All posts by: Sarah Hansen, M.S. '15

Kimberly Moffitt joins WEAA to comment on the role of the news media in covering President Trump

In the days leading up to the presidential inauguration, Kimberly Moffitt, an associate professor of American studies, joined WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show for a discussion about the news media and its coverage of President Trump.

A focal point of the discussion was the media coverage of Rep. John Lewis’s decision to not attend the inauguration and when he said he thought Pres. Trump was not elected legitimately, followed by Pres. Trump’s response to that.

Moffitt, whose research interests include media studies/criticism, argued that covering the situation presented a complex challenge for many journalists.

“Sometimes I think journalists do live in the bubble of ‘I am objective,’ and I’ve struggled with even recognizing that as a term synonymous with anything that human beings are participating in. And so I so appreciate [E.R. Shipp’s] willingness to say, ‘you know, this was tough for us as journalists who have a task before us to report the news and give information to the public to be able to respond or react to,’” Moffitt said. “I think it’s so important, because it does show our complexity as human beings and our willingness, or the inability sometimes, to do exactly what that particular estate is supposed to do for our nation.”

In a separate segment earlier this month on The Marc Steiner Show, Moffitt commented on the intersections of social media, young people, violence, and empathy in response to the filmed attack of a young disabled man by four youth in Chicago.

She argued that social media has added an element to childhood in ways that were not visible in past generations.

“It has created this instantaneous celebrity culture that everyone wants to be a part of,” she said. “And by virtue of that, what we tend to do is take certain actions that we then believe will make us go viral in some way, which then means we aren’t even thinking about what might be some of the consequences or repercussions of those actions.”

Dr. Moffitt was also a guest on The Baltimore Sun’s “Roughly Speaking” podcast to analyze President Trump’s inaugural address.

Listen to all of the segments below:

Chicago Assault: Violence, Empathy, and Social Media (January 9)
Media Roundtable: Preparing for a New Era (January 17)
Roughly Speaking podcast: Trump refries a stump for his inaugural address (January 20) 

Image: Kimberly Moffitt speaks during a Humanities Forum event at UMBC. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Whitney Schwab wins NEH grant to trace origins of the philosophical study of knowledge

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced funding for highly competitive grants in 43 states around the country to support a range of humanities-based research and programs.

Whitney_SchwabWhitney Schwab, assistant professor of philosophy, won a prestigious fellowship to research the origins of philosophical study of knowledge in the Western tradition. His project will involve writing a book manuscript to examine his central argument that thinkers didn’t start focusing on the concept of knowledge until the Stoics, succeeding Plato and Aristotle.

“The Stoics attempt to determine the conditions that must be met for someone to have a well-formed belief, and the state they claim one is in when he or she has a well-formed belief is katalêpsis,” explained Schwab. “In examining what threshold a belief has to cross to count as katalêpsis, the Stoics are engaging in a project much more similar to modern day attempts to characterize knowledge than anything we find prior to the Stoics.”

Schwab’s grant is funded for one year beginning in August. His ultimate goal is to produce a book, as well as, likely, articles that result from the research.

“It is certainly very flattering to receive this award early in my career,” explains Schwab. “It is also very encouraging. Over the course of completing a long-term project, a lot of doubt can creep in about the value of the work. So, the fellowship provides a lot of motivation to keep working.”

Schwab’s fellowship is part of $16.3 million in funding for humanities research ranging from a preservation grant for Xavier University of Louisiana to protect its special collections which include one of the few remaining original copies of the first anthology of African-American poetry published in the United States to the study of Kurdish nationalism by Southern Methodist University.

“The humanities help us study our past, understand our present, and prepare for our future,” said NEH Chair William D. Adams in a news release announcing the awards. “The National Endowment for the Humanities is proud to support projects that will benefit all Americans and remind us of our shared human experience.”

Schwab’s research focuses on ancient philosophy with specific interests in epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Read more about his work on the philosophy department website.

