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NIA grants UMBC’s Laura Girling $750K for research on living with dementia, including the impacts of COVID-19

Feb 1, 2021 / 4 minutes of reading

“Persons with dementia are often portrayed as bedridden,” shares Laura Girling, director of UMBC’s Center for Aging Studies. “When I show clips of people living with dementia leading active lives, there is a realization that people with dementia can do many of the same activities others can.” Continue Reading NIA grants UMBC’s Laura Girling $750K for research on living with dementia, including the impacts of COVID-19

UMBC leaders and community support congressional resolution for national racial healing work

Jan 15, 2021 / 6 minutes of reading

“Having university leadership sign on in support of this resolution is a big step,” says Eric Ford, director of The Choice Program at UMBC. “By taking this step, UMBC is sending a message to the campus community that inclusive excellence is not just a slogan but a virtue we live by.” Continue Reading UMBC leaders and community support congressional resolution for national racial healing work

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NSF grants UMBC’s Chris Rakes and Michele Stites $3M to transform undergraduate secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs

Dec 17, 2020 / 4 minutes of reading

“I want the mathematics classroom to be a vibrant place,” says Rakes, “where students have the opportunity to put all the things they’ve learned together into a coherent web of knowledge, connected through mathematical thinking and understanding.” Continue Reading NSF grants UMBC’s Chris Rakes and Michele Stites $3M to transform undergraduate secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs

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New UMBC grads honor parents’ immigrant journeys by forging their own paths

Dec 14, 2020 / 11 minutes of reading

Graduating seniors Anthony Cano, Renato Zanelli, and Maya Scheirer came to UMBC with pride and hunger instilled by their immigrant parents’ work ethic. They brought rich cultures, languages, and hearts full of dreams and aspirations with the goal of forging futures of their own. “As a first-generation college student,” Zanelli says, “I can now be a role model for my younger cousins. I can help and inspire them. They will not have to do it alone.” Continue Reading New UMBC grads honor parents’ immigrant journeys by forging their own paths

Sam Patterson, UMBC’s newest Rhodes Scholar, plans to transform transportation

Nov 22, 2020 / 4 minutes of reading

Sam Patterson ’21, M29, is now the second student in UMBC history to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. He will pursue an M.Sc. in the Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance program at Oxford focusing on the economics of transportation. Continue Reading Sam Patterson, UMBC’s newest Rhodes Scholar, plans to transform transportation

In “Blood on the River,” UMBC’s Marjoleine Kars examines enslaved people’s accounts of a nearly successful rebellion 250 years ago

Nov 3, 2020 / 5 minutes of reading

Kars’s new book chronicles a rebellion by enslaved people in the Dutch colony of Berbice, 1763 – 1764, thirty years before the Haitian Revolution. Kars says there is “a long tradition of people having different ideas about how to fight oppression and what life should look like at the other side.” Continue Reading In “Blood on the River,” UMBC’s Marjoleine Kars examines enslaved people’s accounts of a nearly successful rebellion 250 years ago

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UMBC’s Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities is transforming early childhood education in Maryland

Oct 27, 2020 / 7 minutes of reading

UMBC’s Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities is now in its third year of supporting, strengthening, and expanding early childhood education in Maryland. The center was founded with the support of a $6 million grant from the George and Betsy Sherman Family Foundation in 2017. It has developed a series of research-based initiatives to address the needs of children from birth to eight years old in Maryland, and the workforce dedicated to educating them. Continue Reading UMBC’s Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities is transforming early childhood education in Maryland

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Maryland State Dept. of Education invests additional $150,000 in UMBC’s Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Education Program

Oct 26, 2020 / 4 minutes of reading

UMBC’s Sherman Center for Early Childhood Learning in Urban Communities has been leading change in this field in Maryland since 2017 through its Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Education Program (MECLP). The program’s 12-month post-baccalaureate course equips current leaders in early childhood education with the skills, knowledge, and network needed to implement effective and long-lasting change in classrooms, school districts, and nonprofits across the state. Continue Reading Maryland State Dept. of Education invests additional $150,000 in UMBC’s Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Education Program

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Struggle for justice and change: Karsonya Wise Whitehead presents UMBC’s 42nd annual Du Bois lecture

Oct 19, 2020 / 3 minutes of reading

Whitehead will present on the intersection of COVID-19, systemic racism, and anti-racist action. Her talk, “Black COVID Stories, Black Lives Matter, and Protest: A Conversation about the Ongoing Struggle for Justice and Change,” will examine the long-term societal impacts of today’s conversations about anti-Blackness, anti-racism, policing, and justice in the context of Du Bois’s research. Continue Reading Struggle for justice and change: Karsonya Wise Whitehead presents UMBC’s 42nd annual Du Bois lecture

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UMBC’s Kindel Nash’s new book shares best practices for culturally sustaining teaching in early education

Oct 12, 2020 / 4 minutes of reading

Culturally sustaining pedagogy, Nash explains, focuses on countering structures that systematically erase the culture and language of communities of color. Her book is an example of the impact teachers can have when they commit to this work. “This includes not only changing how we teach,” she says, “but whom we teach with.” Continue Reading UMBC’s Kindel Nash’s new book shares best practices for culturally sustaining teaching in early education

As demand for telemedicine swells, UMBC researchers develop strategies to scale-up services

Oct 8, 2020 / 4 minutes of reading

UMBC researchers have received a nearly $150,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study how telemedicine can be scaled more effectively, including meeting the complex training needs of medical professionals. Continue Reading As demand for telemedicine swells, UMBC researchers develop strategies to scale-up services

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Chinese American parents and children have experienced increased racism due to COVID-19, report UMBC researchers in Pediatrics

Sep 16, 2020 / 2 minutes of reading

A team of researchers led by UMBC psychology professor Charissa Cheah has found that a high percentage of Chinese American parents and children have witnessed and experienced an increase in racial discrimination since the outbreak of COVID-19. The researchers’ findings are now published in Pediatrics. Continue Reading Chinese American parents and children have experienced increased racism due to COVID-19, report UMBC researchers in Pediatrics