Donald Norris, Public Policy, Named to UAA Service Honor Roll

Feb 19, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Dept. of Public Policy, has been named an inaugural honoree of the new Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Service Honor Roll. This award recognizes Norris’s contributions to both the association and the field of urban studies. The UAA credits honorees with contributing to the current breadth and richness of the discipline. Norris will be reorganized at an award luncheon for Honor Roll inductees on April 5 at the UAA conference in San Francisco.

Leslie Morgan, Sociology & Anthropology, Honored with AGHE Award

Feb 15, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) has selected professor Leslie A. Morgan, Sociology & Anthropology, as recipient of the David A. Peterson Award for her Gerontology & Geriatrics Education article “Paradigms in the Gerontology Classroom: Connections and Challenges to Learning.” The AGHE will present Morgan with this “best paper” award at its 2013 annual meeting. The group notes, “The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in scholarship in academic gerontology.” Manuscripts are evaluated on “innovation, the soundness of their approach, and their significance to and implications for gerontology and geriatrics education.” Morgan’s research focuses on social… Continue Reading Leslie Morgan, Sociology & Anthropology, Honored with AGHE Award

Donald Norris, Public Policy, in the Gazette

Feb 12, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

In the current legislative session, Maryland Republicans plan to focus on transportation funding, school safety and the budget, writes reporter Daniel Leaderman in the Gazette. Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, doesn’t think they’ll have much success in their efforts. Norris anticipates, for example, that even with some conservative Democrats joining Republicans in opposition to bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips, those proposals are still likely to pass. In Maryland, Norris says, Republican legislators “have virtually no influence” — a position he describes as “not enviable.” Read the full article online.

Joshua Budich ’00, Visual Arts, Creates Work for the 2013 Oscars

Feb 11, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Joshua Budich ’00 is one of a small group of artists selected to create original screen prints inspired by the nine best picture nominees in this year’s Academy Awards. Budich, who created artwork based on the film Silver Linings Playbook, earned his BFA from UMBC in 2000, and currently works as an independent illustrator for a number of galleries and media-outlets around the globe. This work was commissioned by The Academy in conjunction with Gallery 1988. See all of the artwork at the Oscars’ official website. Read a Q&A with Budich at Retreiver Net.

Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun

Feb 7, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

“The desire to empower citizens directly is alluring in principle but can be very problematic in practice,” writes UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller in his latest Baltimore Sun column. Schaller is referring to the practice of using ballot referenda to impact policy, rather than working through the legislature. He writes, “Last week, top Maryland Democrats announced their intention to make it more difficult to put statewide policy referenda on the ballot. The move is a clear response to Republicans’ success last year in putting to referendum policy questions in the hope of achieving victories the GOP couldn’t win… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun

Lisa Moren, Visual Arts, a Distinguished Speaker for Hexagram-Concordia

Feb 7, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Lisa Moren, Associate Professor of Visual Arts will be speaking as part of a distinguished speaker lecture series for Hexagram-Concordia, a “center for research-creation in media arts and technology,” affiliated with Concordia University in Montreal. “Moren will present several projects that intersect technologies, phenomena and compelling narratives.” Her lecture and seminar titled “Phenomena, Ecology and Technology” and “Ecology and Economy: The Outback Stock Exchange” respectively, will discuss her personal art projects and works in progress, and their relation to current ecological issues including the health of the Australian Outback, the Chesapeake Bay and the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Learn… Continue Reading Lisa Moren, Visual Arts, a Distinguished Speaker for Hexagram-Concordia

Manil Suri, Mathematics, in the News

Feb 6, 2013 / 3 minutes of reading

Mathematics Professor Manil Suri has been in the news recently, as his latest novel, “The City of Devi,” hits bookstore shelves. On Wednesday, February 6, the Baltimore City Paper published a review of the book, saying that it “is “streamlined and cinematically purified… by narrowing his focus and heightening the emotional tenor of the city, he manages to give it a mythological quality.” Suri also spoke with the Baltimore Sun for a February 3 interview entitled “UMBC mathematician Manil Suri publishes his third novel.” This novel completes a trilogy about hindu dieties that Suri began with his 2001 book, “The… Continue Reading Manil Suri, Mathematics, in the News

Brian Neller Named America East Player of the Week

Feb 6, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Cambridge, Mass.- UMBC senior guard Brian Neller has been named America East Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for games ending Feb. 3, 2013. Neller netted a heavily-contested 25-footer with 0.5 seconds to play to propel the Retrievers to a thrilling 68-67 victory over Maine at the RAC Arena on Sat., Feb. 2. He shook off a difficult first half and hit 3-of-6 from behind the arc in the second half to finish with 12 points. On Wednesday, Neller scored a season-high 18 points, hitting 6-of-13 from behind the arc in the Retrievers’ 61-58 victory at Binghamton on Wed.,… Continue Reading Brian Neller Named America East Player of the Week

Joan Shin and Jodi Crandall Publish Book Chapters

Feb 1, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Joan Shin, clinical assistant professor of education, recently published a chapter in the 4th edition of “Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.” Jodi Crandall, professor emerita of Language Literacy and Culture, also has a chapter in the book. “Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language” is the most widely used TESOL Methods book in the world.

John Nelson and Tymofey Wowk, Education, in the Washington Post

Jan 30, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

“Since it arrived a year ago at Politics & Prose, ‘Opus,’ Washington’s first print-on-demand Espresso book machine, has helped hundreds of area scribblers realize their publishing dreams,” writes the Washington Post. Two such authors are John Nelson, Co-Director of the ESOL M.A. program, and his student Tymofey Wowk. The two used Opus to create their dream textbook, “Making English Grammar Meaningful and Useful,” which they read from at an “open-mike” night at the bookstore on January 26. The paper wrote about the reading in a January 29 story entitled “Open-mike night for self-published authors.”

Manil Suri, Mathematics, in Baltimore Magazine

Jan 30, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Baltimore magazine reviewed Manil Suri’s latest book, The City of Devi, in the February 2013 issue. Calling the book “a preculiar love story that’s both tawdry and hopeful,” the magazine says that it is “super-charged by religion, sexuality, and the overarching political conflict.” The magazine also posted a Q and A with the mathematics and statistics professor on their website, where they asked Suri about teaching a math class for non-math majors. “It taught me that without at least some basic motivation on the part of the learner, it’s simply impossible to engage people in mathematics, no matter how interesting or… Continue Reading Manil Suri, Mathematics, in Baltimore Magazine

George La Noue, Political Science and Public Policy, Shares Latest Scholarship

Jan 28, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

This week the University of Maryland law school journal Race, Religion, Gender and Class will publish George La Noue’s new article, “Defining Social and Economic Disadvantage: Are Government Preferential Business Certification Programs Narrowly Tailored?” (see abstract). La Noue is a professor of political science and public policy at UMBC. He is recognized nationally for his scholarship on education policy (K-12 and higher ed) and constitutional law, and he’s been invited to testify before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in early February. La Noue is also highly committed to undergraduate teaching and recently coauthored a paper with undergraduate student Matthew… Continue Reading George La Noue, Political Science and Public Policy, Shares Latest Scholarship