Policy & Society

Manil Suri, professor of mathematics, reflects on returning to Mumbai, the Indian city of a million incarnations, in the July 17 issue of Newsweek magazine. Suri also teaches in the Asian studies program. In his piece, he compared Mumbai to a Hindu goddess. “In some ways, Mumbai is called upon to be even more subsuming than other goddesses. Her population is enormously diverse and regularly at odds on the basis of religion, language, ethnicity, and a host of other schisms. Her visibility attracts benign and malignant elements from inside and outside the country. These factors can result in heinous acts… Continue Reading Manil Suri, Mathematics, in Newsweek

Rachel Robinson ’12, applied linguistics, and Germán Westphal, professor of modern language and linguistics, will present a paper they co-authored at the International Congress of the Chilean Linguistics Society, which will be held in Valparaíso, Chile, November 9-11, 2010 The paper is titled “Introducción a un Modelo Teórico de Adquisición de Segundas Lenguas” (Introduction to a Theoretical Model of Second Language Acquisition), and it develops a theoretical approach to second language acquisition. Westphal has been working with this topic in the context of current linguistic research, and the paper includes a discussion of the neurological correlates that Robinson has identified… Continue Reading Rachel Robinson ’12 to Present at International Conference

In a new guest column on Sabato’s Crystal ball, Thomas Schaller, professor of political science, discusses President Obama’s campaign message a year from now at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in a new guest column on Sabato’s Crystal Ball. “However good the field of potential Republican challengers may or may not be… winning reelection will not be easy,” argues Schaller. He suggests, “in order to win President Obama is going to have to go negative.” As for his campaign message, Schaller predicts, “Obama is most likely to frame his election as an appeal for four more years because the… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in Sabato’s Crystal Ball

Ka-che Yip, professor of history, has been awarded a grant by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. Beginning January 2012, Yip will be the co-investigator of the project, “A History of Diseases and Epidemics in Hong Kong, 1841-2003.” The grant will last for three years and is for HK $480,048 or about U.S. $62,000. The grant builds upon another completed project, “A History of Public Health in Hong Kong,” which was funded by the same agency several years ago. Yip was also a co-investigator of that project.

Constantine Vaporis, professor of history and director of Asian studies, has been asked to serve as a consultant on an exhibition on Japan at the National Geographic Museum in DC. The exhibit will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Japanese donation of cherry trees to the U.S., which will take place in 2012.

UMBC congratulates sociology professor Leslie Morgan on being named the Lipitz Professor of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for academic year 2011-12. In endowing this professorship, Roger C. Lipitz and the Lipitz Family Foundation sought “to recognize and support innovative and distinguished teaching and research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences” at UMBC. Dean John Jeffries writes, “Professor Morgan has achieved an extraordinary record as a scholar, teacher and citizen of the university since joining the UMBC faculty in 1979.” One of the nation’s foremost scholars of aging, Morgan is author, co-author or editor of six books, 33… Continue Reading Leslie Morgan Named Lipitz Professor of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Cristina Dalton ’12, Spanish, spent the summer at Greenbriar State park, where she translated common park announcements to Spanish and helped the multicultural patrons understand park rules. “I love that moment when I explain something to both people in a situation and see their faces light up when they get it,” she says. Her job was part of a growing effort within Maryland’s state parks, which are learning to adapt to a rapidly growing and enthusiastic clientele: Hispanic families. The Baltimore Sun reported on this trend in an August 20 story entitled “Demographic Shift Causes State Parks to Adapt.”

Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice of English, will give a talk at the National Postal Museum on Sunday, October 8, at 1 p.m. The subject of his talk will be his book, “Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express,” and the 150th anniversary of the end of the Pony Express. A book signing and opportunity to tour the exhibit “Pony Express: Romance vs. Reality” will follow. The National Postal Museum, a Smithsonian Institution museum, is located in the old Post Office building next to Union Station in Washington, D.C.