Header image: Students study outside of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.  

Katherine Seley-Radtke, leader in medicinal chemistry, named Maryland Chemist of the Year

The Maryland Section of the American Chemical Society has selected Katherine Seley-Radtke, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and the 2016-2018 UMBC Presidential Research Professor, as the 2016 Maryland Chemist of the Year.

“It’s quite an honor,” Seley-Radtke says. “It’s important for UMBC and the chemistry department to have recognition on this level.” The top chemist prize is particularly competitive in Maryland, where a large number of chemists work at universities, government agencies, and the many science and technology companies in the region.

Seley-Radtke’s groundbreaking research focuses on drug development using nucleosides, molecules with a similar structure to the building blocks of DNA. In the last year, her research group published the first evidence of a nucleoside that inhibits activity of the MERS and SARS viruses. Her team has also made progress toward developing novel drugs to combat Ebola and Zika viruses.

Beyond her research at UMBC, Seley-Radtke is currently an elected board member of the International Society for Antiviral Research. She also served as the eighth, and first female, president of the International Society on Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and Nucleic Acids (IS3NA) in 2015 – 2016, after previously serving as vice president and secretary for the organization.

Seley-Radtke’s major accomplishment as president, she says, was to set up a scholarship program for young female scientists. The Chu Family Scholarships for Women in Science support activities that help young women build their skill sets and their confidence, such as traveling to work with collaborators or attending training workshops.

Katherine Seley-Radtke is recognized as Maryland Chemist of the Year. Previous UMBC recipients Michael Summers (left) and Joel Liebman show their support.

Seley-Radtke’s passion for supporting women and other underrepresented groups in the sciences extends to all areas of her work and service, as an educator, organizational leader, mentor, and researcher. “You have a duty to engage and help train the upcoming generation,” she says.

“It is also important to look out for students who come from non-traditional pathways,” Seley-Radtke emphasizes, sharing, as someone who took a non-traditional career path herself, “I wouldn’t be here without all of my mentors.” She offers support by taking time to develop close mentoring relationships with her students and writing hundreds of recommendation letters each year.

Seley-Radtke also recognizes the need for interdisciplinary training for today’s students. She is the current director of UMBC’s Chemistry/Biology Interface Graduate Training Program. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, UMBC, and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), the program supports graduate students in pharmaceutical sciences (at UMB), chemistry, biochemistry, and biology. Students in the program have a Ph.D. mentor in their home department and pursue an aspect of their dissertation research in one of the other disciplines, which can help them develop the necessary interdisciplinary expertise to tackle complex challenges in the field.

Seley-Radtke received the Maryland Chemist of the Year award at a celebration in December. Paul Smith, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and president of the Maryland Section of the American Chemical Society, nominated her “based on both her outstanding accomplishments and leadership in the area of medicinal chemistry,” he shared, “and her tireless promotion of women and minority students in chemistry.”

Previous recipients from UMBC include Michael Summers, a Howard Hughes Investigator, the Robert E. Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring, and University Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Joel Liebman, professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Reflecting on the number of UMBC scientists to reach this level of recognition, Seley-Radtke says, “It’s a good example for students to realize that hard work pays off, and that they could do this, too.”

Banner image: Katherine Seley-Radtke; photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

 

Physicists Deffner and Ibrahim explain winter’s extra helping of static electricity

Winter has arrived in the northern hemisphere, and along with it an extra dose of static electricity. But do most people know how static electricity works? Why is it more prevalent in the winter months, and how can people prevent those nasty shocks?

Sebastian Deffner, assistant professor of physics, and Muhammed Ibrahim, a research collaborator in his lab, demystify static electricity in a new piece in The Conversation, republished on Phys.org and by newspapers across the United States.

