UMBC is proud to be named a 2019 – 2020 Fulbright Top Producing Institution, an honor granted by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. Over 2,200 U.S. students are awarded Fulbright grants annually, from hundreds of colleges and universities. Only a small portion of these institutions are designated as top producers each year. UMBC is one of 45 doctoral universities nationwide and three in Maryland to receive a Fulbright Top Producing Institution designation for 2019 – 2020. Over 43% of UMBC’s Fulbright U.S. Student Program applicants earned awards. This is the third-highest proportion among all top-producing doctoral institutions, speaking to the quality of UMBC student applications.

“The Fulbright Top Producing Institution designation honors our entire UMBC community,” reflects President Freeman Hrabowski. “It recognizes how UMBC prepares students to get beyond their comfort zones and to tackle global challenges through engagement with communities around the world.”

UMBC global ambassadors

In the last decade, UMBC has received over 60 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards. In the 2019 – 2020 academic year, fourteen students and alumni earned awards to teach, conduct research, or pursue graduate studies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, South America, and Europe. 

“These Fulbrighters serve as citizen ambassadors for the United States in their host communities, and we will benefit from the skills, knowledge, and global connections they build on their exchanges long after they return home,” shares Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.

This year, 27 UMBC students and recent alumni, a record number, have been selected as Fulbright semifinalists. This selection recognizes their academic merit, leadership potential, and vision to create solutions and serve as leaders around the world. 

Support on the Fulbright journey

Each year students must complete a rigorous application process to apply for a Fulbright. They receive support from Brian Souders, M.A. ‘19, TESOL, and Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy and culture, UMBC’s Fulbright program advisor, as well as faculty and staff across campus. This process asks applicants in all majors to provide evidence of their academic excellence, commitment to global community partnerships, and a record of leadership through service. 

“Dedicated UMBC faculty and staff mentor students and alumni annually from across the campus, from film-making and anthropology to quantum physics to mechatronics,” says Souders. “They support them through the application process, and help them prepare their work to reflect their academic purpose and goals for this globally prestigious and life-changing award.” 

Study abroad as a pathway to Fulbright

Many future Fulbright recipients begin their international experience with study abroad through International Education Services. This UMBC office offers students opportunities to study and research internationally as early as the summer before their incoming year. In UMBC’s 2019 – 2020 Fulbright class, ten out of fourteen recipients had already pursued research and education abroad. For the 2018 – 2019 class, that number was six out of eight recipients. 

“Studying abroad gives students that first foundational taste of being in a new global environment,” shares Caylie Middleton, associate director of education abroad. “International academic, social, and cultural experiences help develop the curiosity and skills that prepare students for prestigious international opportunities in the future.”

Fulbrighters have also participated in other international opportunities, including with student organizations like Engineers Without Borders, class-based online international exchanges like Global Engineering, faculty-led study abroad courses, and online language exchanges, which UMBC offers in Spanish and Japanese. 

Souders is proud that so many Retrievers are accessing opportunities for international learning experiences, through Fulbright and a broad range of other UMBC international programs. The Top Producer accolade is a milestone that represents an important trend—more UMBC students and recent alumni are researching, learning, and teaching abroad each year.

“Retrievers have a deep understanding of the value of diverse experiences, identities, and cultures,” Souders says. “They know that the world they dream of can only be made possible by reaching together in mutual understanding.”

Feature image: Souders with UMBC’s 2019 – 2020 Fulbright U.S. Student recipients. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 unless otherwise noted.

Heading into International Education Week, November 18 – 22, UMBC is celebrating the expansion of international learning opportunities and partnerships. UMBC is reaching beyond traditional study abroad frameworks to prepare students for global careers, including through virtual exchange programs. At the same time, UMBC continues to welcome talented scholars from around the world to join the campus community, honoring their contributions to UMBC and the relationships they grow during their time on campus.

Virtual international learning at home: Engineering with Portugal

Many college students pursuing STEM majors assume that international learning isn’t an option for them. This might be because they need to complete specific, sequential course requirements, or because they want to focus on internship and research opportunities. In recent years, however, many UMBC STEM students have taken advantage of international learning opportunities where they can fulfill course requirements, complete internships, or do research while abroad, or build international connections while on campus at UMBC. 

Aliyah Smith’s experience shows one way to approach this. Smith ‘19, mechanical engineering, completed a nine-week research internship at the University of Oxford, followed by a semester studying in the United Arab Emirates. Some of her engineering classmates have taken a different approach: virtual international learning.

That virtual experience is the innovation of Marc Zupan, associate professor of mechanical engineering. Zupan’s Global Engineering course helps UMBC students prepare to solve complex, large-scale challenges by collaborating remotely with engineering students in Portugal. Students apply advanced technical knowledge as well as communication, teamwork, and cultural awareness skills to their projects. Teammates in the U.S. and Portugal connect through communication tools like Skype and Slack.

The Global Engineering class has been held with the University of Porto in Portugal for five years. Three years ago Zupan added to the course a collaboration with La Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, and he’s working to expand it further. 

The class is guided by one principle, Zupan says: “The answer to the planet’s environmental and social problems can be met and overcome through collaborative cross-cultural engineering.” 

“This isn’t treated as a class project, but a simulated professional experience to prepare students for an international workplace,” Zupan explains. “The cross-cultural aspect of the course is crucial. By learning how to manage a project with classmates that have a completely different cultural and social framework, students must work through differences and learn how to solve a problem together.  Cross-cultural engineering delivers a more unique creative solution to engineering challenges.”

Building empathy online through Spanish history

Ana Oscoz, professor of modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, has created the virtual course Spanish Cultures and History, designed to provide a robust international experience for students who aren’t able to travel abroad. 

Oscoz worked with colleagues at the Universitat de València and La Universidad Complutense de Madrid to create a Spanish-language course focused on how Spain’s past affects its current social and political climate. Students work in small groups and use a variety of digital communication tools to manage their collaborative class projects through different time zones. 

“For me, the class is not only about history but about learning how to empathize with others who have different histories,” says Oskoz. “The greatest takeaway is having students in both countries say, ‘I didn’t know this could be looked at another way.’”

Learning from non-native English speakers in an online TESOL exchange

When Shannon Sauro, assistant professor of education, came to UMBC, she brought with her a virtual exchange program for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) that she began in Sweden five years ago. The future educators she has worked with hail from countries around the globe, and many are not native English speakers. “For many students,” she says, “English was their third or fourth language,” and their perspectives have proved invaluable for classmates who are native English speakers.

At UMBC, Sauro offers upper-level courses that integrate virtual exchange to challenge and build students’ critical thinking, teamwork, and cross-cultural skills. She also offers training in virtual collaboration to interested faculty across all fields.

“Teaching TESOL means working often with vulnerable populations and deepening the knowledge of the role of the teacher,” shares Sauro. “Virtual exchanges build empathy and emphasize the humanity in all of us.”

Refining language skills: Bilingual exchange with Japan

Virtual exchanges are also useful for students working to learn a second language, as they can enhance students’ pronunciation skills and their understanding of a language’s cultural context. Tomoko Hoogenboom, senior lecturer in modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, worked with colleagues at Nanzan University in Japan to implement a bilingual virtual exchange for Nanzan students studying English and UMBC students studying Japanese. 

