Yesterday’s allegations that state prison guards helped a gang operate a contraband smuggling scheme from behind bars at the Baltimore City Detention Center are prompting strong responses from Maryland lawmakers. While Sen. Brian E. Frosh said the O’Malley administration deserves credit for its role in a “very bold, aggressive and appropriate” prosecution, Del. Curtis S. Anderson called the indictments “just horrific” and asked for further explanation from the governor.

Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, told the Washington Post that any political fallout from the episode for O’Malley, who is considering a 2016 presidential bid, will likely be determined by “how he handles this, whether he gets out in front of it.” Norris notes, “If the state were riddled with incompetence and corruption, that’d be one thing, but it’s not. … This kind of thing happens in all prison systems, though maybe not this flagrant.”

For All The World to Hear: Stories from the Struggle for Civil Rights, an oral history, outreach project of the CADVC, will present the session “Storytelling from Page to Stage: An Oral History Community Project” at the American Alliance of Museums’ (AAM) annual Meeting and Museum Expo.

The session, scheduled for Monday, May 20 from 1:45-3:00 p.m. in the Baltimore Convention Center, will tell the tale of the creation and production of For All the World to Hear. Harriet Lynn, director of the project, Sandra Abbott, CADVC, producer of For All the World to Hear, and Carrie Rennolds, graduate student, will present alongside participants in the project, who will share stories of their experience before and during the American civil rights movement.

Learn more about the session at the AAM article, “2013 AAM Annual Meeting Theme: The Power of Story,” or visit foralltheworldtohear.org.

Christine Mallinson, associate professor of language, literacy, and culture, recently joined NPR’s “All Things Considered” for a discussion of the use of “yo” as a gender-neutral pronoun.

Mallinson said that kids in Baltimore have solved a very old problem in linguistics: English doesn’t have a gender-neutral pronoun. That makes it difficult to refer to people if you don’t know the person’s gender.  Youth in Baltimore often use “yo” instead of “he” or “she” when they don’t know a person’s gender. But they also use “yo” as a substitute even when they do know the gender.

Mallinson, and other linguists, are interested to see if the pronoun sticks around.  A number of other proposed gender-neutral pronouns – including ‘zee’ and ‘zeer’ – have failed to catch on.

“It’ll be interesting to see whether they keep that usage as they become adults. Do they keep that in the workplace? If that’s the case, it might persist,” said Mallinson. “But sometimes slang or linguistic innovations in middle or high school get dropped out as people become adult users of English.”

The segment, entitled “’Yo’ Said What?” aired on April 24.

Today’s Boston Globe published a letter by Seth D. Messinger, associate professor in UMBC’s Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, in the opinion series “Voices on the Bombings.” Messinger, a medical anthropologist, is an expert on recovery from traumatic limb loss, specifically among military service members. In “The Need for Strong Rehabilitation Services” he writes,

Military patients with traumatic limb loss take part in a comprehensive rehabilitation program that provides them with surgical and medical care, physical and occupational therapy, and a wide variety of prosthetic limbs as well as opportunities to use them in a diverse array of sporting and recreational activities. Observers of the military’s physical rehabilitation program cannot help but be impressed by the extraordinary results achieved by patients, many of whom go on to attain a degree of physical functioning that approximates their pre-injury abilities. […] Does the civilian health care system provide access to the kind of care that has been so successful with military patients?

Read the full letter through The Boston Globe.

In an ongoing series on baby boomers who have been married for 25 years or more, the New York Times this week featured Retriever alumni sweethearts Pam and James Hayes-Bohanan ’86, who met and fell in love at good old UMBC. The pair, who now live and work in Bridgewater, MA, graduated with degrees in modern languages & linguistics and geography, respectively.

Read the full story in the New York Times here.

The interview recounts the early days of their relationship, when they met in a French class at UMBC; their travels together to attend grad school, and trials along the way; and their lives together as parents. They will celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary this May, the story said.

Asked what makes their relationship last, they told the Times:

Pam: Early on in our marriage we went to this couples communication workshop and we learned this very simple thing: you have to stop and thank your partner for whatever they did for you that day. Whoever took the garbage out, whoever changed the diaper; we always stop and remember that somebody did that so you didn’t have to.

James: But I would also say it was just picking the right person.

Corey Fleischer ’05, ’08 M.S. mechanical engineering,  zooms a homemade Wii-controlled car around his driveway by day, and rules the demolition derby by night. He geeks out about nanotechnology, blows up light bulbs in his microwave in the name of fun and science, and always seems to be concocting plans for his next big idea.

So, when the opportunity to appear on the Discovery Channel’s new engineering-based reality show, “The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius,” arose the senior mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin jumped at the chance to show off his skills.

The series, hosted by actor Kal Penn, launches on Wednesday, May 1st, with Fleischer among the 10-person cast of extreme DIY-ers each trying to out-engineer the other to win a $50,000 prize and an engineering dream job.