“Static electricity comes down to the interactive force between electrical charges,” Deffner and Ibrahim write. Electrons coat every surface, but some surfaces hold onto those electrons more tightly than others. When two materials with different abilities to retain electrons come close together, “electrons can be ripped out of the ‘weaker’ materials and find themselves on the material with stronger binding force.” The zap we feel is the electrons moving from one surface to the other.

Drier air is the culprit for increased static in the winter. Moisture in the air allows electrons to flow more freely and return to their original surface without shocking anyone. But when the air is dry, “electrons get trapped on the surface with the stronger binding force,” Deffner and Ibrahim explain.

static zap

“They can’t find their way to flow back to the surface where they came from,” they write, “and they can’t make the distribution of charges uniform again.” Until, that is, the object that has strongly attracted the electrons, like your finger, come close to an object that hasn’t collected as many electrons, like a doorknob or your cat. Then the electrons flow quickly onto the uncharged object, creating the classic static electricity “zap.”

There are ways to avoid the pain, though. Deffner and Ibrahim recommend dryer sheets to take static down a notch on clothing. They also suggest running a humidifier to boost the amount of moisture in the air in a home or office.

The first known recorded observation of static electricity is from the sixth century B.C., and in the 18th century people mostly took advantage of static for parlor tricks. Today, Deffner and Ibrahim write, static electricity is put to use in everything from office copiers and smartphones to cutting-edge nanotechnology.

Learn more from “Static electricity’s tiny sparks.”

Banner: A boy’s hair gets charged with static electricity as he rides a playground slide; Ken Bosma, CC BY.

UMBC economist comments on the impact the new administration’s policies could have on job growth

As the calendar turns to 2017, many Americans will be looking for a fresh start in finding a new or better job. With that in mind, analysts at WalletHub conducted a study to determine the best job markets in the U.S. and they consulted a panel of experts for context of what job growth will look like in the new year.

Christine Yee, an assistant professor of economics, spoke with WalletHub and addressed a number of issues including her prediction for the job market in 2017, the impact the new administration’s policies will have on job growth, the fields that are expected to grow most in the coming decades, the biggest challenges facing job seekers today, and the most common mistakes job seekers make when seeking employment.

Yee described how public spending contributes to slightly more than one-third of GDP. With the incoming Trump administration, she shared her thoughts on how specific sectors of the economy could perform in the new administration.

“Given the current discussion about potential policies under the new administration, spending on defense and infrastructure is expected to increase, which would increase the number of jobs in those sectors. However, the growth in healthcare spending is expected to slow down, which would in turn reduce the number of additional jobs in that sector,” she argued.

Looking at the future of the American economy, Yee predicted that healthcare, energy, artificial intelligence, and transportation will be the fields that grow the most in the coming decades.

As many people in the workforce look for new jobs during the new year, Yee offered advice for job seekers in a competitive economy.

“We all need to have the right skill set to be competitive in a global and changing economy, and we need to adapt to new technology and workflows,” she said. “Employees and employers alike need to understand how they can bring value to their customers.”

Read the full article “2017’s Best and Worst Cities for Jobs” on the WalletHub website.

Professor Yee has research interests in health economics, public policy, applied econometrics, and labor economics. Read more about her work on the economics department website.

Image: Christine Yee speaks during a Dresher Center “CAHSS Micro Talks” event at UMBC. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Thomas Schaller discusses origins of the Electoral College on WEAA

Note: This article was updated January 27, 2017. 

Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next president of the United States on January 20 after losing the popular vote but winning the Electoral College. Thomas Schaller, professor and chair of political science, recently joined WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show to discuss the origins of the Electoral College, what it means for the U.S. democracy, and how the election results reflect the U.S. population today.  

“The Founding Fathers, I think in one of the most ironic twists of the Electoral College…really didn’t think it would necessarily be the…final selection mechanism,” Schaller said on the program. “In a way, they envisioned the Electoral College often working like the nomination processes do now.”

He suggested the founders’ intent was to use the Electoral College as a process for winnowing down the field to a few top contenders, with presidential elections ultimately being sent to the House of Representatives for a vote if none of these more regional candidates claimed a majority.