The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program is part of a partnership between the American Council of Education and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The institutions have provided a combined $9.8 million to fund such collaborations between U.S. and Japanese institutions from 2018 through 2023.

Hoogenboom explains that UMBC students in this upper-level course work on group projects with Japanese students through tools like Slack. At the end of the course, participating UMBC students have an opportunity to study in Japan on a full scholarship. 

“COIL is about a deep language and cultural learning experience. Through class projects students expand their understanding of Japanese/U.S. linguistic and cultural differences and similarities,” says Hoogenboom. “Students then leverage this knowledge to foster long-term bicultural and bilingual collaboration through their study abroad opportunity.”

Growing through shared interests: Health and athletics

Throughout the summer and fall 2019, UMBC’s partnerships with Japanese universities have continued to grow. In addition to developing a five-year agreement with Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering, focused on research collaboration, UMBC established a new kind of partnership with Nippon Sport Science University that explores broader elements of the student experience.

UMBC has an existing collaboration with Nippon Sport Science University in the area of emergency health services education. For eight days, two faculty members and five students from Nippon Sport Science University visited UMBC to develop their knowledge of English-language medical terminology and to shadow emergency responders. During the visit, Kazumi Hasegawa, director of international marketing at UMBC’s English Language Institute, connected these guests with UMBC Athletics, to explore collaboration opportunities related to athletics, recreation, and the student experience.

“We are looking forward to the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from Nippon Sport Science University,” says Jessica Hammond-Graf, UMBC’s interim director of athletics. “Sport is a wonderful way to celebrate our shared values and it can and should serve as a great unifier between our cultures.”

Hosting professional development for visiting faculty through the Fulbright program

UMBC also regularly hosts faculty and students from other countries on campus for longer periods of time through international exchanges and through professional development opportunities. Recently, education instructors Doaa Rashed, M.A. ’08, ESOL and bilingual instructional systems development, and Ph.D. ’17, language, literacy and culture, and Mary Tabaa, M.A.‘00, ESOL and instructional development systems, hosted a Fulbright Junior Faculty Development Program professional development with TESOL and linguistics faculty from Egypt. This specific Fulbright program is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of State and AMIDEAST, a U.S. nonprofit that works to strengthen cooperation between Americans and the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa.

Visiting faculty represented Pharos University, the University of Modern Sciences and Arts, Minoufiya University, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Al-Azhar University, and the American University in Cairo. Each was paired with a UMBC faculty mentor for their ten-week stay, working together to conduct TESOL and linguistics research and examine best practices in those fields, as well as providing student support with diverse learning styles and internship and employment support. Their goal was to gather new insights to implement at their home campus.

“It is one thing for international partners to hear how UMBC is diverse and inclusive, it is another to actually see how it works in person,” reflects Rashed. “The success of this program, one we hope to continue, depends on the continued committed of the entire campus to the preparation of teachers from all over the world. This is where the real-life implementation of diversity and inclusion is invaluable.”

Since the participants have returned to their home institutions, their joint research has continued through virtual collaboration. In December, the Egyptian faculty will present their work to Fulbright Egypt. 

Combining science and cultural immersion in Spain

While UMBC continues to expand the range of available international learning experiences, some students are still looking for a more traditional study abroad, but don’t quite know how to access it in a way that works for them.

Like Marc Zupan, Ivan Erill, associate professor of biological sciences, wanted to help STEM students see international learning as a real possibility. Erill developed a STEM study abroad program at La Universitat Pompeu Fabra in his hometown of Barcelona, Spain. Students earn UMBC credit for biology and Spanish courses, while also being immersed in Spanish culture.

The six-week program ran for the first time in summer 2019. “I have learned that our students are very receptive to other cultures and ways of seeing life, and that being exposed to other cultures makes them both challenge and appreciate their own culture,” Erill says.

Erill’s goal for the program is to help students expand their sense of what is possible in their future careers as scientists. This includes the options of completing a graduate study abroad or collaborating with scientists in other countries. “I have witnessed a gradual change in students’ perception of the quality and breadth of scientific research outside the U.S.,” he shares. 

Pauline Rozario ’20, biological sciences, says the program has expanded her vision of her future career. “I would love to travel abroad for my future career path in medicine after I graduate from UMBC,” she shares. 

Jessica Kweon ’22, biological sciences, had a similar reaction after visiting the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, which she noted had “incredible image-processing capabilities.” In addition to thinking more deeply about a possible research career in biology, she’s increasingly reflecting on the cultural factors that shape her perspective, as a scientist and as a person. 

Throughout International Education Week, UMBC is hosting a range of opportunities for all community members to connect with Retrievers with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and to learn about international learning and teaching programs.

This news story was reported in collaboration with Sarah Hansen, M.S.’15, biology, and Megan Hanks.

Banner image: UMBC Commons international flags. All images by Marlayna Demond ’11, unless otherwise noted.

In their work with communities in Baltimore, the Latino Racial Justice Circle (LRJC) observed a recurring issue: immigrant, white American, and African American communities share faith-based spaces but rarely engage in community dialogue. As a result, members of these communities may never get to know each other – or may even live in fear of each other. 

Through a partnership with LRJC, UMBC’s Felipe Filomeno, professor of political science and global studies, a member of LRJC, and Tania Lizarazo, assistant professor of modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication and global studies, worked to develop, design, execute, evaluate, and disseminate the Honest Conversations on Immigration project. Through a course of dialogue, interviews, and digital storytelling, the program aims to foster dialogue between U.S.-born citizens and immigrants.

“Our goal as researchers was to use dialogue and digital stories as two ways to bring different communities together around religion, race, and immigration,” explains Filomeno, “and through that process create the potential to change the relationships within individuals, and between communities and society for the better.”

Community intersections

The Latino Racial Justice Circle (LJRC) is a volunteer, faith-based, immigrant support group based in Baltimore. It funds legal services, scholarships, and advocacy for federal immigration reform on behalf of Latino communities. This new project – similar to one addressing racism that has been implemented in more than 18 Catholic parishes in Baltimore – aims to bring faith-based groups from different backgrounds together to reveal their commonalities and build on shared strengths.

“We fear what we don’t know. And what we need to learn is vast,” shares Ryan Settler, president of the Maryland Chapter of Call To Action (CTA), a progressive social justice organization that created the Racial Justice Circle (RJC ) five years ago. “Immigrant and refugee stories in the media leave us confused, concerned, and even fearful.  Honest Conversations begins to address those concerns.”

Through the Honest Conversations projects, volunteers from the LRJC, immigrants, and U.S.-born citizens in faith communities agree to engage in dialogue about perceptions of immigration and race. These initial steps towards understanding highly politicized issues can lead to collective action for racial justice and immigrant rights. 

