaking at a Dresher Center for the Humanities event. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Honoring UMBC faculty and staff for exceptional teaching, research, and service

“I’m grateful to be part of a research university where teaching is honored and prized,” said Calla Thompson, associate professor of visual arts, as she received UMBC’s 2016-2019 Presidential Teaching Professor award before hundreds of cheering colleagues and friends.

Thompson’s heartfelt speech was the first of many at UMBC’s 2016 Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony focused on both UMBC’s commitment to excellence and the collaborative, caring community that makes excellence possible.

The celebration was held on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, to honor the accomplishments of this year’s campus- and system-wide award recipients. The annual awards ceremony recognizes faculty and staff for their contributions to advancing the mission of UMBC and the State, and for their dedication to teaching, learning and excellence in research and scholarship.

Over the years, the ceremony has grown to include generous endowed awards that recognize faculty and staff who demonstrate a strong commitment to student academic success, professionalism and problem-solving, and faculty career advancement.

The ceremony also formally acknowledges UMBC’s University System of Maryland (USM) award winners. Each year, USM awards faculty and staff across the system in the areas such as teaching, research, public service, mentorship, and effectiveness.

In moving personal remarks throughout the event, awardees shared their appreciation for UMBC’s culture of support and collaboration. “Today is a great day,” said Barbara Ann Smith, administrative assistant II in the Office of Undergraduate Education and receipient of the Wensch Award. Smith reflected that receiving her award provided her an opportunity to thank those who have inspired her to meet new challenges and continue learning throughout her career.

Michele Kimery, executive administrative assistant in human resources and USM Exceptional Contributions to the Mission of UMBC awardee, emphasized the mutual support UMBC community members provide. She thanked the colleagues who have kept her “internal light shining” through the years.

That culture of collaboration extends to research. Kevin Omland, professor of biology and winner of the 2016-2019 Presidential Research Faculty Award, thanked his undergraduate and graduate students, fellow faculty, staff, and research collaborators worldwide for their essential contributions to his work. Upal Ghosh, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering and USM Excellence in Research winner, echoed that sentiment, recognizing his colleagues for their vision and hard work to build UMBC’s environmental engineering program.

Others focused the university as advocate: for students and for the growth of knowledge. Rebecca Adelman, associate professor of media and communication studies and USM Excellence in Research awardee, thanked UMBC and USM for honoring interdisciplinary humanities research. Anne Spence, professor of the practice in mechanical engineering and USM Excellence in Public Service awardee, spoke of her team’s work, through Project Lead the Way, to make sure “every kid knows engineers don’t just drive trains.” Sue Plitt, an associate director at the Career Center and Jakubik awardee, focused on the tremendous growth of UMBC’s career services as an essential resource for students.

Visit the Faculty and Staff Awards website to see a complete list of this year’s twelve award winners, including full award titles and biographies chronicling their achievements.

The awards ceremony is also an opportunity to update the campus community on faculty, staff, student, and alumni achievements across the university. President Hrabowski shared major university-wide projects and milestones; facilities and infrastructure planning and improvements; and a brief recap of budgetary decisions from the most recent Maryland General Assembly legislative session. To see a more extensive list of these accomplishments and updates, please view the 2016 Achievements and Mid-Year State of the University Update Report.

In closing the celebration, President Hrabowski pointed to the importance of community recognition for a job well done. “At this campus we care for each other,” he said, “and nothing could be better than that.”

UMBC ed policy experts launch site to track public sentiment on Every Student Succeeds Act

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The new national education law shifts autonomy away from the federal level to the state and local district levels with teacher evaluation, testing, academic standards, and many other policy issues.

F. Chris Curran, an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, and Ann Kellogg, a Ph.D. student in public policy, have launched a website titled “#ESSA: Social Network Sentiment and Discourse Analysis of the Every Student Succeeds Act.” The website displays their analysis which tracks public discourse of ESSA on Twitter for seven days following its passage. The aim of the research is to analyze how ESSA is understood by the public immediately after it is passed. Curran and Kellogg explain that with increased autonomy bringing challenges to interpretation and implementation of the law at the local level, tracking public sentiment could help answer important questions surrounding the legislation.

