Meet Noah Cruz, a senior pursuing B.S. degrees in both psychology and biological sciences on the pre-med/Ph.D. track. As a first generation student and a member of multiple scholars programs, Noah takes part in student organizations and undergraduate research while also following his passions of advocating for underrepresented students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. We can’t wait to see where Noah goes from here, and we’re excited to share his story. Q: Tell us about yourself. What would you want another Retriever to know about you? A: I am a senior concurrently pursuing dual bachelor of science… Continue Reading Meet a Retriever—Noah Cruz ’24, first-generation scholar and mentor
Meet Ting Huang ’21, psychology, program coordinator for the McNair Scholars Program in the Office of Academic Opportunity Programs where she was previously a scholar. Ting is now in a position where she gets to support the UMBC community the same way, she says, it supported her. Continue Reading Meet a Retriever—Ting Huang ’21, McNair Scholars coordinator extraordinaire
UMBC’s Erin K. Hogan, associate professor of Spanish, explains with Maria Garcia-Puente, California State University, San Bernardino, how humor has allowed Spain, and inspired others, to confront discriminatory practices within and beyond the soccer field amid the expressions of outrage and disgust over a nonconsensual kiss between Luis Rubiales, the male former head of Spanish soccer and a Women’s World Cup-winning player, and a Women’s World Cup-winning player. Continue Reading Soccer kiss scandal exposes how structural sexism in Spain can be a laughing matter
Meet Anna Jones, a first-generation psychology major on the pre-med track at UMBC. What started as a “nudge” by one of her professors wound up leading Anna to becoming a peer tutor with UMBC’s SI (supplemental instruction) PASS (peer-assisted study sessions) program—an experience that has changed her life and defined her experience as a Retriever. We can’t wait to hear all about it! Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place? A: Hello! I am a psychology B.S. major with a minor in biological sciences on the pre-med track. I transferred to UMBC after my first year of college… Continue Reading Meet a Retriever—Anna Jones, peer tutor
Meet Ken Baron, Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Advising and Student Success at UMBC. As a first-generation student himself, Ken truly appreciates the importance of student support at every level, and finds joy in bringing that philosophy to his work every day through advising at UMBC. Continue Reading Meet a Retriever – Ken Baron, advising champion
Family stories, told honestly, reach people in ways that reams of advice and pages in history books cannot. When personal narratives reach the classroom, students respond by opening up, say two professors who have published memoirs of their family tragedies as a way to process their grief and share their stories. “I believe that writing personal narratives and sharing my own family’s stories helps build trust and rapport in the classroom,” said Aharona (Roni) Rosenthal, director of Judaic Studies at UMBC. “Writing personal narratives can serve as a model for students and encourage them to listen to their grandparents’ stories,… Continue Reading Writing your way through your own history—and sharing the narrative
The most recent artworks by Hadieh Shafie, M.F.A. ’04, intermedia and digital arts, appear like optical illusions, tricks. Tightly stacked lines of colored pencil suddenly twist and warp into circles. The two-dimensional surface swirls and vibrates, like eddy lines in a river or sound waves blasting from a speaker. Tucked into these dancing lines, Shafie has written the Persian word for passionate love: eshgh. The drawings pull together many themes from Shafie’s work and life experience, of leaving her home country of Iran in 1983 at the age of 12 and never going back. From her childhood there, she recalls… Continue Reading Squaring the Circle: The Powerful Art of Hadieh Shafie
Very few Retrievers can say they’ve spent as many years on campus or enjoyed quite so many roles in doing so as Joan Costello ’73, social work. From her first days as a student and student worker; to 41 years as a staff member in the library, audiovisual (AV) services, and multimedia center; to her current role as basketball season ticket holder, committee member of the Founding Four, and board member of the Wisdom Institute—UMBC’s organization for retired staff and faculty—Costello shares why she’s chosen to make UMBC her second home for more than 50 years. The first days I… Continue Reading Retriever for Life