Schaller also discussed how the Electoral College result in the 2016 presidential election reflects the high degree of partisanship in contemporary American politics. He noted that President Obama carried 44 of the 50 largest counties in 2012, and Hillary Clinton carried 30 of the 35 largest cities, while Donald Trump received, in many cases, 80 percent or higher of the popular vote in white, rural counties.

“We have a situation where all this talk of red America and blue America… We don’t talk to each other,” said Schaller. He suggested, “there is a certain truth to that as we have one America concentrated in the cities and inner suburbs, and we have another America that lives physically far from those areas and maybe psychologically farther from those areas.”

Schaller is an expert in American politics and American political institutions and author of The Stronghold: How Republicans Captured Congress but Surrendered the White House (Yale University Press, 2015) and Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats can Win without the South (Simon and Schuster, 2006). He was joined on the show by David Dayen, contributor to The Nation and the author of Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud.

Listen to the full segment, “Electoral College roundup.”

Update: Ian Anson, an assistant professor of political science, and Nick Miller, professor emeritus of political science, appeared on Maryland Public Television’s “Direct Connection” program to discuss the Electoral College and if there’s any possibility of the system changing in the future. Watch the full segment in the video below. 

Image: Thomas Schaller speaks during the 2016 Post-Election Forum at UMBC. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Ellen Handler Spitz grapples with Stéphane Mallarmé’s greatest work in New Republic

Many scholars over the years have attempted to understand the true meaning of French Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé’s “Un Coup De Des Jamais N’abolira Le Hasard” (One Toss of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance), which is widely considered to be his best and most influential work.

In a recent article in New Republic, Honors College Professor Ellen Handler Spitz, responding to a new book by Yale professor R. Howard Bloch, explains how the poem was largely influenced by Mallarmé’s own life story. She writes that tragic deaths in his family over the course of his life could have played a significant role in his thinking behind the poem, written a year before his death in 1898.

“To read Mallarmé’s poetry against a backdrop of repeated unpreventable tragic human loss is to attune oneself to its elegiac aspects. Knowing this, we can better understand how, in ‘Un Coup de Dés,’ the empty space never feels empty,” Spitz explains.

Throughout the article, Spitz writes that Mallarmé grappled frequently with the world and with the grief around him by putting his feelings into words and trying to understand what was being represented.

Spitz, who is the author of six books on the arts and psychology, writes: “An overlooked gift of the poem may be its unwitting revelation that Modernism itself is haunted by loss, that is, by a rejection of traditional ways of containing emotion, however inadequate. Another may be that psychology, proffering lenses of value, deserves not to be, in literary discussions, forsworn.”

Read “The Poem that Foretold Modernism” in New Republic.  

Image: ‘Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé’ by Édouard Manet, 1876 / Wikimedia Commons. 

Amy Froide examines the role of women investors in England’s financial revolution on WYPR

Note: This story was updated on January 27, 2017. 

Amy Froide, acting chair and associate professor of history, recently appeared on WYPR’s Humanities Connection to talk about her new book Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690-1750 (Oxford University Press, 2016).

The book examines the role of women investors in England’s financial revolution and explains how many women played a critical role in Britain’s rise to economic, military, and colonial dominance in the 18th century.

Silent Partners Amy FroideIn her audio essay for Humanities Connection, Froide explained that women of all ranks were early-adopters of the stock market in the 17th and 18th centuries by investing in stocks and shares for their families and British government-run state lotteries.

“Female investors exercised various types of financial agency. They actively managed portfolios of stocks they inherited, instead of passively collecting dividends; they served as financial agents or brokers, and they engaged in legal and political business with companies,” Froide explained.

Froide referenced examples such as Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, whose investments had an impact on Britain’s interest rates, and the noblewoman Eleanor Curzon, who sued the South Sea Company and won.

