All posts by: UMBC News Staff

GES Seminar Series: Children’s Rights From a Critical Geographic Perspective (3/25)

aitken-flyer-1

The Department of Geography and Environmental Systems (GES) is delighted to announce that Dr. Stuart Aitken, Professor of Geography and the June Burnett Chair of Children’s and Family Geographies at San Diego State University, will be presenting a talk on Children’s Rights from a Critical Geographic Perspective as part of the GES Seminar Series on March 25th, from 12-1 p.m., in ITE 231.

Dr. Aitken directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Young People and Space (ISYS) and is internationally recognized for his research on children’s geographies, youth activism, critical theory, and qualitative methodologies. His recent books include The Ethnopoetics of Space and Transformation (2014), The Fight to Stay Put (2013), Young People: Border Spaces and Revolutionary Imaginations (2012),Qualitative Geographies (Sage 2010), and The Awkward Spaces of Fathering (2009).  In addition, he has published over 200 papers in academic journals and edited book collections. Dr. Aitken is serving as an Eminent Scholar Mentor for Dr. Dena Aufseeser, Assistant Professor in GES whose research is focused on childhood, poverty and inequality.

Show Your Retriever Pride: Volunteer at our Admissions Reception

Show off your R15857081560_fcb112f77b_oetriever Fever and volunteer! Alumni are invited to share their experiences at UMBC with prospective students and their families. Help future students establish themselves as a fellow dawg! Dates and locations vary, so find the one that is perfect for you:

Rockville/Strathmore Reception
Tuesday, March 24, 7 – 9 p.m.
Strathmore Music Center
Rockville, MD

Reception for Academically Talented African American Students
Thursday, April 2, 7 – 9 p.m.
UMBC

Reception for Academically Talented Hispanic & Latino Students
Tuesday, April 7, 7 – 9 p.m.
UMBC

New Jersey Reception
Tuesday, April 21, 7 – 9 p.m.
Olde Mill Inn & Grain House Restaurant
Basking Ridge, NJ

New York Reception
Wednesday, April 22, 7 – 9 p.m.
The Carltun, Eisenhower Park
East Meadow, NY

Pennsylvania Reception
Thursday, April 23, 7 – 9 p.m.
The Mercer Museum
Doylestown, PA

Click here to volunteer!

Kate Brown, History, in Time and Al Jazeera America

History professor Kate Brown has been in the news reflecting on two major recent news stories: the death of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and a Pasco, Washington police shooting case. Brown published op-eds in Al Jazeera America and Time that studied the deeper history behind both incidents to give more meaning and context to the two stories.

Kate BrownIn her column “Boris Nemtsov died alone,” Brown discussed how much of the news coverage surrounding Nemtsov’s murder mainly focused on his personality and who was responsible for his death, not on his plans for economic reform.

“Unfortunately, the funeral coverage of Nemtsov is all about his personality, not his policies, because he did not manage on a national level to pass the reforms he sought,” Brown wrote.

In “Only Part of the Story is Being Told About the Police Shooting in Pasco,” Brown explained how Pasco’s history in many ways has informed some of the reaction to the police shooting case of Antionio Zambrano-Montes on February 10.

“The killing of Zambrano-Montes—the fourth fatal police shooting in six months by Pasco police, though the first with a Latino victim—triggered anger among the Latinos who make up more than half of Pasco’s population, because they complain that they have little representation in the local government or police force. But there is more to this story than one death. The anger has been building for generations, in part because the marginalization of minorities in Pasco has a long history,” Brown wrote.

To read complete versions of both articles, see below:
Boris Nemtsov Died Alone (Al Jazeera America)
Only Part of the Story is Being Told About the Police Shooting in Pasco (Time)

Clifford Murphy, American Studies, in The Conversation

In February, Smithsonian Folkways released Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, a box set and book dedicated to Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter – an influential country musician in the early twentieth century. Clifford Murphy, an ethnomusicologist and adjunct lecturer of American studies, published an article in The Conversation which examined Lead Belly’s legacy and lasting cultural impact.

Clifford Murphy

“But beyond his influence on (mainly white) musical artists, the collection is significant because it shows how Lead Belly defied the racial categories of blues and country (as black music and white music, respectively) – stereotypes established by the burgeoning record industry of the Jim Crow era that persist today,” Murphy wrote.

