News and Updates about UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Tom Lagana, Music, was interviewed for a feature article in the Capital Gazette on his forthcoming third album, Volume 1. “It’s called Volume 1 because it’s the first record I’m playing all nylon string,” the guitarist told the Capital Gazette. Also featured on the recording is electric bass play Tom Baldwin, an affiliate artist in the Department of Music. Click here to read the full story, published on Monday, August 25.
Who are we and where have we been are questions fundamental to the human existence that are studied by UMBC students as part of a well-rounded liberal arts education. Scott Casper, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and Professor of History, recently provided a commentary on WYPR’s Humanities Connection in which he advocated for studying the humanities as a way to prepare students for a thoughtful and civically engaged life. “In a world of polarized politics and cost-benefit analysis, our realm of possibilities is often cast as ‘either-or’: Republican or Democratic, guns or butter, right or wrong. A liberal… Continue Reading Scott Casper, Dean of the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, on WYPR’s Humanities Connection
History Professor Kate Brown will speak at this year’s Baltimore Book Festival, which runs from September 26-28. The festival features hundreds of appearances from local, celebrity and nationally-known authors. More than 100 exhibitors and booksellers will be on hand at the festival with readings, workshops and panel discussions also on the agenda. Brown is scheduled to present a talk on Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m. as part of the Ivy Bookshop author tent. She will be discussing her award-winning book, Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters (Oxford University Press, 2013), in which she tells… Continue Reading Kate Brown, History, To Speak at Baltimore Book Festival
In his latest column in The Baltimore Sun, Political Science Professor and Chair Thomas Schaller wrote about two major developments that have the potential to revolutionize collegiate athletics: an NCAA ruling that gave five major conferences greater autonomy and a federal judge ruling that stated the NCAA violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by profiting from the images of student-athletes without compensating them. When referring to the ruling in the federal case O’Bannon v. NCAA, Schaller wrote, “legal experts further believe that because the O’Bannon ruling vacates the NCAA’s long-cherished amateurism exception, a series of follow-up rulings may follow, including the resolution of a key… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, Op-Ed in The Baltimore Sun
As the race for Maryland governor picks up in intensity in the coming weeks heading into the fall, Public Policy Professor and Chair Donald Norris was in the news this past week providing analysis on the state of the campaign. “It’s clearly Anthony’s to lose,” said Norris in an August 14 article in The Baltimore Sun when referring to Democratic candidate Anthony Brown’s chances of winning the election. In a separate article, Norris commented on an event held at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) Convention in which Brown and Republican candidate Larry Hogan appeared separately to avoid face-to-face confrontation. “There’s no… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in The Baltimore Sun and on FOX 45
Irene Chan, Visual Arts and Asian Studies, is featured in an interview published by Women’s Studio Workshop (WSW), an arts center she first visited back in 1996 as a studio intern. She speaks about the development of her artwork, her use of materials, and her projects about racial and cultural identity. Read the interview here on WSW’s website.
In the latest essay for his Race Stories column in The New York Times, Maurice Berger, research professor at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, shares his take on the thousands of photographs flooding out of Ferguson, Missouri. “Historically, photography was integral to the fight against racism and segregation. Leaders from Sojourner Truth to Malcolm X embraced the photograph’s potential as evidence and its ability to combat stereotypes,” writes Berger. “But sometimes, as in Ferguson, the camera has served as a more spontaneous ‘weapon of choice,’ as the photographer Gordon Parks called it, wielded by the oppressed in moments of anger, fear or… Continue Reading Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times
Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Arts, in partnership with the School of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park, have received a $150,000 Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) grant for their work on the tablet app, Symphony Interactive. MII was created as a partnership between the State of Maryland and five Maryland academic research institutions (Johns Hopkins University; Morgan State University; UMCP; University of Maryland Baltimore; and UMBC), and is managed by TEDCO, created by the Maryland State Legislature in 1998 to facilitate the transfer and commercialization of technology from Maryland’s research universities and federal labs into the… Continue Reading Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Art, Awarded TEDCO MII Grant
As Psychology Professor Robert Provine puts it, “yawning may have the dubious distinction of being the least understood, common human behavior.” A recent in depth story published in BBC Future attempts to answer the baffling question of why we yawn, and Provine, one of the leading experts in the field and author of Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping, and Beyond, is quoted extensively in the story. In the article, Provine discusses how contagious yawning is: “Around 50% of people who observe a yawn will yawn in response,” Provine said. “It is so contagious that anything associated with it will trigger one…seeing or… Continue Reading Robert Provine, Psychology, in BBC Future
On Wednesday, August 13, Kimberly Moffit, associate professor of American studies, guest hosted The Marc Steiner Show on WEAA 88.9 FM. Filling in for Steiner, Moffitt led discussions on mental health in the African-American community and the Positive Social Change Theater Program, among other topics. Moffitt interacted with guests such as Dr. Grady Dale, clinical psychologist and co-founder of the American Institute for Urban Psychological Services, Mothyna James-Brightful, Visionary Director for Heal A Woman To Heal A Nation, and Koli Tengella, 2010 Open Society Institute Community Fellow and Executive Director of the Kulichagulia Project. You can listen to the complete program that aired on Wednesday by… Continue Reading Kimberly Moffitt, American Studies, Guest Hosts The Marc Steiner Show
Another successful summer for the Shriver Center’s Governor’s Summer Internship Program (GSIP) came to a close with a celebration at the Maryland State House in Annapolis on Thursday, August 7. Student interns who participated in the program presented policy papers on significant issues in Maryland government to Governor Martin O’Malley and received feedback from the governor and his staff. The Governor’s Summer Internship Program introduces Maryland college students to the unique challenges and rewards of working within state government. Interns work for ten weeks during the summer in state government agencies doing substantive tasks ranging from drafting speeches and correspondence to… Continue Reading Governor’s Summer Internship Program Holds Closing Ceremony Celebration
Can just talking and reading about bedbugs make you feel itchy? That’s a question New York Magazine set out to find the answer to in a recent post on its “Science of Us” blog. The author asked Psychology Professor Robert Provine the question and this was his response: Itching and scratching, like yawning, laughing, coughing, and vomiting, is contagious. Simply seeing someone scratching is enough to trigger your own bout of clawing, in a vain effort to rid yourself of pests, real or imagined. You don’t need to actually be bitten by a bedbug, louse, or flea — simply seeing their… Continue Reading Robert Provine, Psychology, in New York Magazine