“Collectively, female investors enabled Britain’s rise to a military, economic, and colonial power in the 1700s, and women’s capital was a critical component of British imperialism. These ‘financial patriots’ are now brought to life and are silent partners no more,” she added.

Froide’s areas
 of expertise include social, economic, social, women’s, and gender history. Her other books include Never Married: Singlewomen in Early Modern England
 (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Singlewomen in the European Past, 1250-1800 (University of 
Pennsylvania Press, 1999), co-edited with Judith M.
Bennett. She has served as the book review editor for the Journal of British Studies, President of the Mid-Atlantic Conference on British Studies, and 
the founding Director of UMBC’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Minor. Read more about her work on the history department website.

Froide’s book Silent Partners was published on December 13. Listen to the full Humanities Connection segment on the Maryland Humanities website.

Update: Times Higher Education published a review of Froide’s book on January 26, 2017. Victoria Bateman, the reviewer, wrote: “Froide adds to an important burgeoning literature that suggests that, far from being passive responders to capitalism, blown in the wind by its rough nature, women were actively involved. Whatever you think about capitalism, this new understanding of the past demands a reassessment of the way we think about the interactions between capitalism and gender. Coming back to earth, it also offers some of those all-important role models for our daughters today.”

Read the full review “Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690-1750” on the Times Higher Education website.

Header image: Amy Froide in her office.  

Robert Provine joins WBUR’s Here and Now to explain the science of laughter

Robert Provine, psychology research professor and professor emeritus, recently joined WBUR Radio’s Here and Now to explain why people laugh, a human behavior that is largely misunderstood and is something that people do involuntarily.

During the program, Provine, a neuroscientist and author of Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping, and Beyond, explained that laughter is not something that can be done simply on command, similar to crying.

“When we explain why we laugh, we’re assuming this voluntary control, and it’s not there. Another surprise is that laughter is presumed to be somehow related to humor, and yet only 10, 15 percent of comments preceding laughter are anything that’s remotely joke-like.”

Robert Provine

Provine went on to explain the causes of laughter, which often come from sources that may be a surprise to many people.

“The source of laughter are other people, not jokes. For example, most laughter follows comments like, ‘Hey, where have you been!’ It’s not someone telling a joke. This is a conclusion that’s easy to test — the next time you’re around friends and there’s a lot of laughter, people are not telling jokes at a furious rate, they’re just laughing. Also, the presumption that laughter’s the decision to speak ‘ha ha’ can be easily disproven by asking someone to laugh.”

Provine studies the development and evolution of the nervous system and behavior, including human social behavior. His books are frequently cited in the media, and his research and writing have received significant national and international media coverage in outlets like NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, Radio Lab, CBS 20/20, CBS Sunday Morning, Scientific American Frontiers, ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, The New York Times, Time, Discover, Scientific American, Nature, New Scientist, and The Times (London). 

Listen to the full segment “One neuroscientist explains the science of laughter” on WBUR.

Header image: UMBC students on campus. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

UMBC grad students talk STEM teaching, mentorship, and collaboration in South Korea

A UMBC delegation of Ph.D. students and their mentors traveled to Seoul, South Korea in early November to discuss with international colleagues how engineering and engineering education can improve lives at the 2016 Global Student Forum (GSF) and World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF).

The GSF theme of “global partnership for development” included four tracks that aligned with United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges. Students from around the world collaborated to tackle assigned tasks on those tracks. Gloria Opoku-Boateng, Ph.D. student in information systems, worked with her team to create a community empowerment program to reduce extreme poverty and hunger. The project, dubbed “iHelp,” won its category at the GSF.

For Saadi Habib, Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, speaking with students from more than 15 countries through the project-based GSF program was eye-opening. “I realized what I see as a problem and a solution in the U.S. is not necessarily true in other countries or even in the entire U.S,” he shared, noting that challenges that appear purely technical can have multiple, context-dependent solutions.

