Policy & Society

This week, the New Yorker published a letter from Ellen Handler Spitz, honors college professor of visual arts, regarding an essay on the Oxford philosopher Derek Parfit. Spitz compares a literary device used by the writer to one used in “The Tin Woodsman of Oz.” Her letter can be read here.

In the face of another political stalemate on Capitol Hill, Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein turned to Roy T. Meyers, professor of political science, to understand the possible impact of a government shutdown. Meyers, a former Congressional Budget Office analyst, argues that we may underestimate the costs of shutdowns by not accounting for the value of lost work hours, decreased federal parks revenue or the reduced pace of IRS audits. Klein writes, “Meyers suggests that contractors might start charging the government a premium after shutdowns to compensate for the uncertainty of their payments. And a large body of work shows… Continue Reading Roy T. Meyers, Political Science, in the Washington Post

Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice of English, may be from Maine, but the author enjoys traveling through America’s West and is currently teaching a course entitled “America’s Road Trip.” The Baltimore Sun recently interviewed Corbett for a story entitled “UMBC Professor, Author Heeds Call of the West” in which he describes the experience of traveling through these deserted parts of the country. “You can see enormous distances—the road in some spots is so straight that your eye almost can’t comprehend the distance you are taking in. It just melts into the horizon. You’re so far out in the middle… Continue Reading Christopher Corbett, English, in the Baltimore Sun

Baltimore magazine recently reviewed “Since You Have No Body,” the latest book of poetry from Michael Fallon, senior lecturer of English. “These interrelated, elegiac poems dance around the mysteries of death, as they celebrate friendship and ponder the notion that life’s grand waltz eventually slows to a roaring silence that can make even the most avowed atheists and religious devotees flinch,” says John Lewis in a review for the magazine. The review appeared in the October 2011 issue of the magazine.

Lipitz Professor Leslie Morgan, sociology and anthropology, responded to the announcement that an advocate against elder abuse received a MacArthur “genius” grant through a powerful letter in the Washington Post, recognizing the importance of this advocacy but also the unsung heroes of elder care. “Studies show that 60 million Americans provide care to adult relatives, with an average lifetime economic cost per person of $300,000, mostly from early retirement or reduced work hours… The great majority of these caregivers do exemplary jobs, sacrificing free time, sleep and sometimes their own health,” she wrote. Morgan went on to reference research she… Continue Reading Leslie Morgan, Sociology and Anthropology, in the Washington Post

Professor of the Practice of English Christopher Corbett will speak at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum on Saturday, October 8, at 1 p.m. Corbett’s talk will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the Pony Express. Corbett is the author of “Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth & Lasting Legend of the Pony Express.” A book signing and opportunity to tour the “Pony Express: Romance vs. Reality” exhibit will follow. This program is free. For more information, contact the National Postal Museum at 202-633-5533 or NPMprograms@si.edu.