Perspectives

To You – Summer 2013

/ 2 minutes of reading

I am on UMBC’s campus almost every working day. As the editor of UMBC Magazine, that’s not unexpected. It’s my job. But before I became editor, I came back to UMBC a number of times after graduating in 1986. Sometimes I returned to see a former professor. Other times, I was invited to speak to young journalists, or a new generation of Bartleby editors. I also attended alumni events. The staff of our alumni relations department work hard to come up with events that will entice you to reconnect with the university and your fellow alumni. These events include talks… Continue Reading To You – Summer 2013

Back Story – Summer 2013

/ 11 minutes of reading

The Hrabowski Fund for Innovation – established in honor of UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, to help UMBC faculty pursue new approaches to teaching – made its inaugural awards in January. Among the recipients were Marie desJardins, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering, Nagaraj Neerchal, chair of the department of mathematics and statistics, and Leslie Morgan, a professor of sociology and anthropology. Each project pushed UMBC’s already burgeoning culture of curricular innovation and pushed it into new directions and disciplines. DesJardins created the ACTIVE (Active Computing Teaching and InnoVation Environment) center to create a more collaborative environment… Continue Reading Back Story – Summer 2013

Composition as Conversation – James Polchin ’89, PoliSci and English

/ 6 minutes of reading

Teaching students how to write more clearly and powerfully in introductory writing classes is at the heart of the university’s mission. But technology is transforming the task, says James Polchin ’89, political science and English, who teaches writing and founded a website – WritingInPublic.com – that celebrates the contemporary essay. Polchin has taught in the Princeton Writing Program, the New School for Social Research, and is currently on the faculty of the Global Liberal Studies Program at New York University.  by James Polchin ’89 It has been nearly 30 years since I walked into a small, green-walled classroom in what… Continue Reading Composition as Conversation – James Polchin ’89, PoliSci and English

Up On the Roof – Winter 2013

/ 4 minutes of reading

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, takes your questions. Q. With the many tools needed for success as president of a university, what’s that one thing you wish you’d known before you became UMBC’s leader? — Israel Cross ’04, biological sciences, and Ph.D. ’10, gerontology A. In the early years, I didn’t know as much about how to work effectively with public officials and the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland to get support for the university. In the early 1990s, we were still at a disadvantage when we were talking to the state legislature, partly because… Continue Reading Up On the Roof – Winter 2013

To You – Winter 2013

/ 3 minutes of reading

UMBC boasts an amazing faculty, and one of the great pleasures of editing this magazine is getting to know many of them and bring the work they do to a much wider audience of alumni and other university stakeholders. In the Winter 2013 issue of UMBC Magazine, the rich diversity of our faculty’s activities in the arts, social sciences, humanities, mathematics and sciences is on full display. In our “Discovery” section, you can read how UMBC faculty members are working to attract students to the field of psychology, make our lawns cleaner and greener, create new opportunities for composers to… Continue Reading To You – Winter 2013

The Power of Tri – Randianne Leyshon ’09, MLL

/ 5 minutes of reading

Studying a language not only expands your mind, but it expands your circle of friends to far-flung lands and even closer to home, as alumna Randianne Leyshon ’09, modern languages and linguistics, and two other friends discovered as they studied Russian at UMBC. Fate plays a fundamental role in Russian literature. Unexpected tragedies, reversals of fortune, missed connections. Somewhere Annushka’s always buying and spilling the sunflower oil – an unremarkable event which leads to a horrible death and sets off the fantastical plot of Mikhail Bulgakov’s magical realist masterpiece The Master and Margarita. It was fate – in the form… Continue Reading The Power of Tri – Randianne Leyshon ’09, MLL

