Policy & Society

A transgender anti-discrimination bill went before the Maryland General Assembly in the 2011 session, passing in the House of Delegates, but ultimately did not pass. In the 2012 session, which starts in January, advocates are hoping to take legislation through the last hurdle it needs for passage. Jodi Kelber-Kaye, interim associate director of the Honors College, said transgender anti-discrimination legislation has come up at the state level for many years. “The problem has consistently been how we define transgender for the purposes of providing protections,” she said. “The concern for me as a gender researcher, on top of someone who’s… Continue Reading Jodi Kelber-Kaye, Honors College, in the News

UMBC Political Science Professor Roy Meyers joined Yale’s David Mayhew and other scholars this week in providing PolitiFact with insight into Newt Gingrich, as the site explored David Axelrod’s claim that Gingrich is the “the godfather of gridlock.” The site offers evidence for Gingrich’s reputation as both a bare-knuckled fighter and a deal-maker, suggesting “Gingrich has been more of a prince of partisanship than a godfather of gridlock.”Meyers also disputed the godfather characterization in his comments to PolitiFact, arguing that Gingrich is far from consistently quiet and disciplined, as the persona suggests. Meyers alternatively argued that Gingrich is the father… Continue Reading Roy Meyers, Political Science, Source on PolitiFact

Piotr Gwiazda, associate professor of English, has had a busy semester; his reviews, poetry and translations have appeared in a variety of outlets. His reviews have appeared in: Rain Taxi, where he reviewed “Building the Barricade” by Anna Swir. The Times Literary Supplement, where he reviewed “Unseen Hand” (translated by Clare Cavanagh), by Polish poet Adam Zagajewski. EOAGH, where he reviewed The Iliad Book XXII: The Death of Hector by Lisa Jarnot. His poems and translations can be found in: “Mudlark,” which published his poem “Time.” Vallum, which published his poem “Removable Tattoos.” And the Seneca Review, which published his translation of… Continue Reading Piotr Gwiazda, English, Publishes Reviews and Poetry

Jody Shipka, assistant professor of English, is the co-editor of a new book. Play! features 63 photographs made with film using 30 toy, lo-fi, and handmade cameras made by 36 photographers in 12 countries on 5 continents. “Play! is an amazingly diverse collection of photos by very talented photographers. By using toy cameras, the photographers convey the memory and dream of play that lives inside all of us,” said reviewer Mark Olwick of olwickphotography.com. One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales of Play! will be donated to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to benefit children in areas ravaged… Continue Reading Jody Shipka, English, Edits New Book

The digital humanities is a common subject of discussion in the academic world, and Helen Burgess, assistant professor of English, recently contributed to this conversation by co-authoring an article in the journal “Digital Humanities Quarterly.” In the article, Burgess and her co-author, Jeanne Hamming of Centenary College of Louisiana, argue that multimedia work places scholars in an extended network that combines minds, bodies, machines, and institutional practices, and lays bare the fiction that scholars are disembodied intellectuals who labor only with the mind. The article is entitled “New Media in the Humanities: Labor and the Production of Knowledge in Scholarly… Continue Reading Helen Burgess, English, Published in Digital Humanities Quarterly

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski joined President Barack Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and a select group of higher education leaders at the White House today for a discussion on college affordability and productivity. The engagement of college leaders in a frank policy discussion today took President Obama’s college-completion push to a new level. You can read the White House announcement here. And here’s what the news media is saying: “President Gathers College Leaders to Discuss Access and Affordability,” The New York Times “Obama meets with star presidents to talk reform,” The Washington Post “Hrabowski and Kirwan meet with Obama… Continue Reading President Hrabowski Attends White House Meeting on Higher Education

Margie Burns, lecturer part-time in English, will be included in “Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal,” published annually by the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). Her article, “Comic Resolution, Humorous Loose Ends in Austen’s Novels,” is about Austen’s outrageous comic wrap-ups, endings with a cavalier disregard for painful realism and social awkwardness. Articles from recent issues of Persuasions are distributed electronically through EBSCO and Thomson Gale.

This month’s Urbanite cover story “El Nuevo Baltimore” begins with a compelling premise: “Baltimore’s burgeoning Hispanic community could be a force for broader change—but only if we can make them welcome here.” In the extensive piece, Donald Norris, chair of public policy at UMBC, explains why the economic impact of Latino Baltimore residents has so far been limited, despite robust population growth.Norris suggests that currently “there is only so much in the form of gentrification that they can do,” given that many Latinos who move to the US are working class and “here for the economic opportunity.” The article notes… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in The Urbanite