Ellen Handler Spitz explains the recent surge of interest in classic folk stories

Jan 4, 2016 / 2 minutes of reading

The last five years have witnessed a wave of significant new fairy tale books. In a recent article published in the New Republic, Honors College Professor Ellen Handler Spitz explains why the fascination with classic fairy tales still exists even as the world continues to change. “The core of fairy tales seems to reach deeper—well beyond the delights and shocks caused by improbable events…towards a species of raw, non-contingent honesty and authenticity,” Spitz wrote. “It is through the sharply-focused lenses of psychology, particularly those of child development…that we can parse some whys and wherefores of our irresistible draw into these enchanted… Continue Reading Ellen Handler Spitz explains the recent surge of interest in classic folk stories

UMBC honors over 1,000 new graduates at 2015 Winter Commencement

Dec 17, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

Graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, held December 16-17, celebrate student accomplishments through over a dozen inspiring stories. Continue Reading UMBC honors over 1,000 new graduates at 2015 Winter Commencement

3D Scanning Room opens with a 90-camera flash

Dec 14, 2015 / 3 minutes of reading

UMBC’s Imaging Research Center (IRC) has debuted the 3D Scanning Room, featuring new software that allows 3D models to be created by combining dozens of 2D photographs. A ribbon-cutting event and brief remarks from President Freeman Hrabowski and Vice President of Research Karl Steiner were held on Tuesday, December 8. The 3D Scanning Room features 90 digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras that are set up in a circular formation around a space where people or objects are positioned for 2D photographs. The cameras take simultaneous photos, looking for features like textures and edges that reflect light. Once the photos are captured, they are… Continue Reading 3D Scanning Room opens with a 90-camera flash

Starting at Sparrows Point, humanities research amplifies voices and histories of Baltimore communities

Dec 1, 2015 / 4 minutes of reading

For 125 years, Baltimore’s Sparrows Point Steel Mill employed tens of thousands of steel workers and was a center of community life in the region. At one point the mill was the world’s largest steel producer, but after peaking in the 1960s it began a gradual decline, permanently closing its doors in 2012. Since then, UMBC students and faculty have worked to safeguard the heritage of the mill community and to amplify the voices and stories of Sparrows Point. This work has served as the springboard for a larger, ongoing project to preserve Baltimore history in neighborhoods across the city.… Continue Reading Starting at Sparrows Point, humanities research amplifies voices and histories of Baltimore communities

Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Arts, Discuss Their Octava App with The Baltimore Sun

Jun 20, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Arts, were interviewed by The Baltimore Sun’s Tim Smith about their app Octava, which is designed to enhance the audience experience at symphony orchestra performances. Read the full article on the Sun’s website here. “The app, called Octava, is aimed at enhancing the musical experience for listeners by delivering information via Wifi, synced with the music being played in the concert hall,” says Smith. In development for several years and formerly known as Symphony Interactive, the project received a $150,000 Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) grant in 2014 (read more here).

Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times

Jun 3, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

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, examines the work of Charles “Teenie” Harris, an African American staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier from the 1930s through the 1970s. Now held in the archives of the Carnegie Museum of Art, a selection of 80,000 images by Harris are now on display in “Teenie Harris Photographs: Cars,” second in a series of exhibitions that began with “Teenie Harris Photographs: Civil Rights Perspectives.” The museum “asked writers — including poets, playwrights and historians — to… Continue Reading Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times

Christopher Swan, Geography and Environmental Systems, Discusses Maryland Green Prisons Initiative in the Baltimore Sun

Apr 30, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

Christopher Swan, an associate professor of geography and environmental systems, is leading the Maryland Green Prisons Initiative, which was launched in partnership with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Baltimore Office of Sustainability and other local collaborators. As part of the program, Swan works with inmates at the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore to spruce up and test wildflowers and grasses in vacant West Baltimore lots. Swan was recently interviewed in the Baltimore Sun about the initiative. “One of the goals of the project is to bring nature into the prison,” he said. “Cities all over the place are having a… Continue Reading Christopher Swan, Geography and Environmental Systems, Discusses Maryland Green Prisons Initiative in the Baltimore Sun

Faculty and Alumni Recognized by Maryland State Arts Council

Mar 11, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

A number of UMBC faculty members and alumni received 2015 Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council. The Maryland State Arts Council awards grants to individual artists and non-profit organizations for arts programming, projects, and assistance. Timothy Nohe, visual arts, was recognized in the non-classical music composition category, while Susan McCully, theatre, and Mark Squirek ’91, history, were honored in the playwriting category. Ben Marcin ’80, economics, and Jaimes Mayhew ’10 M.F.A., imaging and digital arts, received awards in the photography category. Click here to see the complete list of winners.

Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times

Feb 23, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

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, examines a new exhibition at the Bronx Museum of Art, “Three Photographers From the Bronx: Jules Aarons, Morton Broffman and Joe Conzo,” which opens Thursday, February 26. “Over the past 40 years,” writes Berger, “our collective view of the Bronx has all too often embraced the media-driven myth of its inexorable decline. For many, the blight, addiction and poverty that plagued parts of the South Bronx in the 1970s have come to symbolize the… Continue Reading Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times

Eric Dyer, Visual Arts, in Two New York Exhibitions

Feb 16, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

Eric Dyer, Visual Arts, is featured in Wave & Particle, a group exhibition that celebrates Creative Capital’s fifteenth anniversary, at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in New York. The exhibition opened on Saturday, February 14 and will continue on display through March 21. More information is available by clicking here. His work will also be featured in Moving Image New York, a group exhibition on display at the Waterfront Tunnel in Chelsea in New York, from March 5 through 8. Additional information about Moving Image is available by clicking here.

Baltimore Dance Project (2/5 – 2/7)

Jan 20, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

On February 5, 6 and 7, Baltimore Dance Project returns to UMBC for its 31st year, featuring choreography by Dance faculty Carol Hess and Doug Hamby, and performances by Sandra Lacy and the company, with guest artists Adrienne Clancy, Jessie Laurita-Spanglet, and Matthew Cumbie. All performances will be held at 8 pm in the Proscenium Theatre in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. Carol Hess presents a new evocative work for five women, and Lightfield, a multimedia event that fuses choreography with a mix of both live and recorded video manipulated by dancers interacting with an onstage Kinect camera. Doug Hamby presents Red Wings of Desire,… Continue Reading Baltimore Dance Project (2/5 – 2/7)

Amadi Azikiwe, violin, and Mikael Darmanie, piano (2/5)

Jan 20, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

On Thursday, February 5 at 8:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall, the Department of Music presents violinist Amadi Azikiwe in concert with pianist Mikael Darmanie. Their program will feature: • The Stream Flows by Bright Sheng • Romance in F minor, Op. 11 by Antonín Dvořak • Deliver My Soul by David Baker • Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 by Pablo de Sarasate • Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 by Ludwig van Beethoven Amadi Azikiwe, violist, violinist and conductor, has been heard in recital in major cities throughout the United States, such as New York, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., including… Continue Reading Amadi Azikiwe, violin, and Mikael Darmanie, piano (2/5)

VisualArts

Search UMBC.edu