“Our project crosses boundaries between the humanities and the social sciences, academia and community, between immigrants and U.S.-born citizens, inner-city and suburbs,” explains Filomeno.

https://youtu.be/YFAKEE-X3EQ

Defining dialogue

The goal of the Maryland Humanities-funded project is for communities to move from confusion and anger to collaboration. For that to happen, participants first took part in two group dialogues consisting of 12-14 members from three faith-based communities. The dialogues were followed by the collection and sharing of personal experiences of religion, race, and immigration in Baltimore through digital storytelling. Both processes centered around the power of community dialogue to create respectful places in which difficult conversations might be had.

“Dialogue is a process of listening to others with the purpose of understanding. It does not aim to pass judgment, ‘just talk,’ mediate, debate, or negotiate,” explains Filomeno. He led the scientific implementation of structured dialogue and provided a framework for active listening. He also served as the facilitator at four churches in and around Baltimore: St. Ann’s Catholic Church; St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church; Church of the Annunciation; and St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church.

“Because the dialogues happened in a familiar shared faith space the participants began with prayer, which was an entry point into a shared experience,” explains Filomeno. “I was then able to support where the participants wanted to take the conversation and guide them through clarifications,” he reflects.

Giuliana Valencia, co-chair for the LRJC, found the structured talks powerful and hopes other faith-based organizations will begin the program in their communities. “We recognize dialogue is the best way to change the human heart,” Valencia shares. “No matter how controversial the topic, you can always find common ground.”

Dialogue through digital storytelling

Digital storytelling is another key aspect of community-engaged research because it shifts the focus from the researcher creating information towards information being created by the community.

“Collaborative audiovisual pieces can share personal perspectives. These not only complement academic writing but help disrupt mainstream narratives as the only sources of knowledge,” explains Lizarazo. They can also create new ways for academics to think about primary sources. “Digital stories can serve as primary sources in different fields because they engage audiences and give access in ways writing doesn’t.” 

This type of community-based digital storytelling also addresses the issue of access. Lizarazo explains how academic journals, while useful in academic circles, also limit who shares in the knowledge. The power of digital storytelling is in its accessibility – often opening spaces for nonacademic conversations through social media networks. “These stories where the narrative and the message is controlled by the community member can be used for pedagogical and research purposes,” notes Lizarazo. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PNZi3PyZyE

The digital stories Lizarazo helped create for Honest Conversations on Immigration present personal experiences of faith, race, and immigration in Baltimore. Some delve into the first reactions of relocation to Baltimore. Others focus on employment experiences as well as how faith-based organizations supported their transition into Baltimore.

The research also shows lived experience is linked to scholarship and the context in which it’s produced, explains Lizarazo, who brings a personal component to her work. “As a Colombian immigrant, I understand first-hand global hierarchies of passports that affects mobility. I also know how stereotypes affect people’s daily life and recognize the privilege a tourist, student, and work visa brings.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5AzE_wQszA&authuser=1

Romi Pal ‘20, assisted Lizarazo in recording, transcribing, and producing the video testimonials along with a multimedia story for the overall project. Pal appreciated the opportunity to see the theories about race and immigration, learned through her global studies and political science majors, play out first-hand in a unique and relevant project.

Similar to Lizarazo, Pal was drawn to the project because of her immigrant background. “The dialogue emphasized how immigrant communities are not a monolith,” notes Pal. “As the daughter of immigrants myself, it made me feel thankful for the sacrifices my parents made when they came to the U.S. Baltimore still has a long way to improve race relations within religious communities.” 

Lessons from Baltimore communities help others 

After the talks, Filomeno and Lizarazo presented the research results to the general public at the Enoch Pratt Southeast Anchor Library in Highlandtown. The data revealed that private structured group dialogues had great advantages.

With the support of faith leaders and in collaboration with familiar community organizations, Honest Conversations on Immigration helped facilitate critical dialogue about controversial topics in a respectful manner. Participants also developed empathy toward each other and organized a multi-parish potluck as an initial step to collaborate across differences.

This initial project serves as a foundation for organizations across the United States who are working with similar issues and need support. Filomeno has created a digital guide for communities outside of Baltimore to implement their own Honest Conversations on Immigration project.

“As xenophobic discourses become mainstream,” notes Lizarazo, “I’m committed to learning and collaborating with members of immigrant communities. I want to help produce knowledge and show the nuances of our experiences.”

Learn more about Honest Conversations on September 10, 4 – 5:30 p.m., in the Theatre Rehearsal Space of the Performance Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB 127) at UMBC.

Banner image: (L-R) Pal getting ready to record and Lizarazo storyboarding with participant.  All images and digital stories courtesy of the Honest Conversations project.

In the corner of the Performing Arts building, a haunting melody rises up in goosebump-inducing refrain and is suddenly interrupted by a quick stamping foot and an insistent correction. In a gruff but kind voice, the director of UMBC’s Russian Chorus rectifies the soloist’s rolled “r”s and the group immediately begins singing again, at ease with the complex syllables of the Russian ballad, even though some of them speak no Russian outside of this hour long course twice a week.

The chorus is one of only three like it in the whole country. Yale and the University of Chicago also boast ensembles, making UMBC’s group something of an anomaly. At the heart of the choir is the director: Slava Liberman, a formally trained choral director from Belarus who moved to Maryland with his family in the early 1990s. His passion for the folk traditions in Russian classical music has not faded in the two decades directing at UMBC; and his current group of students and alumni performers are enthralled with the world of Russian music to which Liberman holds the key.

“I love working with Slava,” says junior Felicia Jones, modern languages and linguistics. “He is the first chorus instructor I have ever had that is so passionate about what he does. He gives me a clear idea of how he wants things sung, and he always will make time for me if I feel that I need extra time to work on a certain song.”

Vira Zhdanovych, the Russian Club advisor, instructor of Russian, and herself an accomplished mezzo-soprano, sees the chorus as a compelling aspect of the Russian community on campus. Often, she says, her students need to be encouraged with a little extra credit to begin participating, but once Liberman connects them to these historic songs, they keep coming back—even as alumni.

“The chorus was an amazing way to learn a language through experience,” says Logan Dean ’17, political science and social work, who joined the group in 2017 while in Russian 101. Currently a financial aid counselor at UMBC, Dean says that Liberman is the reason he spends his lunch breaks returning to sing songs like Katyusha, The Long Road, and Moscow Nights.

“There is something about seeing someone so passionate about something, it just really motivates you,” Dean says. “He regularly tells us to stop laughing at him when he’s stomping his feet and shouting in Russian, but all his actions happen because he has a vision for us and for the music and it gives him this intense energy about directing.”

Liberman says he plans on continuing the Russian Chorus until he’s no longer able or allowed. He turns to a poetic Russian phrase to describe its effect on the students and campus alike: “Луч света в тёмном царстве,” which translates as “the brightest light in the darkest kingdom.” Watching his American students overcome linguistic barriers, learn to sing Russian vowels, or fall in love with folk music of the 20th century is a moment of watching that light shine. “For me, it’s a big privilege to work with these American students. Each time when I hear they are doing better, it’s like a victory.”

“I think everyone should find their version of Russian Chorus,” says Dean. “Something weird and maybe unusual that they enjoy. It makes life more interesting and opens doors to new things that you may have never experienced otherwise.”