We sat down with the father of two to find out more about what makes him tick…and what to expect from his appearance on the show.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgPzs6EBOsE]

Q: How did you hear about BBT? And how crazy was it when you found out you were chosen for the cast?

A:  I first heard about BBT through a good friend at work.  My buddy forwarded me the call-for-applicants webpage which was announcing a new TV show looking for the Top Engineer.  They wanted hands-on engineers with outgoing personalities. My buddy thought I was a good fit, and he even helped me write my application and recorded and edited my audition video. See the audition here.

When I found out I was picked, I flipped out!  It was crazy at first to know that I got picked!…but then it quickly set in that I was going to be on TV…which I’ve never been before.

Q:  Your brain is clearly constantly formulating new ideas. What’s your dream invention?

A:  My dream invention would be some type of engineering toy set for young kids.  I have a 6-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter and I’m always coming up with simple projects to show them engineering principles…they love it!  I think all parents should introduce their kids to engineering at a really early age.  Or, maybe I’d like to invent an laundry folding machine.  Laundry folding and I don’t get along.

Q:  I know you were a part of Mini-Baja (now SAE) at UMBC. How did that and other UMBC experiences help you get to where you are now?

A:  Coming from UMBC, I feel like I hit corporate America with an unfair advantage.  Participating in Mini-Baja had given me years of experience within/leading a technical team in a competition environment. Engineering is highly competitive, so that was huge.  Additionally, my undergraduate and graduate studies under Dr. Mark Zupan gave me a strong background in material science that I apply toward all stages of engineering projects, from hardware selection to geometrical design to finish coatings.

Q:  Tell us a little about your work at Lockheed Martin…and what you’d love to be doing in the future.

A:  At Lockheed I get to work on several projects simultaneously.  We have a large group here in Baltimore so there are always several projects going on that I’m able to support.  I work under lots of smart guys…I love it here.  As for the future, I just want to keep working on great projects with great people.  As long as I continue to learn, I’ll be happy.

Q:  You obviously can’t divulge the outcome of BBT, but what was one of your favorite parts of doing the show? How about challenges? Any nemeses we should look out for?

A:  The design challenges were my favorite part of the experience.  They were amazing!  Every time they told us about a new challenge I thought, “I can’t believe someone’s going to pay me to build this!”  Every challenge could be a paragraph on my resume…and I got to build eight!

The hardest part of the experience was being away from my kids. That was tough, but I knew they’d be proud, my son especially since he’s older.  There was also a lot of drama that we all had to deal with, but I stayed out of it as much as I could.  The whole experience was amazing!  We pulled off some crazy accomplishments, and it’s going to be an amazing show. Nothing like this has ever been done.

– Read about Corey’s latest venture – a “makerspace” in Baltimore

Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyfleischer for updates and behind-the-scenes info about the show!

Theatre alumna Deborah Randall ’94, founder of Venus Theatre in Laurel, will speak on “Embracing the Female Voice in Our Society” on Wednesday, April 24, at noon in Public Policy 105. The Raymond V. Haysbert, Sr. Entrepreneurship Lecture is presented by the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship.

As stated in the event flier:

Theatre is the perfect vehicle of empathy. It has allowed Deborah Randall to explore many worlds with varying points of view. Immersion into other worlds changes the experience of life. Experiencing theatre as an audience member, finding ways to support it by embracing living playwrights from all over the world, and executing the journey with artistic teams and direction have allowed
Deb to create Venus Theatre at the Venus Theatre Play Shack.

In addition to being an award winning writer, director, and actor, Randall is also a 2012 UMBC Outstanding Alumna of the Year in the Visual and Performing Arts.

For more information, click here.

Texts, Technologies, and Literature

Beginning this fall, the English department will offer a new masters of arts in texts, technologies, and literature. The program is currently recruiting its first class of graduate students.

The M.A. in texts, technologies, and literature will give students the chance to further their understanding of literature and a broad array of other texts, including digital, academic and those that function in everyday use, in relation to both historical and contemporary culture.

When creating the new master�s, the English department decided that they wanted to develop a program that was different than anything else offered in the region. They also wanted to pull together the strengths in its two existing undergraduate tracks, literature and communications and technology. Finally, faculty wanted to look ahead to the future of the field and the future of the English department at UMBC.

�The discipline is changing, and it feels right in that way. We�re going with the way the discipline is moving,� said Orianne Smith, chair of English. She and Lucille McCarthy, the graduate program director, also feel that the balance between the two specialties of UMBC�s English department will make for a unique experience for students and faculty.

�It�s not just for literature folks, and it�s not just for technology folks. Everyone can get something out of it, and I�m really open to seeing how that evolves,� said Smith. She said that English faculty members are especially excited to teach master�s classes, since it will allow them to combine their teaching and research more deeply than they are able to do while teaching only undergraduate courses.