The GSF program is connected to the international Student Platform for Engineering Education Development (SPEED) and was designed to complement the larger WEEF gathering, which took place just afterward and focused on “Engineering Education for Smart Society.” There, UMBC participants gave research presentations and joined in panels focused on pedagogy and mentoring.

Habib and Hector Medina, Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and Meyerhoff Graduate Fellow, presented on how to develop a successful engineering laboratory course. Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for graduate student development and postdoctoral affairs, spoke on inclusive engineering.

Opoku-Boateng delivered a research talk on her research in engineering artificial intelligence in consumer apps for personalized pain prediction and management. She reflected, “Presenting here helped me understand that clearly presenting solutions to engineering problems is as important as finding those solutions.” She also seized the opportunity to receive and offer mentoring, sharing her experience with navigating the transition from undergraduate to graduate education.

Unable to attend the event, but present in the minds of his colleagues, was Adegboyega Akinsiku, Ph.D. student in human-centered computing, who was scheduled to speak about project-based learning. Shortly before the conference, Akinsiku discussed the importance of mentoring at the White House Conference on Inclusive STEM Education for Youth of Color. His mother, who proudly attended the White House talk, passed away shortly before the Korea trip.

Akinsiku’s experience at the White House, and Opoku-Boateng, Habib, and Medina’s time in Korea, left them with a strong sense of mission. Getting a clearer sense of the range of challenges and possible solutions out in the world, “I start to think with a broader perspective of designing, building, engineering, and developing technology for social good,” says Opoku-Boateng. “That is what truly makes a mark.”

The South Korea trip was the fourth in a series of experiences organized through the International Engagement and Broadening Participation in STEM project, spearheaded by Renetta Tull and sponsored by the UMBC Graduate School and some of its initiatives that are funded by the National Science Foundation. The participating UMBC students are also all part of the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate program and PROMISE, Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP). Other UMBC mentors and participants included Julia Ross, dean of the college of engineering and IT; Tim Topoleski, professor of mechanical engineering; Autumn Reed, program coordinator for faculty diversity initiatives; and Yarazeth Medina, PROMISE coordinator.

Image: From left to right, UMBC graduate students Hector Medina, Saadi Habib, and Gloria Opoku-Boateng; David Delaine, assistant professor of engineering education at the Ohio State University; a student attendee from Colombia. Photo by Hector Medina.

New Green Offices program engages UMBC community in campus sustainability efforts

Sustainability Matters at UMBC inducted 14 campus offices into the Green Offices program at the semiannual Green Office Training Luncheon and Certificate Reception, held on November 3. The Offices of the President and Provost, and a dozen others, joined 13 UMBC offices that qualified for the special designation in 2015 by committing to implement at least 20 items on a Sustainability Matters checklist. Green Offices upgrades include using task lighting, setting printers to automatically print double-sided, and lowering blinds during hot weather—small changes that, when combined, significantly decrease energy and other resource consumption.

President Freeman Hrabowski signed the American Colleges and Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2007, which committed UMBC to devising a climate action plan to achieve carbon neutrality. Since then, UMBC has been working to reduce the campus’ carbon footprint. For example, facilities management has updated heating and cooling systems and campus lighting. Other sustainable initiatives to date include a major renovation of the central Library Pond. Long regarded as a beautiful space for students to gather and relax, it is now also a state-of-the-art stormwater management system. Facilities staff have installed rain gardens and no-mow zones around campus, and green roofs now adorn four campus buildings.

Since President Hrabowski signed the climate commitment, UMBC has achieved a 15.5 percent reduction in carbon emissions, despite an 18 percent growth in campus population and seven percent increase in square footage of campus buildings. But even with such a positive trajectory, by 2013 it became clear to UMBC’s Climate Action Steering Committee that something important was missing. By then, says Tanvi Gadhia, UMBC sustainability coordinator, “We were looking for a way to more actively engage the UMBC community in green initiatives, to work together toward these shared goals.”