*****

Header image: Sheets of Russian choral music with student notes. Photo courtesy of Randianne Leyshon ’09.

UMBC students are diligently making final touches to their presentations in preparation for the 23rd annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) on Wednesday, April 24. Students’ research projects are as diverse as UMBC students themselves. This year, URCAD has highlighted research that explores diversity and inequalities through three thematic series, focusing on research about Baltimore, LGBTQ+ topics, and international topics.

These presentations affirm a core goal of URCAD. As Katharine H. Cole, vice provost and dean of undergraduate academic affairs, has shared, “UMBC encourages students of all disciplines to engage in mentored projects and through creative thought and focused inquiry, to discover in themselves their passion.”

STEM identities in Baltimore

Shadia Musa ‘19, American studies, focused her research one exploring how sixth-grade students of color at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore City come to identify with STEM fields. Through her work as a Sherman STEM Teachers Scholar, Musa explored the impact of restructuring learning environments to increase students’ involvement in STEM disciplines.

At James McHenry, where many families don’t have confidence with science and math topics due to historic inequalities in education, teachers, parents, and community organizers collaborate with each other to create more and earlier points of entry into STEM education for students, using an inquiry-based approach.

“I worked with students to identify issues important to them, like having a grocery store nearby. We then created a 3D model of the store out of cardboard,” explains Musa, who plans to continue teaching in Baltimore City. “Through this interactive process, students learned and strengthened their grouping, measurement, computation, and spatial skills as well as cooperative learning skills, and involved their families in the process.”

Musa will present Combating Academic Inequity: A Community-based Approach to Cultivating a Love for STEM within Students of Color at 2:15 p.m. in UC 310.

Intersections of LGBTQ and Jewish identities

Cliel Shdaimah ‘19, gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, researched intersecting identities in her own queer and Jewish communities through interviews with five LGBTQ rabbis in the United States and in Israel. “In the last five years I realized that I was queer and wanted to find a way into my Judaism that was natural but that also celebrated that part of myself,” explains Shdaimah.

The interviews revealed three insights into how the rabbis were managing their identities. First, they described their visibility as queer people and as Jewish family members in Jewish religious spaces. They also dealt with addressing their LGBTQ identities with social justice work. Third, the rabbis had to find ways to incorporate their values as both Jewish and LGBTQ people when interpreting Jewish religious texts and teachings.

“Through this and other research projects at UMBC I had the joy of reading feminist and queer ways of thinking and the Torah,” says Shdaimah. “I have been able to bring all of my identities to my personal life but also to my academic life through different research projects that helped me understand what my possibilities are for the future.”

Shdaimah will present Keshet L’Am: Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Rabbis on Intersecting Identities, 1-2:30 p.m. in the UC Ballroom.

Sharing complex feelings through animation

Julia Blurton-Jones ‘21, visual arts, took a very personal perspective in creating a short animation based on her experience growing up as a gay woman in Catholic private schools. Her film shares the experience of being asked to read a passage from a textbook that implied same-sex marriage should not be allowed. Through animation, she explores this dilemma of having to betray yourself and conveys the fear the protagonist is experiencing.

In her experience with members outside of the LGBTQ community, Blurton-Jones feels coming out is seen as a black and white situation—you are either in or out. But that’s a  misconception, she says.

“There is a greyness to coming out,” shares Blurton Jones. “People in the closet have to actively hide and lie a lot and pretend to disagree with homosexuality. People out of the closet have to decide to continuously come out in different environments.”

This project proved tremendously gratifying for Blurton-Jones. “I am passionate about animation,” she says. “It is a medium where I can mess with reality to portray complex feelings.”

Blurton-Jones will present “Traitor: An Animated Short” at 2:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall.

Separation of voice from body

As a sound professional, Daniel Goldstein ‘18, media and communications studies, is used to mixing different voices to convey ideas, events, and information. For his independent research project, he was interested in researching the effect on different communities of the separation of the voice from the body that occurs in voicing animations, doing voice-over narrations, and creating voices for new digital platforms.

“I wanted to think critically, holistically, and analytically about what it means to cast a specific person as a narrator or a character for animation, and how over time they have created norms about gender and race based on stereotypes,” says Goldstein.

One major example is The Simpsons, where the South Asian character of Abu is portrayed by a white male voice referencing stereotypes of English spoken with a South Asian accent. “This has many negative social and political ramifications,” says Goldstein. “Abu’s voice has been used to create voice norms for an entire community that is not adequately represented on the show.”

Goldstein also shares that he found positive examples of inclusion for a broader range of voices. He describes that theatre voice coaching has helped some members of the trans community match their voice with their identity. Also, looking at growing digital platforms, he notes, “Modern consumer technology like Alexa, Siri, and podcasts, allows traditionally non-normative voices to be successful and fulfill roles that are historically very gendered.”

Goldstein will present Will You Listen?: A Critical Analysis of Gendered and Racialized Disembodied Voices in Contemporary Media Culture at 1:15 p.m., UC 204.

Evolution of Korean art, 2013-1017

Sparked by her sister’s interest in Korean culture, Sarah Natterman ‘20, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication and Asian studies, began learning the Korean language in high school. At UMBC, she began studying Korean art, culture, and social issues in greater depth. Natterman says, “I combined both my academic and personal interests in visual and performing arts to research how the South Korean regime of Park Geun-hye in between 2013 and 2017 affected Korean contemporary art.”

Her research explored the effects of Park Geun-hye censoring 10,000 artists and how censorship restricted and grew art in Korea. As a result of the regime, Korean art developed two movements. One was reminiscent of a past cultural movement, with prominent Korean cultural themes. The other included more abstract themes for a global market. Both influenced the evolution of contemporary South Korean art and culture in the world today.

“I want people to see South Korea as a whole. Politics are important but they can often mask South Korea’s vibrant literature, culture, and theatre,” shares Natterman. She will further her study of South Korean culture next year through UMBC’s academic exchange program with Seoul National University.

Natterman will present Modern Dualism in Korean Contemporary Art at 9:45 a.m. in UC 310

Options in social work delivery

As a student of social work, Rebeccah Mann ‘19, is familiar with the U.S. social work model, which depends largely on federal, state, and local funding to provide services. She was in search of a different perspective on social work delivery models. Through the University Studies Abroad Consortium, Mann enrolled in a social work program at the University of Ghana.

She found that in Ghana there isn’t a vast network of federal, state, or local funding. Social workers in Ghana pursue a more creative and collective approach to fundraising to support the delivery of social work services.

“Through local sales of goods, international sponsors, and a barter system, organizations could be paid for the services they provided and communities could continue to access those needed services,” says Mann. “The innovation has inspired me to see possibilities instead of obstacles as I become a professional social worker.”

Mann will present A Comparison Between Social Service Delivery Systems in Ghana and the United States, 10-11:30 a.m. in the UC Ballroom.

URCAD guests are encouraged to learn more about the broad range of presentations on Baltimore, LGBTQ+, and international research topics. A full listing of all student presenters and their topics and presentation times is available through the URCAD website.