“Does the law become entangled in political debates around Common Core? Does the law break with the past ire directed towards NCLB or become viewed as a continuation of such policies?,” the researchers state on the website. “In part, the answers to these questions will be determined by the way in which ESSA comes to be understood in the immediacy of its passage, and one domain in which such discussions will take place is Twitter.”

Curran and Kellogg have found that early public discourse about ESSA has been generally positive, but there are groups of people who view the law negatively.

“Advocacy organizations and individuals identifying as advocates have been very active in the conversation,” they explain, “we find issues such as equity, teacher preparation, and local implementation have been among the most common issues discussed.  Such early discourse may set the stage and direction of future discussions as the law progresses through implementation.”

Explore Curran and Kellogg’s observations and find more information at hashtagessa.com. Their work was featured in POLITICO’s Morning Education Briefing on Monday, April 4.

Image: President Barack Obama signs S. 1177, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), during a bill a signing ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, Dec. 10, 2015. Official White House photo by Amanda Lucidon.

As Md. primary nears, UMBC faculty provide expert analysis of 2016 election

UMBC faculty in political science, public policy, and American studies have been in the news providing political analysis as Maryland’s primary election is less than a month away and the presidential campaign intensifies.

Laura Hussey, an associate professor of political science, joined Maryland Public Television’s “Direct Connection” program to discuss the possibility of a contested Republican convention and the state of the presidential campaign. Hussey covered several issues, including how she thinks the current campaign compares to past presidential elections.

“This election…has been much more about people than it has been about policy,” Hussey told host Jeff Salkin during the program. View the complete segment below.

School of Public Policy Professor and Director Donald Norris provided analysis for WJZ-TV for its Maryland Democratic Primary debate in the U.S. Senate race and its Baltimore mayoral debate at the University of Baltimore. “They acquitted themselves very well. They distinguished themselves only a little bit from each other,” Norris told WJZ’s Pat Warren after the Senate debate between Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards.

Norris was also quoted in The Baltimore Sun about state legislators moving some bills early, anticipating vetoes by the governor, and questions surrounding campaign contributions for State Sen. Catherine Pugh in the Baltimore mayoral election. “She is the front-runner and seems to have the momentum to pull this thing off,” Norris said about Pugh. “Pugh has been around a long time, and I’ve never heard anything to suggest she did anything untoward. These are probably acts of desperation that probably won’t harm Pugh.”

Earlier this month, Political Science Professor and Chair Thomas Schaller and American Studies Associate Professor Kimberly Moffitt were guests on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show to discuss the presidential election. The panel of guests analyzed election results from primaries in Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina and their impact on the race.

Roy Meyers, a professor of political science, wrote an op-ed for MarylandReporter.com in which he explained why parts of the state budget are mandated.

In an April 2 New York Times op-ed and April 4 column in Bloomberg about the future of the Republican party, arguments and analysis from Schaller’s book The Stronghold were cited.

For complete coverage, see below:

How does a contested national political convention work? (Maryland Public Television’s Direct Connection) 
WJZ to broadcast Senate debate (WJZ) 
Maryland General Assembly moving quickly to thwart potential Hogan vetoes (The Baltimore Sun) 
Embry takes aim at Pugh’s donations from lobbyists in Baltimore’s mayor race (The Baltimore Sun) 
Social security plays prominent role in Senate contest (The Baltimore Sun) 
National roundtable: election results (WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show) 
Analysis: If governor wants mandate relief, he should treat the legislature as an equal partner (MarylandReporter.com)
Why Trump can’t break the G.O.P. (New York Times) 
Republicans can’t stop hurting themselves (Bloomberg) 

Image:  The State of the State Address in the Maryland House Chambers. Photo by Maryland GovPics, CC by 2.0.

UMBC scholar reflects on a new exhibition commemorating artist Hieronymus Bosch’s 500th anniversary

The Noordbrabants Museum in the Netherlands has opened a new exhibition commemorating artist Hieronymous Bosch’s 500th anniversary. Honors College Professor Ellen Handler Spitz wrote a detailed review and analysis of the exhibition in New Republic.