In the article, Murphy honored Lead Belly’s influential musical legacy an analyzed the cultural context in which he performed.

“Thankfully, Lead Belly’s Smithsonian Folkways Collection defies those cultural reductionists who would suggest that firm racial categories of blues and country ever truly existed, and that “traditional” singers were uninterested in – or, worse, corrupted by – popular music. The set’s 108 tracks may be a small sampling (Lead Belly claimed to be able to sing 500 songs without repeating one – and he likely knew far more). But a bi-cultural reality glimmers within the set’s five CDs,” Murphy added.

To read the full article titled “Lead Belly’s music defied racial categorization,” click here.

Kimberly Moffitt, American Studies, Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun

Kimberly MoffittIn response to legislation being tabled that would have allowed Baltimore City schools’ police force to carry handguns while working inside or patrolling school buildings, Kimberly Moffitt published an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun outlining her viewpoints on the issue. Moffitt, an associate professor of American studies, previously discussed her thoughts on the legislation on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show.  

In her article, Moffitt wrote about the importance of guidance and affirmation of self-worth of school children: “…as a community we should come together to strategize ways to cultivate healthy relationships with students and ensure the necessary support mechanisms are in place to help those most in need. Let’s use the energy that surrounded the gun legislation to strengthen the educational, psychological and social needs of the students, rather than compounding anxiety in an already stress-filled environment.”

To read Moffitt’s full op-ed titled “Black children are not the enemy,” click here.

John Rennie Short, School of Public Policy, in The Conversation, Gives Keynote Address at French Embassy

With the percentage of the world’s population that lives in cities continuing to grow, School of Public Policy professor John Rennie Short published an article in The Conversation examining what cities can do to become more sustainable. In his article, Short looked at three ways to measure the environmental impact of cities: ecological, carbon, and water footprints.

John Rennie ShortShort defined each measure and referenced various studies which compared data among cities. While they are an important starting point, he cautioned the three footprint measures should be analyzed in context.

“These metrics are still in the early stages of development. There are lots of problems, including assessing the leakage of impacts from outside the city’s boundaries; the quality of data, which is too often imprecise and collected at different times for other purposes; and the lack of comparability between studies. The work is more embryonic than definitive. For example, we have yet to agree upon standard protocols for the data used and methods employed.”

To read the full article titled “How green is your city: towards an index of urban sustainability,” click here.

In other news, Short gave a keynote address, “The New Imperative: Green Cities for an Urban World,” at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. on March 6. The event was a forum that brought together mayors from the U.S. and France to kick-start long-term and formal cooperation among officials and practitioners concerned with sustainable urban development in France and the United States. It also aimed at paving the way to the participation of U.S. cities in the December 2015 Paris Climate Conference. For more information on the event, click here.

Tyson King-Meadows and Thomas Schaller, Political Science, on The Marc Steiner Show

Tyson King-Meadows
Tyson King-Meadows
Tom Schaller
Thomas Schaller

On March 12, Tyson King-Meadows, an associate professor of political science and chair of Africana studies, was a guest on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show to discuss his experience attending the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march in Selma. King-Meadows shared the purpose and significance of attending the event, including celebrating those who marched in 1965 for voting rights in the face of brutality, and bringing awareness to a new and improved Voting Rights Amendment (VRA).
King-Meadows appeared on the program with Ari Berman, a contributing writer for The Nation magazine and longtime community activist and mentor Ralph Moore. To listen to the full segment, click here.
In a March 13 segment on The Marc Steiner Show, Thomas Schaller, professor and chair of political science, discussed his new book The Stronghold: How Republicans Captured Congress but Surrendered the White House. To listen to the full segment, click here. For prior media coverage of Schaller’s book, click here.
Schaller also published an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun on March 17 in which he praised Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s leadership in heroin intervention and called for the state to pass physician-assisted suicide legislation. To read the full column, click here.

Laura Hussey, Political Science, and Donald Norris, School of Public Policy, Discuss Anthony Brown’s Decision to Run for Congress

After former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown announced he was running for the U.S. House seat vacated by Rep. Donna Edwards, reaction came in from across Maryland on Brown’s decision to jump back into politics after last year’s gubernatorial election.