Banner image: URCAD 2018 by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC doctoral student Jason Ashe and new Ph.D. recipient Erin Berry-McCrea have been selected for notable national honors as emerging leaders in work to address inequalities, in health care and in educational and professional spaces.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has selected Ashe, a human services psychology doctoral student, for its prestigious Health Policy Research Scholar leadership development program. The program is designed for second-year doctoral students from underrepresented populations and disadvantaged backgrounds who want to apply their work to policies that advance equity and health. RWJF seeks to build a diverse field of health policy research leaders who reflect our changing national demographics.

Berry-McCrea, who successfully defended her dissertation in language, literacy, and culture this fall, received the 2018 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Early Career Educator of Color (ECOC) Leadership Award. Barry-McCrea’s research focuses on how millennial Black women create and utilize digital spaces and tools in navigating professional and educational experiences. The award she received recognizes educators of color in the first years of their faculty careers, providing two years of mentorship to support research development, and funding to attend the ECOC Institute and the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention.

Intersection of health and faith

Ashe is focused on applying his research on Black religious beliefs, spirituality, and racial and ethnic health disparities to develop more inclusive and responsive medical practices and to reduce health inequities.

As a first-generation American, Ashe witnessed his parents face major challenges in everyday life in The Bronx, New York, during the 1980s. Both came to the United States from Antigua in search of more opportunities. His father gained citizenship through the Navy and his mother worked as a housemaid. Growing up, Ashe recalls his parents dealing with doctors who laughed at their accents and disregarded their ailments and their belief systems.

“When I was studying pre-med chemistry, I had a lot of existential questions of life and death that I could not find answers for. At divinity school I was able to take Christian bioethics, which led me to ask more questions about people who don’t have the choice to die peacefully,” explains Ashe. “I understood then that I wasn’t interested in being a physician and focusing on palliative care, but on answering more systemic-level questions about health and dying, specifically in Black communities.”

That is what led Ashe to UMBC’s psychology Ph.D. program. “I wanted to understand the psychology of religion and health identity,” he says. “What does advocacy look like and how do we use our scholarship so that erroneous claims are not made to justify inequities in communities of color?”

Ashe found a mentor in Danielle L. Beatty Moody, psychology. The Human Services Psychology program she leads presented an avenue for him to apply his research, ideas, and innovative perspective. Moving forward, he hopes to create real change in communities of color and the medical community.

“Jason came with little exposure to psychology but came here with such a depth in math and science from MIT and two master’s degrees in theology and divinity from Duke. He wanted to bring those pieces together to create understanding around the health of Black folks,” explains Beatty Moody. “Jason was ready for the challenge of what it takes to move the needle so that we are not just talking to other academics, but applying our research to improve people’s lives.”

Creating supportive digital spaces for and by Black women

Berry-McCrea is applying her research in digital and media literacy to bring awareness to the online linguistic practices of Black women who create brave spaces to manage professional and social issues unique to their experiences.

Berry-McCrea’s graduate mentor, Christine Mallinson, professor of language, literacy and culture, and director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship, describes her work as essential for anyone concerned with educational justice and wanting to help, work with, and engage students of color in developing agency as engaged communicators.

“There’s no question that language shapes, and is shaped by, our social identities—both online and offline,” says Mallinson. “Erin’s work gives us a student-centered and culturally informed understanding of what factors shape Black collegiate women’s linguistic choices, both in terms of how they navigate the complex landscape of higher education, as well as how they find and create spaces—often online—where they can communicate in ways that are authentic to themselves.”

Berry-McCrea’s experiences in higher education both as a student and as an educator have given her a window into the many contradicting messages that Black women receive. “As I climbed the ladder of academia I saw less people like me and more people that made negative assumptions about who I was because I was Black,” she says. “I’ve also had my Black female students share their own experiences with professors that placed negative labels and expectations on them. It was very clear that to be a professional academic for Black women meant deleting any trace of themselves in the way they spoke, looked, and carried themselves.”

These experiences have led Black millennial women to create unique digital spaces, Berry-McCrea notes, and these spaces have formed the basis of her research. Berry-McCrea found that Black millennial women often seek refuge, support, and resources through the immediacy and wide geographic net of social media.

“Black collegiate women could post their experiences on social media and immediately receive validation of their experience, support from peers, and resources to move from isolation to finding a place to succeed even within these parameters without having to give up what was authentic to them,” she explains.

Berry-McCrea recently published this research in the journal Meridians, through the article “‘To My Girls in Therapy, See Imma Tell You This for Free …’: Black Millennial Women Speaking Truth to Power in and across the Digital Landscape.” She is now an assistant professor of media and communication studies at St. Augustine University in North Carolina.

Banner image: Ashe at UMBC’s 2017 Fall Opening Meeting. Photo Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Eight of UMBC’s explorers, dreamers, teachers, and thinkers will soon travel to countries across Europe and Asia as 2018 – 19 U.S. Fulbright Scholars. The grantees are all graduates of UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), representing majors in modern languages, linguistics and intercultural communication, history, english ancient studies, economics, political science, and global studies. They will research and teach English in China, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Lithuania, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Romania.

“This year’s Fulbright Scholars demonstrate the excellence of the humanities and social sciences at UMBC, as well as the centrality of global understanding to a contemporary liberal arts education,” says Scott Casper, dean of CAHSS.

UMBC’s Fulbright History

The United States government established the Fulbright Program in 1946 to increase mutual understanding between people of the U.S. and other nations around the world. Today, this “flagship international educational exchange program” is active in over 160 countries. It is highly competitive, receiving over 11,000 applications each year. Recipients are chosen based on academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential.

UMBC began participating in the Fulbright Program in 1970. Since then, Fulbright has chosen 70 UMBC students to represent the United States through research, teaching English, or pursuing graduate studies internationally. UMBC has been particularly successful in the past 5 – 10 years, seeing a major increase in the number of Retrievers—students and alumni—recognized as Fulbright Scholars.

“In the last ten years we have had 51 Fulbright recipients, with three students choosing other competitive options,” explains Brian Souders Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy, and culture, Fulbright Program advisor. “In general, we have gone from one to three recipients a year to seven to eight annually over the past five years.”

Supporting Students

UMBC’s increasing success rate is thanks to dedicated support from faculty and staff, as well as the International Education Office’s Fulbright Boot Camp. Participating students receive guidance and advice throughout the application process and access to a supportive network of peers and mentors as they plan for their journeys.

David Di Maria, associate vice provost for international education, is excited that UMBC is connecting more and more students with transformative learning experiences. In Fulbright applications over the past year, he notes, “UMBC demonstrates a higher success rate than 123 of 183 top institutions, including half of the eight Ivy Leagues.”

Di Maria believes UMBC’s substantial foreign language offerings, intercultural learning opportunities, and focus on community engagement inspire and prepare students to pursue Fulbright experiences. This year’s recipients are exploring a broad range of fields through a global lens, from urban planning to music and dance, to women’s leadership.

UMBC’s New Fulbright Scholars

Morgan Chadderton ’18, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, will teach English in Kyrgyzstan while continuing to strengthen her Russian language skills. Chadderton, a Humanities Scholar, previously studied in Kyrgyzstan as a Gilman Scholar in 2016. She looks forward to her Fulbright experience as the next step toward a foreign service career.

