Discovery

A young child works in a glass factory in a 1909 black and white historical photo by lewis hine

Historical lens—3 stories that scratch the surface of a 5,400 image archive

/ 3 minutes of reading

One of the most influential sets of historical photos in UMBC’s Special Collections is an archive of more than 5,400 images documenting the harsh conditions of child laborers in early 20th-century America. Recently the team in Special Collections—which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year—undertook a massive project to digitize and rehouse the photos in more protective sheaths to help safeguard the images and the hand-written details on them. The preservation effort gave UMBC student workers hands-on practice with handling the delicate photographs and allowed staff to dive deep into these historical records in order to comment on timely issues around… Continue Reading Historical lens—3 stories that scratch the surface of a 5,400 image archive

Smoky skies and an orange sun backdrop skyscrapers near a harbor.

As summer wildfire smoke choked Baltimore, UMBC air pollution researchers leapt into action

/ 4 minutes of reading

Starting this May, a series of wildfires in Eastern Canada sent enormous smoke clouds wafting into the U.S., triggering air quality warnings in cities from the Midwest to the Northeast. As a resident of the Baltimore area—which was blanketed with particularly bad smoke in both early and late June—UMBC Professor Chris Hennigan looked at the haze with dismay. But as an environmental engineer who studies air pollution, he had an additional thought: “We were looking at the air quality forecasts, and we thought ‘We have to gather data,’” he says. Continue Reading As summer wildfire smoke choked Baltimore, UMBC air pollution researchers leapt into action

a screen shot of a face mask with text that says "what if? decorative face mask prompts." for a talk about susus

Finding one’s face and building financially resilient spaces through ‘susus’

/ 3 minutes of reading

Sonya Squires-Caesar, a doctoral candidate in UMBC’s language, literacy, and culture program, has been interviewing communities who use susus to save money for big-ticket items like homes, farms, or everyday needs like transportation and bills. Susu, a word thought to come linguistically from West African languages, is an informal structure of communal savings where individuals agree to give an equal amount of money to one pool. Members then decide the frequency of when someone receives the entire amount. “I remember my mother planning her spending around when she would get her payment,” says Squires-Caesar, whose family is from Barbados. Squires-Caesar… Continue Reading Finding one’s face and building financially resilient spaces through ‘susus’

a gray ball with a long, skinny, light gray tail; a smaller purple ball is attached where the ball and tail join.

Vampire viruses prey on other viruses to replicate themselves − and may hold the key to new antiviral therapies

/ 5 minutes of reading

Ivan Erill and colleagues discovered a new kind of relationship between viruses, where a satellite virus that needs its “helper” virus to replicate attaches to the helper’s neck to make sure they enter the host cell at the same time. Continue Reading Vampire viruses prey on other viruses to replicate themselves − and may hold the key to new antiviral therapies

A group of women stand in a plaza holding cardboard signs protesting against sexism in Spain.

Soccer kiss scandal exposes how structural sexism in Spain can be a laughing matter

/ 6 minutes of reading

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

A bright blue and orange-gradient abstract spiraling fractal

‘Big Bang of Numbers’ – The Conversation’s book club explores with author Manil Suri how math alone could create the universe

/ 6 minutes of reading

In this interview, Manil Suri discusses his unique perspective on mathematics and his goals in writing his latest book. “There’s just so much joy to be had out of mathematics,” Suri says. “So this book is written for people who want to really engage with mathematics on the level of ideas rather than get into computations and calculations.” Continue Reading ‘Big Bang of Numbers’ – The Conversation’s book club explores with author Manil Suri how math alone could create the universe

A woman with long curly brown hair wearing a green sweater stands outside with a red maple tree in the background. Arab

Creating Queer Arab Joy

/ 7 minutes of reading

“This book is my love letter to my unnamed queer Palestinian ancestors. It is the knowing glance, playful wink, and double entendre between us,” Mejdulene Bernard Shomali, assistant professor of gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, says about her new book Between Banat: Queer Arab Critique and Transnational Arab Archives. “It is the ways we call one another, not only for recognition and community but to action and movement toward a joyful and pleasurable queer Arab future.” Continue Reading Creating Queer Arab Joy

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