Policy & Society

David Lansing, GES, Awarded Ashby Prize

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“Performing Carbon’s Materiality: the production of carbon offsets and the framing of exchange,” an article by David Lansing, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, has been awarded the Ashby Prize.  The Ashby Prize is awarded by the journal Environment and Planning A to the two ‘”most innovative articles” to appear during the calendar year.  Environment and Planning A, an interdisciplinary journal of urban and regional research, publishes more than 150 articles each year.

Alumna Teresa Foster Awarded Fellowship

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Teresa Foster ’09, gender and women’s studies and history, ’11 M.A. historical studies, and a LLC Ph.D. candidate, is the winner of the 2013-2014 Wing Graduate Fellowship in Colonial Chesapeake History from the Maryland Historical Society. The purpose of the Wing Fellowship is to assist a graduate student in undertaking a significant project in Chesapeake colonial history.

Shawn Bediako, Psychology, To Speak at Symposium

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Shawn Bediako, associate professor of psychology, will speak at the 4th Annual Roland B. Scott Memorial Symposium.  The topic of the symposium is “Pain in Sickle Cell Disease: Pain: Myths, Facts, and Stigma.” The symposium will take place on May 7 at the Howard University Hospital.  For more information, see the flyer below.

Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun

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In his latest Baltimore Sun column, UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller explores how the 2010 and 2012 elections put Maryland on “a steady path toward leading a new vanguard of progressive policy and politics in the United States.” Maryland voters last year approved both the Dream Act and marriage rights for same-sex couples. This year the Maryland General Assembly has prioritized raising the gas tax and repealing the death penalty. Although a plastic bag tax and bottle deposit bill failed, Schaller suggests both proposals are gaining support and might pass in the coming years. “Already one of America’s… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun

Constantine Vaporis, Asian Studies, Invited to Summer Institute

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Constantine Vaporis, professor of history and director of the Asian studies program, has been invited to attend “India’s Past and the Making of the Present,” a National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute for college and university faculty sponsored by the Community College Humanities Association. This four-week institute, which will take place in Delhi, Agra, and Varanasi  this July, is designed to be an intense, interdisciplinary engagement with Indian history and culture, providing participants with a rich interplay of resources, seminars, and site visits.  It will introduce participants to the most current scholarly perspectives on India, broadening and deepening their… Continue Reading Constantine Vaporis, Asian Studies, Invited to Summer Institute

Judah Ronch, Erickson School, in McKnight’s

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In a new guest column for McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Erickson School Dean Judah Ronch explores how technology can enhance relationships between older adults with dementia and their caregivers, and also clarifies misconceptions about technology as panacea for compassionate caregiving. He writes, Technology is not valuable as an (expensive) electronic attendant to deterioration. It is a vehicle that can help the person restore, replace, and compensate for the assault on identity of self that is dementia through pleasurable experiences with others (remote and on site), and by experiencing the pleasure found in successfully meeting challenges through problem solving – like… Continue Reading Judah Ronch, Erickson School, in McKnight’s

Dennis Coates, Economics, in the Tampa Bay Times

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“How much do the Tampa Bay Rays boost their local economy?” asks the Tampa Bay Times. In arguments for building a new stadium, St. Petersburg mayor Bill Foster estimates the team’s local economic impact at $100 million a year, but experts, including UMBC economics professor Dennis Coates, question the assumption that stadiums have a notable economic benefit to their home cities. Coates explains that when a couple spends $100 for dinner and a movie, much of that money goes to waiters, ticket takers and other local workers and suppliers, who in turn spend their paychecks on rent and food, creating… Continue Reading Dennis Coates, Economics, in the Tampa Bay Times

“Plutopia” by Kate Brown, History, Reviewed in Nature

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“Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters” by Kate Brown, associates professor of history, was recently reviewed by Nature. “A multitude of…harrowing accounts fills the pages of Plutopia, a ‘hidden history’ of two communities — one American, one Soviet — that fuelled the nuclear arms race. Unusually, historian Kate Brown inter­viewed dozens of frontline workers for her meticulously researched account of how these two remote towns became indelibly linked by plutonium, and by catastrophic radioactive contamination,” the reviewer writes. “Plutopia has important messages for those managing today’s nuclear facilities, arguing for caution and transparency,”… Continue Reading “Plutopia” by Kate Brown, History, Reviewed in Nature

Amy Froide, History, Elected President of the Middle Atlantic Conference on British Studies

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Amy Froide, associate professor of history, has been elected President of the Middle Atlantic Conference on British Studies (MACBS). The MACBS is the Mid-Atlantic regional affiliate of the North American Conference on British Studies, which is a scholarly society dedicated to all aspects of the study of British civilization. The NACBS sponsors a scholarly journal, the Journal of British Studies, online publications, an annual conference, as well as several academic prizes, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate essay contests.  The MACBS annual conference will be held at Lehman College of the City University of New York on March 23-24, 2013.

Gerontology Honor Society Gives Back to Local Seniors

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Sigma Phi Omega (SPO) is the national academic honor society in gerontology, for professionals who work with or on behalf of older persons. The UMBC chapter of SPO, Delta Lambda, has been tremendously active this year with volunteer activities, nurturing an ongoing relationship with Catholic Charities of Maryland, specifically two independent senior living apartment buildings near UMBC: DePaul House and St. Joachim House. Delta Lambda has been assisting Congregate Housing Services (CHS) with a project to interview residents about their personal journeys coming to live at DePaul and St. Joachim, as well as their experiences utilizing the CHS program. These… Continue Reading Gerontology Honor Society Gives Back to Local Seniors

Manil Suri, Mathematics, on the Marc Steiner Show

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Manil Suri, professor of mathematics, was a guest on the Marc Steiner show on March 14 to discuss his new book “The City of Devi.” Steiner asked Suri how he reconciles his background in mathematics with the spiritual themes that run through his books, which feature Hindu deities. “There’s a lot of contrast. On the one hand, I’m very enamored by these ideas from spirituality and almost mysticism,” “But on the other hand, the logical part of me says, ‘hey, wait a minute, that’s not really what’s happening.’” The full segment can be heard here.

Donald Norris, Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun

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Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will kick off the Associated Black Charities’ speaker series next month, sparking speculation of a possible return to politics. “This is the year I’m going to decide,” Dixon told the Baltimore Sun, of her desire to run for office again after having completed probation following her 2009 embezzlement conviction. “I’m not going to hide the fact that I enjoyed what I was doing during my 27 years in public office.” Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, told the Sun that the substance of Dixon’s talk might signal, more definitively, her… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun

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