Back Story – Winter 2013

/ 3 minutes of reading

Public universities have a tradition of commitment to social responsibility. The UMBC community has taken a giant leap forward in addressing social challenges through a new movement called BreakingGround which debuted in Fall 2012. UMBC Student Government Association President Kaylesh Ramu ’13, political science, and David Hoffman, assistant director of student life for civic agency, are at the forefront of this effort to empower campus stakeholders to tackle issues that matter to them through innovative courses and co-curricular programs. Where did the idea for BreakingGround originate? Hoffman: UMBC has been participating for eight or ten years in national conversations about… Continue Reading Back Story – Winter 2013

Up on the Roof – Fall 2012

/ 3 minutes of reading

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, takes your questions. Q. When you speak about UMBC’s achievements, you always stress the contribution made by your predecessor as president: the late Michael Hooker. What is his legacy at UMBC? What role did he play in your life as a mentor and friend? — Richard Byrne ’86, English A. Michael Hooker was capable of seeing what others did not think possible. He clearly saw the great potential of UMBC to become an increasingly important institution of higher education in our country. He had no trouble saying that UMBC was going to be the… Continue Reading Up on the Roof – Fall 2012

To You – Fall 2012

/ 3 minutes of reading

Traditions don’t start easily. Someone has to plant the seeds. Attract attention to them. Nurture them. Allow them both to grow and take root. The image on the cover of the Fall 2012 issue of UMBC Magazine is one tradition that has taken root at the university. UMBC’s presidential insignia – worn by the university’s president at every commencement – was a gift from the university’s Alumni Association that recognized the school’s milestone 30th anniversary in 1996. The insignia was purposely created to have a contemporary look that reflected the innovation that characterized the institution. The insignia’s design includes not… Continue Reading To You – Fall 2012

Over Coffee – Fall 2012

/ 4 minutes of reading

From the moment we rise each day, we are surrounded by messages from the media: news, advertising, images, sounds, video, texts. How do we make sense of it all intellectually? Students in UMBC’s Media & Communication Studies (MCS) major are trying to do just that. UMBC Magazine sat down with Jason Loviglio, director of the program, and Donald Snyder, a lecturer and director of the MCS internship program, to find out more about one of UMBC’s fastest growing majors. * * * * * UMBC Magazine: People might be surprised that many of the major’s introductory classes are grounded in… Continue Reading Over Coffee – Fall 2012

Maurice Berger poses in the "For All The World To See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights" exhibit in the National Museum of African American History and Culture Gallery of the Smithsonian's American History Museum July 27, 2011 in Washington, DC. The traveling exhibit, which focuses on the power of visual media, is on display to November 27 and is organized by the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland and the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Interrogating Images: Q&A with Maurice Berger

/ 12 minutes of reading

Whether he is enlightening readers on the nuances of photographs with his posts on “The Lens” blog at The New York Times, curating an exhibit such as For All the World to See, or testing the boundaries of memoir and cultural criticism (as he did with his book White Lies: Race and the Myths of Whiteness), you can count on Maurice Berger to be at the forefront of American culture’s engagement with its history and visual culture. Berger is research professor and the chief curator at UMBC’s Center for Arts, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC). He is also a consulting… Continue Reading Interrogating Images: Q&A with Maurice Berger

Maurice Berger poses in the "For All The World To See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights" exhibit in the National Museum of African American History and Culture Gallery of the Smithsonian's American History Museum July 27, 2011 in Washington, DC. The traveling exhibit, which focuses on the power of visual media, is on display to November 27 and is organized by the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland and the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Interrogating Images: Q&A with Maurice Berger

/ 12 minutes of reading

Whether he is enlightening readers on the nuances of photographs with his posts on “The Lens” blog at The New York Times, curating an exhibit such as For All the World to See, or testing the boundaries of memoir and cultural criticism (as he did with his book White Lies: Race and the Myths of Whiteness), you can count on Maurice Berger to be at the forefront of American culture’s engagement with its history and visual culture. Berger is research professor and the chief curator at UMBC’s Center for Arts, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC). He is also a consulting… Continue Reading Interrogating Images: Q&A with Maurice Berger

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