In her article, Spitz gives the reader a glimpse into her lifelong interest in Bosch’s work and grapples with the complexity and ambiguity of his art.

Central panel“Like many of my peers, my first exposure to his shape-shifting, spell-binding world came in the form of glossy reproductions, color plates in massive art books,” Spitz wrote. “Our family’s volumes weighted down the bottom shelves of mahogany bookcases in front of which I sprawled poring over details—tiny details that rewarded hours of staring. Painted in sure strokes with small brushes, sometimes not more than a single hair, and brilliant hues, Bosch’s teeming human-scapes exuded an aura of the forbidden to my child’s eye.”

Spitz provides close analysis of several of Bosch’s works, including The Garden of Earthly Delights. She explains that for viewers of Bosch’s art, his work grows more complex on many levels, but she emphasizes the endurance of his legacy.

“Obviously, the impact of works of art alters from age to age, and one wants very much to re-imagine its initial reception, despite the 500 years. What matters at least equally, it seems to me, is the endurance of these visions. Beyond their remoteness and delicacy, which push us toward cognition rather than emotion, there is the aesthetics of Bosch’s painting itself and its heady effect on its viewers. Bosch is less a master of composition than a master of draughtsmanship, color, and light.”

Read the full article “The Impious Delights of Hieronymous Bosch” on the New Republic website.

Image: Hieronymus Bosch – The Garden of Earthly Delights (1503-4) – Central Panel, CC by 2.0.

The Mathematics of Being Human reaches significant milestone with first full production in the United States

After debuting at UMBC in November 2014, The Mathematics of Being Human is ready to launch its first full production in the United States. Five productions of the play are scheduled from March 30 – April 2 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Henry Heymann Theatre and it is produced by University of Pittsburgh Stages.

The play, written by Michele Osherow, an associate professor of English, and Manil Suri, a mathematics professor, is inspired by their experiences jointly teaching a freshman seminar that bridged their two areas of expertise. The production was a natural outgrowth of a popular Chronicle of Higher Education article series. When it debuted at UMBC, it was directed by Alan Kreizenbeck, an associate professor of theatre, and Savannah Jo Chamberlain ’16, theatre, and Chaz Atkinson ’16, theatre, portrayed students in the seminar.

Since then, the play has garnered strong praise and it has traveled to San Antonio, New York City, and Baltimore. Most recently, the play had its first international production in New Delhi earlier this year by Atelier Productions. The play received a positive review in the January notice of the American Mathematical Society.

For more information about this significant milestone for The Mathematics of Being Human, visit the University of Pittsburgh website.

Image: Mathematics of Being Human debuts at UMBC. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Joan Shin and Jodi Crandall honored as international leaders in teaching English to students of other languages

For its 50th anniversary, the TESOL International Association has recognized 50 professionals who have made significant contributions to TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) within the past 50 years (“50 at 50”), and 30 up and coming professionals (“30 Up and Coming”) who are emerging as leaders in the field.

Jodi_Crandall-2764

Jodi Crandall, founding director of the language, literacy, and culture program and professor emerita of education, was selected for the “50 at 50” list.

“TESOL International Association congratulates these outstanding TESOL professionals! Their leadership has helped build the association and develop English language teaching and learning into a profession that touches the lives of students and educators worldwide,” TESOL announced in a press release on its website.

Crandall’s lengthy list of career accomplishments include: professor emerita at UMBC and former chair, Department of Education; former co-director of UMBC’s MA TESOL program; past president of TESOL, Washington, D.C. Area Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Association (WATESOL), and American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL); and member of the board of trustees and former vice president of the Center for Applied Linguistics.

Last year, UMBC announced the four inaugural recipients of the Jodi Crandall Fellowship for Research in Language, Literacy & Culture. The awards are designed to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research by LLC doctoral students.

Joan Shin ’08, Ph.D., language, literacy and culture, and professor of practice in the education department, was named a “30 Up and Coming” TESOL professional.

