Christopher attended the march with her mother. It was fine to have all those women political figures and great to have Evers-Williams address the rally, she said.

But, where, she asked, were the African-American women movement leaders, the thought leaders?

Read the entire article, "At ‘Realize the Dream’ March, Women Speak at Last", at RH Reality Check!

Incoming INDS major and transfer student Sophia Venero Shimabukuro was one of two undergraduate students selected to speak at the August 22 Fall Opening Meeting. Ms. Venero is a transfer student from Montgomery College where she graduated with honors as an Associates of Art, as a Phi Theta Kappa member and Vice- President and as a Montgomery Scholar. She will be majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Biological Sciences.  Ms. Venero has been awarded the UMBC Presidential Scholarship which will cover her full- time tuition for two years. She plans to volunteer at the Shriver Center with the Success Program.  Ms. Venero has also been working as the Program Manager for KEEN Greater DC, which is a non-profit dedicated to providing exercise and recreational activities to persons with disabilities. Ms. Venero aims to become either a Physician or Physician's Assistant.  She is pleased to be joining INDS, and we are pleased to have her!

Federal Work-Study (FWS)

To the UMBC Community:

We are pleased to announce the establishment of two new academic departments in UMBC's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: the Department of Gender and Women's Studies and the Department of Media and Communication Studies.

Gender and Women's Studies (GWST) is one of the oldest interdisciplinary programs at UMBC. It has offered a minor since 1982, a major since 2007, and introduced a new minor in Critical Sexuality Studies in Fall 2012, which together enroll more than 90 students. Its four core faculty and 29 affiliate faculty representing 15 departments have built a strong record of innovative scholarship and teaching. GWST core faculty also contribute to the Language, Literacy, and Culture; Asian Studies; and Global Studies curricula and to the BreakingGround initiative through the Women Involved in Learning and Leadership (WILL) program.

In its brief history, Media and Communication Studies (MCS) has grown in majors, curricular offerings, and scholarly impact. In the fall of 2007, the fledgling MCS program had 29 majors. As it prepares to begin its sixth year, it has more than 270. MCS graduates at least 50 students each year and has graduated more than 160 to date. This fall MCS will debut a curriculum featuring new coursework in critical media literacy, digital production skills, and media and globalization.

Please join me in congratulating our colleagues on their accomplishments and acknowledging the hard work and commitment of Dr. Carole McCann and Dr. Jason Loviglio, who will serve as the chairs of our newest departments.

After their successful Artscape concert in July, Straight Up Tribal has been invited by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts to perform on the Main Stage at the Baltimore Book Festival on Sunday September 29th at 3pm. 

The world music group, co-founded in 2008 by Interdisciplinary Studies Assistant Director Steven McAlpine and UMBC alumni Trey Kulp, Abhik Saha, Bryan Lee, Asif Majid, and Eddie Chen, has recently released an album of original songs available in the UMBC bookstore.