“I plan to work with American Corners, a program associated with the United States Embassy,” says Chadderton. “I want to create a book club, host film screenings of popular American films, and plan cooking classes.” She notes, “It’s important to me to create an immersive, informal, and educational environment similar to my first experience in Kyrgyzstan that helped me to better understand the language and culture.”

Kelly Daughtridge ’14, history, ’17 M.A., historical studies, will teach English in Macedonia. She has already visited Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and is fascinated by the cultures of the region. In addition to teaching English, Daugherty will conduct independent research on contemporary perspectives on tombs in Orthodox churches.

Inspired by her father’s cross-cultural work in the U.S. Marine Corps, Sophia Lopresti ’18, global studies, has already led humanitarian and educational trips to Nicaragua and Panama. She looks forward to teaching English in Indonesia as a Fulbright Scholar and hopes to continue her work there supporting access to oral health care.

“Helping others at home and abroad has allowed me to reflect extensively on the many privileges I have in the United States,” says Lopresti, focusing in particular on access to education and healthcare. Following her Fulbright, she will pursue graduate education in nursing or public health.

Growing up in Howard County, Maryland, Manisha Vepa ’18, economics and global studies, developed an understanding of her Indian-American identity through dance. She also found common ground with classmates from other cultural heritages, particularly Chinese- and Korean-Americans, through the arts, including orchestra. As their friendships developed, they shared food, religious, and cultural traditions. “Instead of focusing on my ‘otherness,’ I started to recognize and become comfortable with the similarities we shared and the differences that made us unique,” says Vepa.

What started as a personal interest became an academic and professional one. As a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in South Korea, Vepa hopes to use popular music as a teaching tool. She also looks forward to learning traditional Korean dance. Vepa plans to enroll in a graduate program on East Asian Affairs upon her return.

Jessica Willis ’17, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, is passionate about women’s leadership development. As a young woman, Willis enjoyed growing as a leader through the Girl Scouts, which eventually granted her its highest honors, the Gold Award. For the past year, she has served in the Maryland Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps program focused on protecting natural resources. She hopes to apply skills learned through both experiences to her work teaching English in Sri Lanka as a Fulbright Scholar. While there, she will also work with young women in the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association and other women’s groups.

Morgan Zepp ’18, global studies and English, developed a deep interest in Lithuanian culture through growing up in a community with a significant Lithuanian-American population. She looks forward to expanding her cross-cultural communications skills by teaching English in Lithuania as a Fulbright Scholar.

As a Humanities Scholar, senior editor of UMBC’s creative arts journal Bartelby, and a longtime tutor at UMBC’s Writing Center, Zepp wants to share her passion for writing to broaden students’ understanding of the English language. She shares, “I am enthusiastic about creating public workshops open to the Lithuanian community based on any kind of writing, where people can assist one another in writing and reading English-language documents.”

Flora Kirk ’18, ancient studies, will be conducting research on Roman coins at Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Romania. Her Fulbright Study/Research Award follows preliminary research conducted in Great Britain.

Kirk has traveled extensively throughout Europe, including researching and interning at museums and archaeological sites in Romania, the United Kingdom, and Italy. She has knowledge of Italian and advanced Latin. In addition to continuing her research through local museums and libraries, she looks forward to developing her Romanian conversation skills, while helping Romanian students perfect their English.

Marc Schultz ’18, political science and global studies, will return to China through a Fulbright Study/Research Award focused on urban development after previously studying at the Harbin Institute of Technology as a Boren Scholar. He will take intensive Sichuanese Mandarin language courses funded through the Critical Language Enhancement Award to help him better conduct research in the Sichuan province.

The Sichuan province was heavily impacted by a deadly earthquake in 2008. Schultz hopes to explore how Sichuan residents are using innovative urban development practices to address issues of inequity and displacement following the earthquake. “Living in Baltimore has deepened my awareness of the massive effect that the urban environment has to uplift or further oppress its residents,” says Schultz.

Following his Fulbright experience, Schultz plans to complete a graduate degree in international studies in preparation for a foreign service career.

UMBC’s International Education Services office encourages students interested in the next Fulbright cycle to attend Fulbright Boot Camps starting in late June. These workshops support current students and recent alumni in choosing an appropriate program and honing competitive essays for their application.

Banner image: (L to R) Morgan Chadderton, Flora Kirk, Kelly Daughtridge, Morgan Zepp, Jessica Willis, Manisha Vepa, Marc Schultz, Sophia Lopresti.

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. Video by Corey Jennings ’10  for UMBC.

UMBC students have rewritten the record books in 2018. With graduation around the corner, and our soon-to-be new Retriever alumni preparing for graduate school, careers, and research around the world, we reflect on all they have achieved.

UMBC celebrates two valedictorians for the Class of 2018. Valedictorian Kara Seidel ‘18, psychology, a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar, discovered a particular passion for supporting families dealing with trauma through several intensive research and internship experiences. These include work at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in an HIV and addiction lab, a research internship at the American Psychological Association, and work as lead research assistant in the Trauma Lab of Christopher Murphy, professor and chair of psychology.

Seidel is particularly appreciative of the opportunities for hands-on learning that she accessed in her time at UMBC, as well as mentorship that paired high expectations with support. She says:

One of the best things about UMBC is how supportive professors and staff are. They tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it. They see potential in you and encourage you to take each mistake as a learning experience. Their ongoing support helped me feel confident about pursuing a wide range of opportunities.

Seidel will work as a behavioral therapist and researcher for the next year, before beginning a Ph.D. program in psychology, with a focus on supporting families experiencing trauma.

Valedictorian Eudorah Vital ‘18, biochemistry and molecular biology, is a Meyerhoff Scholar, MARC U*STAR Scholar, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar. She pursued research from her earliest days as a freshman at UMBC, quickly advancing in Rachel Brewster’s developmental biology lab. She has already co-authored two papers in top-tier academic journals, and a third is coming soon.

Vital is also an advocate for community support, and shares that her professors and friends have been essential to her growth and success, saying, “I did not make it through alone.” In recognition of this support, she has become a mentor and tutor for undergraduates newer to her field. She shares:

UMBC prepares its students to be productive members of society, who strive to understand others and bring people together. I came to UMBC thinking I knew what I wanted to do, and I am leaving with a refined version of my goals, which reflect the values of inclusivity, support, and grit.

With a commitment to pursuing clinically relevant research, Vital will soon begin Emory University’s neurobiology M.D./Ph.D. program.

UMBC’s 2018 history-makers include the graduating Retrievers of the men’s basketball team.

K.J. Maura ‘18, sociology, took a few twists and turns in his college journey, as he found his path from Puerto Rico to UMBC. Once he put on the Retriever jersey, he got to work making a lasting impact, and by 2018 he was named the America East Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He helped lead the charge in UMBC’s NCAA round one victory of University of Virginia, 74-54. How does Maura think about his success? It’s all about reaching for greatness together, as a team, he says:

The chemistry and the friendships we have built helped us stay focused on our goals. I’m thankful for my teammates and coaching staff. Every single person on the team played a role to help us reach together and I’m proud to call them family.