Shin is an international leader in teaching English to young learners. Her work has taken her to Brazil, Turkey, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and ten other countries to train English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers to meet the needs of elementary-aged students. She has received praise and recognition for a National Geographic Learning book series that she co-edited with Crandall designed to give learners the skills and knowledge they need to learn English and understand the world around them. Read more about Shin’s accomplishments in UMBC Magazine.

“It is so exciting to be named one of the ’30 Up and Coming’ leaders in TESOL,” explains Shin. “To be honest, I feel humbled by this recognition. There are many dedicated and talented English teaching professionals who are providing excellent scholarship and leadership to our field locally and globally. With this honor, I feel inspired to work even harder to make a positive difference in the education of English learners through my work with teachers here in Maryland and worldwide.”

Images: Joan Shin and Jodi Crandall. Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

In age of Zika, Dawn Biehler examines prevalence of mosquitoes in low-income neighborhoods

At a moment when the increasing threat of the Zika virus has brought renewed attention to environmental health issues, UMBC researchers are working on an extensive study to determine whether a neighborhood having more mosquitoes translates to a greater risk of disease transmission.

The UMBC research team led by Dawn Biehler, associate professor of geography and environmental systems, has spent several months canvassing Baltimore neighborhoods to collect data on mosquito populations and residents’ contact with mosquitoes as part of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. They will use their research findings to draw up a set of evidence-based policy recommendations for better mosquito control to improve public health.

A March 18 article in The Washington Post highlighted this research and some of its findings.

“We see cases where there’s persistent trash and abandoned buildings, and it just creates this surface where there are lots of small bodies of water, which are just great for this mosquito,” Biehler told the Post.

She explained that she has found that many residents are concerned about the city picking up trash only once a week, but a lessening of the tax base due to population decline can lead to eroded city services. “It’s not just the city’s fault,” Biehler said. “There are bigger issues here.”

Project findings will be applied to improving mosquito control and awarding grants from the National Science Foundation to communities that have developed promising mosquito abatement strategies. The research project was also recently featured in The Baltimore Sun. Read both articles below.

Why diseases like Zika could unfairly target America’s poor (The Washington Post) 
Study shows poorer neighborhoods have more mosquitoes (The Baltimore Sun) 

Image: Asian Tiger Mosquito. Photo by frankieleon, CC by 2.0. 

Ellen Handler Spitz speaks to the profound impact of the arts on children’s education

Brundibar_poster_Theresienstadt (1)Honors College Professor Ellen Handler Spitz recently presented a powerful talk on her work and research about the value of the arts for children across the world. Spitz was invited to present her work as part of The Brundibár Lecture Series sponsored by the Theatre Kavanah in Burlington, Vermont.

Spitz presented her talk “Children, Music, Art, and Hope” at the BCA Center in Burlington. The Brundibár Lecture Series aimed to provide context and historical analysis to honor the memory of those who first created and performed this children’s opera in the Terezin concentration camp near Prague, 1942-44. Spitz’s presentation helped to illuminate the profound impact of Brundibár, and she emphasized that it is important to remember that, of the 15,000 school-aged children who passed through the camp, only 100 survived; the others were murdered at Auschwitz.

“Today, with few exceptions, the presence and cultivation of the arts have diminished in schools nationwide, while cognitive subjects are taught and endlessly tested,” Spitz said during her talk. “Brundibár speaks to the value of the arts for children in extreme circumstances. All children need the arts, and the power of Brundibár testifies to that need, not just wish regard to children helplessly caught in dire situations, but to all the world’s children.”

During her talk, Spitz presented many detailed images and drawings that were made by children and artists who were confronted with desperate circumstances. She explained that through their artwork, they kept their happy memories alive through art and music. Emphasizing the importance of the arts, Spitz also drew parallels with current political situations.

“It is so important for all children to have opportunities to express themselves in the arts,” she said. “One very important element about the arts is communication.”

View the full presentation, which was broadcast on Vermont Public Television.

Image: Poster for performance of Brundibár, Theresienstadt, 1944. Author unknown, public domain image via Wikimedia Commons. 

