The UMBC Office of the Vice President for Research has issued a Call for Applications for the NEH 2017 Summer Stipends program as a Limited Submission Opportunity. UMBC may select two nominations to advance to full proposals to be submitted to the NEH by September 29, 2016. The deadline for internal nominations is July 15, 2016.

NEH Summer Stipends support individuals in advancing research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources. Though this is an NEH program, many faculty members in the arts and social sciences work on projects that the NEH might fund. 

Summer Stipends support projects at any stage of development. Outright awards of $6,000 will be given for two consecutive months of full-time research during summer 2017. 

Click here for more information on the NEH program.

Contact Rachel Brubaker, Assistant Director for Grants and Program Development, Dresher Center for assistance (lead time is essential).

Kimberly Moffitt recently joined The Baltimore Sun’s “Roughly Speaking” podcast with Dan Rodricks to discuss the state of the 2016 presidential campaign and Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement that he will not be endorsing Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

Moffitt appeared on the program with Republican analyst Richard Cross, and they covered a range of topics, including Gov. Hogan’s stance on the presidential election and national political scene.

“Although we are often considered a blue state in national politics, I think Hogan recognized that his success as our governor had a lot to do with Democrats as well as Independents to help catapult him toward the role he is currently serving for us now,” Moffitt explained on the program. “Recognizing that, I think seeing Trump as a polarizing figure, he said that I must take a different stance.”

Discussing voter perceptions of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Moffitt shared that many voters consider her polarizing due to her length of time and extended scrutiny on the national political scene, as well as many voters tying her to the impact of policies that originated under President Bill Clinton’s administration.

Listen to the full podcast “Larry Hogan walks away from Donald Trump” on The Baltimore Sun‘s website.

Moffitt also recently appeared on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show to reflect on the remake of the classic miniseries Roots after the entire series had aired. Listen to Moffitt’s complete analysis on The Marc Steiner Show website.

Image: Kimberly Moffitt in her office. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

This story, by Max Cole, originally appeared here. 

The Zika outbreak has brought renewed attention to strategies for controlling pest populations across the country. Dawn Biehler, an associate professor of geography and environmental systems, recently joined WYPR’s “Humanities Connection” program to explain how the humanities can help inform environmental research on pest and rodent control.

“Studying unwanted animals like rats and mosquitoes might seem more a topic for the natural or health sciences than for the humanities,” Biehler said during her segment, which aired June 24 on WYPR. “But humanities disciplines can open up important ways of understanding humans’ relationships with the creatures we call pests.”

Biehler is leading a research team that is working on anextensive study to determine whether a neighborhood having more mosquitoes translates to a greater risk of disease transmission. The researchers are focusing on West and Southwest Baltimore neighborhoods to study how abandoned buildings can sustain mosquito populations.

In her “Humanities Connection” segment, Biehler explained that legacies of discrimination and urban planning have led to current patterns of infestation, and her research team is engaging residents in environmental and political action to make communities healthier and to advocate for better mosquito control. As part of the Baltimore Mosquito Study, residents have been working on producing community photography and oral histories to tell the stories of the environments they live in.

“Perhaps these stories of environmental past and present can help us understand what we need to do today to help make Baltimore healthier,” Biehler said.

Listen to the full segment on the Maryland Humanities website.

Image: Asian Tiger Mosquito. Photo by frankieleon, CC by 2.0. 

This story, by Max Cole, originally appeared here. 

A year after the death of Freddie Gray and the Uprising that followed, a group of UMBC students went out into the neighborhoods directly affected by the events of last year to interview residents and examine important social, political, and economic issues. The final product was a powerful and influential radio series that aired on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show last month.

The students were part of the spring semester’s American studies course “Radio in American Culture.” As part of the class, students worked with the Center for Emerging Media’s host Marc Steiner and senior producer Stefanie Mavronis ’12, political science and media and communication studies, and American studies associate professor and chair Nicole King to produce the radio segments. The series, titled “The World that Brought us Freddie Gray,” examined the legal system, policing and police-community relations, education, housing, and the current situation that Baltimore faces and solutions.

The course was part of the ongoing Baltimore Tracesproject, a collaborative teaching initiative bringing together several disciplines to produce media focused directly on Baltimore residents and neighborhoods. In previous years, the project has produced radio segments related to deindustrialization and the Station North and Highlandtown/Greektown neighborhoods.

After “The World that Brought us Freddie Gray” aired, student producers Turrel David ’16, media and communication studies and American studies, and Dalton Maize ’18, media and communication studies and sociology, participated in a roundtable discussion reflecting on their work and the impact of their radio series.

To listen to each podcast and for a list of students and interviewees involved in the project, visit The Marc Steiner Show website. Learn more about the Baltimore Traces project.

Image: The Creative Alliance at The Patterson, where community events related to Baltimore Traces have been held. Photo by UMBC New Media Studio. 

This article, by Max Cole, originally appeared here.