A Scrabble competition at UMBC on Saturday, February 4, featured students from surrounding schools and adult scrabble enthusiasts.

Linda Oliva, an assistant professor of education and competitive Scrabble player, helped to organize the competition.  She has worked with schools, including Arbutus Middle School, to develop Scrabble clubs where students can learn the game. “Kids really love this game. It’s a game where you can become a lot better very quickly. And they enjoy learning new words and making great plays,” she said.

The story, “Scrabble helps students sharpen their skills,” appeared in the Catonsville Times on February 6.

The New York Times Economix blog today explored the possible impact of the Giants’ Super Bowl victory on the New York economy, referencing a study coauthored by UMBC economics professor Dennis Coates. Reporter Catherine Rampell calls Coates’ study, “The Economic Impact of Postseason Play in Professional Sports,” the “godfather” of this area of research. Curious about the results? Check out the story.

Timothy Nohe, associate professor of visual arts, has been invited to screen his experimental video and sound work People as Verbs in the 8th Berlin International Directors Lounge, a festival for contemporary media and film, February 9 through 19, 2012. This marks the European debut of the piece, which was first featured in a solo show at in/flux gallery, Baltimore, November 5 through 26, 2011.

Artwork by Lisa Moren, associate professor of visual arts, is on display at the President’s Gallery of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY (City University of New York), 899 Tenth Avenue in New York. The exhibition, Truth of the Matter: paint, concept, memory, on display from February 1 through 28, presents three artists whose work focuses on memory. Professor Moren’s work, Marbleized Paper from the Gulf of Mexico, is made with pigments drawn from the polluted waters created from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The exhibition Where Do We Migrate To?, organized by the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC) is now on display at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parons The New School for Design in New York. Originally on view at UMBC in March and April 2011, the exhibition is curated by Niels Van Tomme, director of arts and media at Provisions Learning Center in Washington, D.C., and features work by nineteen internationally recognized artists and collectives. The show will be on display at Parsons through April 15, 2012.

Artwork by Vin Grabill, chair and associate professor of visual arts, is on display at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) through March 11 in an exhibition entitled Under Cover. Grabill’s 2010 video Frontier is among the approximately 50 works of sculpture, photography and video featured in the show, which is a project of MICA’s Exhibition Development Seminar.

Professor Grabill was interviewed by WYPR’s Tom Hall for a segment on Maryland Morning that aired on January 31. An audio file of the interview is here.

Eric Dyer, associate professor of visual arts, has been awarded a 2012 grant from Creative Capital for his project “Short Ride in a Phat Machine.” Professor Dyer was one of only 56 artists selected out of an applicant pool of 3,247 artists in all 50 states. Creative Capital grants provide up to $50,000 in direct project funds, plus advisory services.

Creative Capital is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing integrated financial and advisory support to artists pursuing adventurous projects in five disciplines: Emerging Fields, Film/Video, Literature, Performing Arts and Visual Arts.

…just listen to UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski for a minute or two. We dare you to not be inspired to give back! (Click on image for video.)

Dave Marcotte, UMBC public policy professor and graduate program director, will present the inaugural lecture in this semester’s Research Seminar Seminar Series in Public Policy and Economics this Friday, February 10, at noon in PUP 438.

Marcotte’s talk is titled “Public Higher Education Tuition and Enrollment.” His writing on higher education, school closings and test scores has appeared in both academic journals and popular press, such as  the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Education Week and Inside Higher Education.

Additional series speakers this semester include Tara Watson, Williams College (3/9), Tom Vicino, Northeastern University (3/30); Jim Bessen, Boston University (4/6); and Randall Reback, Barnard College (4/27). For details, see the social sciences event calendar on myUMBC.

Ellen Handler Spitz, honors college professor of visual arts, recently visited India, where her activities included reading books to children at the SAI International School.  Her visit was covered in the Telegraph newspaper.

“Imagination is a conscious activity that requires a great amount of focus and concentration. Storytelling can create a number of scenarios and possibilities. It can make the impossible possible. For example, our storybooks have animals talking, people talking, things vanishing and so on. But my aim was not to teach children to live in a fantasyland. I told them about humanitarian values, something that can help them become better individuals,” Spitz told the newspaper.

The story, “Of Math and Games,” appeared in the newspaper on January 13.

Spitz’s visit was also described in a release by the school, which said that “her wonderful presentation and storytelling was very impressive.”  The full release can be read here.