When Joe Sherburne ‘18, financial economics, traveled from Wisconsin to Maryland to attend UMBC, he couldn’t have anticipated where that path would lead. He has skillfully balanced academics and athletics, becoming the first UMBC and first America East Conference men’s basketball player to ever be named to the Academic All-America Division I Basketball First Team. Sherburne served as a captain for the history-making 2017-18 men’s basketball team and still maintained his place on the President’s List each semester. After graduating, he will continue to play for UMBC while pursuing his master’s degree in data science.

Jourdan Grant ‘18, media and communication studies, holds the record for playing the most men’s basketball games in UMBC history. NCAA showcased his exuberance after dethroning no. one seed University of Virginia in this year’s “One Shining Moment” tournament highlights video. Reflecting on his college experience, Grant shares:

UMBC has prepared me in the way that the university has a standard in how you carry yourself and really embrace success.

Also a member of the Class of 2018 is UMBC’s first Rhodes Scholar, Naomi Mburu ‘18, chemical engineering, who will next pursue a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering at Oxford. Mburu is a Meyerhoff Scholar, MARC U*STAR Scholar, and recipient of the highly prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, as well as president of UMBC’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Mburu has conducted notable research at UMBC and around the world. In the lab of Gymama Slaughter, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, she worked to help develop a bioreactor to extend the viability of human organs awaiting transplant. She has also brought her passion for learning and creating new solutions to internships at Intel, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. She will soon travel to Europe to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, which invites the world’s top emerging scientists to meet with thirty Nobel laureates.

UMBC’s Class of 2018 includes thousands of phenomenal graduates.

In the arts, humanities, and social sciences, Shirley Basfield Dunlap, Ph.D. ‘18, language, literacy, and, culture, is finishing her doctorate at the age of 65 after steadfastly completing one course a semester for nearly a decade. She will apply her dissertation research on the history of African American stage directors to her work as coordinator of theatre arts at Morgan State University. Emmanuel Mones ‘18, visual arts, will launch a men’s streetwear brand and magazine designed to promote public dialog about gender, sexuality, and equality. Flora Kirk ‘18, ancient studies, has already traveled the world to study ancient coins, and will next research Roman coinage in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, as a Fulbright Scholar.

Among UMBC’s impressive STEM scholars, men’s club lacrosse team captain Greg Huxtable ‘18, physics and mathematics, will build on his high-level research in quantum computing through a Ph.D. at UC Irvine. Arissa Falat ‘18, biochemistry and molecular biology, an award-winning professional figure skater, will pursue a Pharm.D./J.D. at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. After multiple internships with Google, CWIT Scholar Katherine Dillon ‘18, computer science, will soon work as a software engineer at the company’s San Francisco campus.

To learn about these students and more from across the university, see UMBC’s Class of 2018 profiles:

Summer Akhtar, political science and financial economics
Mohammad Arif Ul Alam, Ph.D., information systems
Janae Baptiste, Ph.D., chemistry
Mollye Bendell, M.F.A., intermedia and digital arts
Morgan Chadderton, modern languages, linguistics and intercultural communication
Ciara Christian, M.A., applied sociology
Kaylin Corsiatto, psychology
Todd Cox, financial economics
Adrian Davey, chemical engineering
Andrea Davis, sociology
Katherine Dillon, computer science
Shirley Basfield Dunlap, Ph.D., language, literacy, and culture
Richard Elliott, American studies and political science
Soheila Escobar, information systems
Arissa Falat, biochemistry and molecular biology
Jourdan Grant, media and communication studies
Ke He, Ph.D., chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering
Stormy Hill, applied statistics
Greg Huxtable, physics and mathematics
Flora Kirk, ancient studies
Sophia Lopresti, global studies
Joshua Massey, computer engineering
K.J. Maura, sociology
Naomi Mburu, chemical engineering
Emmanuel Mones, visual arts
Daniel Morris, biochemistry and molecular biology
Marie Pessagno, social work and gender and women’s studies
Max Poole, computer science, mathematics, and economics
Priyanka Ranade, information systems
Kourtney Rutkowski, mechanical engineering
Maia Schechter, dance
Marc Schultz, political science and global studies
Kara Seidel, psychology
Jamshaid Shahir, mathematics and statistics
Joe Sherburne, financial economics
Adaku Uchendu, mathematics
Bryan Vanek, computer science
Manisha Vepa, economics and global studies
Eudorah Vital, biochemistry and molecular biology
Doopashika Welikala, biological sciences and anthropology
Jonathan Werner, bioinformatics and computational biology
Noah Zazanis, psychology
Morgan Zepp, English and global studies

Top image: Orientation Peer Advisors cheer for UMBC in the Commons, Spring 2018. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC expects over 350 presenters and 2,500 guests to attend Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day on April 25, making URCAD 2018 the largest in the event’s 22-year history. The annual showcase of advanced undergraduate work offers students a chance to share with the broader community projects they have been working on for months, or even years. Through URCAD, students practice their presentation skills, get robust feedback on their work, and engage with fellow researchers to think, collaborate, and push their research in new directions.

“I am most proud of the kinds of questions these students are asking in their research and creative work,” says April Householder, director of undergraduate research and prestigious scholarships. “From developing clean air technologies or bringing awareness to human trafficking, to collaborating with local poets and creating meaningful art, UMBC undergrads are making change in the world.”

Undergraduate Research Award (URA) recipient Courtney Mattson ‘18, biological sciences, works with Tamra Mendelson, professor of biological sciences, to examine the mating behaviors of male darters, a common freshwater fish. Mattson spent hours catching darters in a Pennsylvania stream and running controlled trials in the lab, on top of her regular coursework and dedication to cross-country and track and field.

With all of these commitments, Mattson says that completing research required her to hone her time-management skills. “Because my experiment had to be conducted during mating season, I was sometimes trying to find an extra 10 hours per week to run trials on top of a full-time course load and outdoor track competition season,” she says.

Still, Mattson found it exhilarating, and she recommends all students dive into a variety of experiences. “Never put yourself into a box,” she says. “Don’t limit yourself by thinking, ‘I’m an athlete, so I don’t have time for research,’ or ‘I’m not a STEM major, so I can’t do research.’ Through my research, I’ve learned so much about ecology and evolution, but I have also made friendships, gotten to know a faculty member, and had fun along the way.”

Maia Schechter ‘18, dance, will present Now Elsewhere, a performance of three acts featuring six dancers that she choreographed to explore the profound loss of loved ones. Schechter shares, “I believe the movement and music work together to create a poignant journey that the audience can relate to.”

URCAD will be the third presentation of Now Elsewhere, which will also be performed in June at the Kennedy Center as an official selection of the National College Dance Festival. Festival adjudicators shared, “We chose Now Elsewhere with deep appreciation of its unusual compositional structure, and its taut, compelling performance. The work demands that its performers work with physical accuracy and synchronicity as well as emotional transparency in its abstract rendering of a community reforming itself.”