The department is currently recruiting students to begin graduate classes this fall. Smith and McCarthy expect that many members of this first class of students will be UMBC alumni. Smith said that in exit interviews with graduating students, the desire for a way to continue their studies at UMBC was often a topic of conversation. �There was pressure from below as well as endorsement from above,� she said.

She and McCarthy imagine students will come into the program with a variety of goals: some may be interested in pursuing a Ph.D. (students in this program can take classes in certain other UMBC departments, including the Language, Literacy, and Culture Ph.D. program); others might be teachers pursuing advanced training; and still more could be professionals entering or hoping to further their career in the communications, editorial, and digital media professions.

�We just don�t know what people will do with it. I think we�re going to learn together,� McCarthy said.

Another option for current students is the accelerated B.A./M.A., which allows undergraduates to take classes towards the master�s degree. MCCarthy said that she has a number of talented undergraduates in her classes pursuing projects that would be appropriate for graduate study.

Applications for the fall are due on May 1. Information, application requirements, a list of courses, and more can be found on the program�s website.

(4/1/13)

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

UMBC celebrates a milestone this month as the Department of Theatre stages its first production in the new Performing Arts and Humanities Building Proscenium Theatre. Opening on April 18 and continuing through April 27, William Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona will be directed by assistant professor Eve Muson.

“It was a purposeful choice for the Department of Theatre to inaugurate the new PAHB Proscenium Theatre with William Shakespeare’s joyful comedy Two Gentlemen of Verona�a play about growing into maturity and defining one’s potential,” said Nyalls Hartman, chair and associate professor in the Department of Theatre. “It mirrors the Department’s own journey�moving into a dynamic new home, carrying our rich history forward and defining the direction of our future.”

Cultural leaders in the Baltimore region have applauded the new space. Vincent Lancisi, the artistic director of Everyman Theatre, remarked that for UMBC students and faculty to have “a toolkit like this, a place to tell stories, to create and to think and to engage audiences is extraordinary.” Fred Lazarus IV, president of the Maryland Institute College of Art, stated, “We talk about space as the envelope which allows really exciting creativity to happen, and that’s really what [UMBC has] created here.” Their comments were given during the opening celebration of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building in fall 2012.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is one of Shakespeare’s earliest works and a perennial favorite among theatre audiences. When the two gentlemen, Valentine and Proteus, leave Verona to seek their fortunes in Milan, their boyhood friendship turns to rivalry as they both fall in love with the Duke’s daughter, Sylvia�even though she is promised to a rich suitor and Proteus is already engaged to his hometown sweetheart, Julia. Proteus sets out to betray both friend and fiancée, only to find that Julia and Sylvia have a thing or two to teach him about loyalty and love. One quick-witted (and one not-so-quick-witted) servant, some bawdy outlaws, and a faithful canine companion make this one of Shakespeare’s most lighthearted romantic comedies.

The play addresses timeless questions in Shakespeare’s works centered around love, friendship, adolescence and identity. What does it mean to be in a long distance relationship? How does one manage to live on one’s own for the first time? Set in imagined Renaissance Italy, UMBC’s production melds past and present, transcends time and blends music and dance. A visual mash-up of time periods, the play explores what happens when the bonds of friendship and fidelity are put to the test.

The production features scenery and costume design by Elena Zlotescu (associate professor); lighting and video design by Adam Mendelson (lecturer); musical direction by Anderson Wells (class of ’13); vocal direction by Lynn Watson (associate professor); choreography by Renee Brozic Barger (Dance, ’99); sound design by Patrick Calhoun; fight choreography by Cristian Bell; and dramaturgical support by Michele Osherow (associate professor of English and affiliate professor of Judaic Studies).

More information about the production, including performances dates and ticket information, is available on UMBC’s Arts and Culture Calendar.

(4/16/13)

Beginning next month, the Maryland Art Place will host the exhibition Oasis Places, featuring the work of five artists, including collaborative work by Nicole King, American Studies, and Stephen Bradley, Visual Arts.

Bradley states that the collaborative, inter-media art piece consists of multiple parts including Place Immersion which, “reframes an industrialized community in Baltimore City called Greater Baybrook by homaging the lost neighborhood and it’s remnants of material culture, including photographic travel archives and field recordings of voices, stories and sounds of the existing place.” The writings of Nicole King are meant to “punctuate the transitional spirit of the [Baybrook] community so similar to other industrialized places in the world.” The result is a hybrid and comprehensive website, MappingBaybrook.org, that makes its debut on the evening of the opening.

Oasis Places opens Thursday, May 9 from 6-9 pm, with a panel discussion from 6-7 pm. The exhibition continues through Saturday, June 22

This work is the culmination of a project which began with the help of a 2010 summer fellowship granted by the Imaging Resource Center. Since then, King and Bradley have continued to work in Baltimore’s Brooklyn-Curtis Bay neighborhoods.