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Door to the World Meet UMBC’s 2014 Fulbright Scholars. Mitchell Donovan describes his study abroad in New Zealand as an incredibly valuable, eye-opening experience, but it didn’t quench his thirst for cross-cultural knowledge. It left him with an even greater appetite for learning. After receiving an M.S. in geography and environmental systems, Donovan is now preparing to study abroad again, this time as a Fulbright scholar in Finland. Donovan is among four UMBC students who were awarded 2014 Fulbright grants. Two earned English teaching assistantships for Indonesia: Joshua Gehret ’14, English and ancient studies, and Lauren Raubaugh ’11, English and… Continue Reading UMBC: Door to the World

Cultures of Conflict Professor Rebecca Adelman traces connections between citizenship and images of the war on terror. Flying home from New Orleans to Cleveland in August 2003, Rebecca Adelman encountered a faulty metal detector at a security checkpoint. The alarm blared as she passed through once, then again and again, until several federal agents and police officers guided her to a windowless room where she was questioned for nearly an hour. A security agent finally suggested trying a different detector, and she was deemed a non-threat after passing through the new device without triggering the alarm. Adelman, now an assistant… Continue Reading UMBC: Cultures of Conflict

Bringing the Green Back UMBC students and faculty collaborate with a Baltimore community to make a lasting impact. When Nicole King moved to Baltimore in 2008, she wasn’t very familiar with the city. Six years later, she’s developed deep connections within local communities. Firmly grounded in the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay (Baybrook) neighborhood, her class—Preserving Places, Making Spaces in Baltimore—teaches social entrepreneurship, civic engagement and environmental justice. King, an associate professor of American studies, was intrigued when she met Steve Bradley at a visual storytelling workshop several years ago. Bradley, an associate professor of visual arts, had spent time conducting research in… Continue Reading UMBC: Bringing the Green Back

The Power of Partners U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan highlights collaboration between UMBC and a Baltimore City school. Education can blaze a path to a brighter future for kids in underserved communities, particularly when students have the support they need to tap into a passion for learning. Just ask the kids at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in Southwest Baltimore. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan did just that on a recent visit to UMBC. Sixth-grader NaShaya Maxwell trumpeted her pride in Lakeland’s robotics team. Student Johanna Funes glowed with energy when she described “the many ways to get an answer”… Continue Reading UMBC: The Power of Partners

Striking Goldwater UMBC has its strongest showing ever in a prestigious scholarship program. UMBC has a national reputation for the strength of its undergraduate research offerings. It creates a campus energy directed in pursuit of discovery that is contagious–even for freshman. That energy attracted Michael Moubarek’s attention and inspired him to become involved in research almost three years ago, when he was a UMBC freshman. After hearing upperclassmen discuss their experiences and seeing flyers advertising research opportunities, Moubarek approached Charles Bieberich, a professor of biological sciences. He soon started working on prostate cancer research in Bieberich’s lab and continues to… Continue Reading UMBC: Striking Goldwater

Degree of Inspiration Theatre alumni thrive in Baltimore. With its many indie performances and off-beat exhibits, Baltimore is quickly becoming a city known for its art scene. Katie Kopajtic ’11, acting, is catching that process in real time in b.f.a. – an original web series featuring other recent UMBC graduates (many of whom were involved in the UMBC Theatre Department’s award-winning 2011 production of Las Meninas). “We were inspired by local artists doing big things,” Kopajtic explains. “We wanted to show what’s going on in Baltimore’s art scene in a way that parallels real life.” Indeed, shortly after the last… Continue Reading UMBC: Degree of Inspiration

Big Brainiacs Engineer Corey Fleischer returns to URCAD to reach the next generation of innovators. In 2005, an undergraduate researcher named Corey Fleischer ’05, and ’08, M.S., mechanical engineering, presented “Microarchitectured Egg-Box Cores for Sandwich Panels” at UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD). If that name sounds familiar, you might recognize Fleischer as the winner of Discovery Channel’s engineering-based reality competition “The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius.” After graduating, Fleischer went on to become a senior mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin, earn five patents, and establish the Baltimore Foundery, a not-for-profit space that provides Baltimore innovators with access… Continue Reading UMBC: Big Brainiacs