Jamshaid Shahir ’18, mathematics and statistics, will present his research on mathematically modeling cell polarization—a process through which cells develop distinct front and back ends, allowing them to move and transmit information. His research with mentor Hye-Won Kang, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, is supported by NIH and NSF. Both a Meyerhoff Scholar and MARC U*STAR, Shahir has already received a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. in computational biology at UNC Chapel Hill.

Reflecting on his research experiences at UMBC, Shahir shares, “The mentorship and guidance I have received…has been invaluable in clarifying my resolve to earn a Ph.D. and has opened many doors for me in terms of research opportunities.” This includes “presenting at conferences around the country, from Harvard to Hawaii.”

Priyanka Ranade ‘18, information systems, another URA recipient, will present her work on using advanced computing techniques to more accurately identify cyber threats—part of UMBC’s research collaboration with IBM. Ranade works with Anupam Joshi, chair and professor of computer science and electrical engineering. She has been focusing on a specific aspect of cybersecurity called multilingual representation, which relies on natural language processing to understand cyber threats in a range of natural languages.

“The URA allowed me to explore a whole new area I was not familiar with, which was the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity,” she says. Her advice to new student researchers: Ask your mentor questions instead of Googling everything. Ranade explains, “Human insight from experience cannot always be communicated through a search engine. Being open about what you don’t understand…it’s a part of being a researcher.”

Kelly Dunn ‘18, Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication (MLLI), has examined constructions of collective and personal memory of armed conflict in Colombia, under the mentorship of Tania Lizarazo, assistant professor of MLLI. Dunn explored how participants in the Mujeres Pacificas storytelling project spoke about their personal experiences with violence in the context of other life experiences, involving gender and economic disparities, in a way that differed from how memory of the conflict was presented at the national level.

As part of his research, Dunn traveled to Colombia, living with a host family. There he developed a clearer sense of the diversity within Colombian culture and the experiences of Colombian people living in different communities. “I would encourage students to jump in and get engaged in the research process as soon as possible,” he says, “especially when you are talking about doing research in a language that is not your own.”

“You also have a lot less time than you think you have,” Dunn notes. “I have been speaking Spanish for about 8 or 9 years and am comfortable with it, and even then…it took a while to get my ear to adjust to the specific dialect.”

Linda Wiratan ’19, biochemistry and molecular biology, and URA recipient and 2018 Goldwater Scholar, conducts research on the relationship between plant defense systems and their circadian clocks with Hua Lu, associate professor of biological sciences. “Plants have evolved extremely sophisticated mechanisms of disease immunity,” Wiratan says. “They are even capable of anticipating attacks by specific pathogens at certain times of day, and coordinate defense activities with their circadian clock.”

Wiratan has embraced the role of researcher at UMBC. Through her work, she says, “I gained a deep appreciation of how plants, despite being immobile, survive amid constant threats.” She describes research as a “thrilling” experience of discovery, explaining, “The researcher is the first one who learns a little more about the universe, and that role is invaluable.”

URA recipient Ezra Pailer, visual arts, will present an animated documentary created in collaboration with local poet Jordann Allen, under the mentorship of Corrie Parks, assistant professor of visual arts. The project combines hand-drawn animation and live-action film to reveal an intimate view of the artist’s imagination and personal inner narrative as expressed both visually and in spoken words.

Pailer shares, “The audio of Allen reading her poetry has a serene and fluid quality; this presented an interesting challenge in designing animated sequences that complement the flowing nature of a medium like poetry.” Allen will join Pailer at the presentation of his film.

Lucas McCullum ‘18, mechanical engineering, explores how piezoelectric materials, which create electricity in response to mechanical stress, can be used for different purposes, including to detect tumors. He has found research to be an incredibly valuable experience and suggests it can “help a younger student to discover their passions while learning about how to successfully manage their time and critically analyze complex problems.”

McCullum, a URA scholar who works with Soobum Lee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, particularly appreciates his research experience for teaching him how to embrace new situations where he doesn’t immediately have all the answers. “One of the most certain things in research is that you never know what is going to happen the next time you go into the lab, and the ability to be flexible and adapt to unpredictable situations is one of the most valuable experiences out there,” he says.

Yuwanyun Zhu ‘18, SAHAP and psychology, has studied parental control among European American and Asian American parents, specifically Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in the U.S., under the mentorship of Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology. Zhu has interviewed numerous mothers in English, Mandarin, and Korean languages over the past two years, with the goal of deconstructing cross-cultural stereotypes about parenting styles and their effects on children’s behavior and development.

This project has solidified her feeling that research “is a very powerful way to help people change their beliefs and remove stereotypes,” which can in turn help people “become more understanding” of each other.

Through all this work, Householder says, it’s evident that URCAD “upholds UMBC’s mission as a public research university to integrate teaching, research, and service in dynamic and engaged ways.”

Whether a student goes on to graduate school or directly into a career, major projects completed in their undergraduate years can drive lifelong passions, support critical thinking, and boost an array of skills crucial to their future success. This includes everything from how to identify a problem and explain its importance to how to set project goals, see a project through to completion, accept feedback constructively, and connect with stakeholders who are impacted by the work.

Householder invites all of UMBC to support URCAD presenters by attending the event on April 25 and “asking good questions” that challenge students to think about their work in new ways. “There is something for everyone at URCAD,” she says, sharing, “I hope it inspires even more people in our community to conduct research, collaborate, mentor, and bring creativity to their work each day.”

Featured image: November 2017 performance of Now Elsewhere. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Morgan Chadderton
B.A., Modern Languages, Linguistics & Intercultural Communication (French and Russian)
Minor: Political Science
Summa Cum Laude
Hometown: Edgewood, Maryland
Plans: Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, Kyrgyzstan

As the first member of my family to attend university, I was not quite sure what to expect, but I knew from my first campus tour that UMBC would be a place where I could succeed.

Morgan Chadderton’s time at UMBC has been defined by an intellectual curiosity driving her to pursue a broad range of interests in the social sciences and humanities. From day one at UMBC, she says, “I was encouraged to go beyond the usual single-degree path, as well as to conduct research, explore new subjects, study abroad in two countries, and get involved with student life.”

Chadderton, a Humanities Scholar in UMBC’s Honors College, received a highly selective U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship that provided her an opportunity to study in Kyrgyzstan in June 2016. She also completed a study abroad in Lyon, France, and continued to excel academically at UMBC. She is graduating with a perfect GPA, has been inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and received the Overall Academic Achievement Award in the modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communications department.

Through each new educational and leadership experience, Chadderton found opportunities to grow. She shares, “As a Humanities Scholar, I felt I belonged to a community of like-minded people. As a member of the Honors College, I was able to explore interdisciplinary topics and learn from new perspectives. As president of Russian Club, I was able to share meaningful cultural exchanges.” Chadderton also served as a conversation partner for the English Language Institute, helping English language learners practice their conversational skills, and served as a note-taker for students with disabilities in courses on American government and politics, and Soviet civilization and culture.

Ultimately, Chadderton says, “I found all of these opportunities promote the same concept: everything can be a learning experience.” She looks forward to soon returning to Kyrgyzstan as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, before beginning a graduate degree in Slavic languages and Russian studies.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.