Laura HusseyLaura Hussey, an associate professor of political science, was interviewed for an article in the Gazette about Brown’s decision, saying he is the likely front-runner in the race despite losing the gubernatorial election.

“He’s got name recognition in a huge way,” Hussey said. “Plus he’s in his home territory and he’s going to have more support in that area.” To read the full article with Hussey’s analysis, click here.

Donald Norris UMBCSchool of Public Policy director Donald Norris was quoted in a Baltimore Sun article about Brown’s decision. Norris commented that, “It may be a very good strategic move for him. It will all depend on how he does and what kind of a campaign he runs.” To read the full article, click here.

Jason Loviglio, Media and Communication Studies, in City Paper

Jason Loviglio imageJason Loviglio, associate professor and chair of media and communication studies, was quoted in a March 10 City Paper article that examined WYPR’s use of underwriting. Loviglio, who is writing a book about public media and plans to include a chapter about WYPR, discussed how the station’s use of underwriting has influenced its workers’ union.

Loviglio, who has interviewed many station members for his book, discussed what he discovered while conducting his research.

To read the full City Paper feature titled “Why So Much P.R.?” click here.

Erickson School Presents Memory Care Summit 2015: The Positive Case for Change in Dementia Services

Kim Campbell

Earlier this year, the Erickson School presented Memory Care Summit 2015 in Captiva Island, FL. The event was designed to address practical issues for the future of caring for those with memory impairment and their families. Several leading experts in dementia care, including Dean Judah Ronch and Dr. Bill Thomas from the Erickson School, presented at the summit to discuss innovative practices, growth strategies, and success for aging services leaders.

Among the speakers at the event was Kim Campbell, wife of country music legend Glen Campbell featured in the major motion picture “I’ll Be Me.” Campbell presented the keynote address at the event and shared her family’s experiences, challenges, struggles, discovery, and moments of joy in the journey of her husband Glen’s Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis. To watch video clips of Kim Campbell’s keynote address, click here.

To learn more about the event, including a list of speakers and presentations from Memory Care Summit 2015, click here.

Humanities Forum: Four Types of Feminist Empiricism (3/26)

Miriam SolomonHumanities Forum
Thursday, March 26 | 4:00 p.m.
Evelyn Barker Memorial Lecture
Miriam Solomon, Chair and Professor of Philosophy, Temple University
University Center, Room 312

“Feminist empiricism” is a general term for a range of positions in philosophy of science that aim to combine empirical methods with the insights of feminism. This talk will give an overview of feminist empiricist work in the natural and social sciences in order to showcase four different ways in which feminist critique can improve scientific work. The relationship between the different feminist empiricisms and feminist standpoint theory will also be discussed.

Miriam Solomon is Professor of Philosophy and Department Chair in the Department of Philosophy at Temple University. She is also an Affiliated Professor of Women’s Studies. Professor Solomon is a graduate of Cambridge University (BA in Natural Sciences, 1979) and Harvard University (Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1986). She is the author of Social Empiricism (MIT Press, 2001), editor of several special journal issues, and author of papers in epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of medicine and biomedical ethics. Her research interests are in philosophy of science, philosophy of medicine, history of science, epistemology, gender and science, and biomedical ethics. She is currently completing a book on evidence-based medicine, medical consensus conferences, narrative medicine and translational medicine, titled Making Medical Knowledge, to be published by Oxford University Press (UK).

Sponsored by the Philosophy Department, the Dresher Center for the Humanities, and the Gender and Women’s Studies Department.

Social Sciences Forum: The Middle East in Flames (3/25)

Daniel BymanSocial Sciences Forum
Wednesday, March 25 | 4:30 p.m.
Daniel Byman, Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and Professor in the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government at Georgetown University
University Center 312

The Middle East has gone from bad to worse. Four countries are in full-fledged civil wars, and the contagion might spread. Professor Byman will speak on perennial problems like the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and the Iranian nuclear program as well as the range of new crises engulfing the region.

Daniel L. Byman is a Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He served as a Professional Staff Member with the 9/11 Commission and worked as an analyst on the Middle East for the U.S. government. Dr. Byman has written extensively on topics related to terrorism, international security, civil and ethnic conflict. His most recent volume, “A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism,” appeared in 2011 (Oxford). Professor Byman has a concurrent appointment in the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government at Georgetown University.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of Judaic Studies and Global Studies.

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