The Green Offices Program is one way that Gadhia helps faculty and staff cultivate “a visible culture of sustainability on campus.” She explains, “A lot of people wanted to be more sustainable, but didn’t feel empowered to take action,” so the program provides a scaffold upon which an office can build its own green efforts. Once an office joins the Green Offices program, it can receive signage, stickers, and recycling bins to support the implementation of its commitment.

The Green Office Program is one outcome of the Climate Action Steering Committee, created in 2007 concurrent with President Hrabowski signing the climate commitment. The steering committee oversees numerous sustainability efforts through work groups focused on energy, transportation, research and education, and waste reduction and recycling.

Student advocacy also plays a major role in campus conversation and action around climate change and sustainability. Each semester around a dozen undergraduates work as eco ambassadors to spread the message of sustainability across campus through peer education and outreach, and several student groups have a sustainability focus. One group collects markets’ surplus food that would otherwise be wasted and converts it into healthy, delicious meals for homeless people in Baltimore City. Another organizes a weekly campus clean-up.

“Sustainability has become a larger part of our identity and our culture at UMBC,” says Gadhia. “Sustainability is not a side project. It’s something we need to integrate into everything we do.”

A list of departments participating in the Green Office Program is available on UMBC’s Sustainability Matters website. To learn more about how to certify your office as a Green Office, or if you are interested in conducting research to quantify the effects of the program, contact sustainability@umbc.edu.

Image: UMBC’s recently-renovated Library Pond serves as a beautiful campus centerpiece, wildlife habitat, place for reflection, and state-of-the-art stormwater management system. Photo by Tanvi Gadhia.

 

 

 

 

Theo Gonzalves elected president of the Association for Asian American Studies

In a year that featured a record number of votes cast, Theo Gonzalves, an associate professor of American studies, has been elected to serve as president of the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS).

The association was founded in 1979 to advance high standards of teaching, research, and service in the field of Asian American Studies. The national organization hosts conferences, events, special projects, and symposia each year to engage AAAS priorities. “Equally important is the degree to which the association’s various objectives – specifically as they intersect with advocating and representing the interests and welfare of Asian American Studies and Asian Americans – reflect multiple communities and varied identities,” notes the association’s website.

The AAAS president serves as the chief executive officer of the association, leads an executive board, convenes the annual meeting, and establishes operational budgets for the organization. Professor Gonzalves will serve a one-year term in 2017-2018 as president-elect, and a two-year term from 2018 to 2020 as president.

Gonzalves has research interests in Asian American studies, ethnic studies, U.S.-Philippine relations, Filipino American histories and cultures, and performance studies. He has a particular focus on the power of expressive forms.

His book-length projects include: Stage Presence: Conversations with Filipino American Artists (2007); The Day the Dancers Stayed: Performing in the Filipino/American Diaspora (2009); Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces (2011); and, with Rod Labrador, Filipinos in Hawaii (2011). His work has been supported with a Fulbright award, a Meet the Composer grant, and senior fellowships at the Library of Congress and Smithsonian.

“Since 1989, the Association for Asian American Studies has been my professional home,” Gonzalves says. “I have served as a graduate student representative, Hawaii Regional representative, a member of site and program committees, and a member of the Filipino Studies caucus. I have seen up close how colleagues have worked diligently to sustain our Association. I continue to fight for our field by mentoring young scholars, helping to build an Asian American studies minor program from scratch, creating new courses, and founding UMBC’s Asian American Faculty Council.”

As president, Gonzalves says he will aim to coordinate a robust AAAS social media presence; improve external funding to support students, community activists, and conference attendance; advance opportunities for professional development for K-12 instructors; and explore international exchange opportunities in Asia and other regions.

Read more about Gonzalves’ work and research on the American studies website, and learn more about his Smithsonian fellowship to study music’s cultural impact in UMBC Magazine.

Image: Theo Gonzalves. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

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