UMBC’s Department of Education hosts 10th Annual Arts Integration Conference with focus on social justice

Nearly 200 educators, students, artists, and administrators attended the 10th Annual Arts Integration Conference on Saturday, March 5 at UMBC. The event was hosted by UMBC’s Department of Education in cooperation with The Shriver Center. This year’s conference, titled The Heart of Arts: Building Community through Arts Integration, focused on how integrating visual arts, dance, music, and theatre into P-12 curricula can help build cultural awareness, enhance community engagement, and provide opportunities for students to become advocates for social justice.

The conference was developed for P-12 teachers, teacher candidates, youth leaders, and others who work with students through the arts. The event included an interactive general session, 14 hands-on workshops, and an art show where conference attendees interacted with Baltimore City student artists.

Many UMBC alumni participated in the conference, including presentations and remarks by Kevin Maxwell ’02, Ph.D., language, literacy, and culture, CEO of Prince George’s County Public Schools, and Margaret Weber ’12, M.A.T., art education, New York City Public Schools visual arts teacher. Weber shared best practices for producing engaging lessons that address cultural relevancy through her interactive presentation “Hallway as Canvas: Bringing Graffiti Art Techniques into the Classroom.” Other presenters included Fabiola Rodriguez ’16, M.A.T., and her UMBC PDS mentor, Sara Murphy.

Arts_Integration16-8352

Frank Anderson, assistant director of The Choice Program at UMBC, led an interactive general session titled “Giving Students a Choice through Socially Engaged Art.” Choice Program youth shared how their arts-based visual, music, and dance projects have helped them engage with their community, including a shared mosaic created with the Baltimore City Police Department and an audio recording of a community sound collage. Meghann Shutt, assistant director of the Shriver Center Peaceworker Program, and several Shriver Center Peaceworkers provided readings from Voices of a People’s History. 

Many UMBC interns and students, UMBC Professional Development School (PDS) teachers, teachers from six Maryland school districts and Washington, D.C., and students and faculty from the University of Maryland, College Park and Towson University participated in the conference.

“I believe our record-breaking attendance this year was due to the relevance of the topic. Teachers understand the importance of building community in their classrooms, their schools, and the neighborhoods in which their students live,” explains Barbara Bourne, clinical instructor and director of elementary education and arts coordinator in the education department. “Conference presenters demonstrated how the arts – music, drama, visual art, and dance – are powerful tools for building communities from within and for linking one community to another. Hopefully, participants discovered new strategies for using arts integration as a means to connect their students with others in their classes, schools, neighborhoods, and global communities.”

For more information, visit the education department website.

Image: The Department of Education Arts Integration Conference at UMBC, March 5, 2016. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

UMBC historian explains how the role of churches has changed in American civil rights and social justice movements

On March 22, The Atlantic published an in-depth story examining the visibility of churches in black-and youth-led political activism of the last several years compared to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. George Derek Musgrove ’97, history, associate professor of history, was quoted extensively in the article and provided historical context for why the church doesn’t play as central a role today as it did during the sixties.

During the civil rights era, Musgrove told The Atlantic that churches provided a natural venue for people to come together to share messages. However, the article states, fewer young African Americans attend church now compared to the sixties.

“The main resources were bodies,” he said. “The church was the organizational center of the community. You were guaranteed to see a certain number of people every Sunday, and a lot of those people were going to be participating in church activities throughout the week. You could get access to them.”

Musgrove went on to explain that recent civil rights and social justice movements in Baltimore largely reflect what is taking place across the country. “Baltimore is a local representation of a national concern,” he said. “The Black Lives Matter movement is, to a certain degree, a reaction to the bitter disappointment of the Obama years…These folks have come to political maturity at a time when … there was this real hope that Obama would create a new era. And they have seen that the aftermath of that claim that things have, in many cases, gotten worse.” He shared that the current generation of young black activists are building social movements through institutions outside the context of the church.

Read the full article “Black Activism, Unchurched” in The Atlantic. 

Image: George Derek Musgrove. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

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