For centuries, books have been the primary method of documenting spoken and written languages. This method has given us insights into the formal and informal uses of language within communities and those outside the community. However, books and even tape recordings haven’t always captured the intricacies and uniqueness of a language. Advances in technology have broadened the scope and quality of language documentation and preservation, but these digital tools have also created a skills gap between researchers and communities.

UMBC’s Renée Lambert-Brétière, associate professor of modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, is working on bridging this gap through a collaborative and community-engaged research project with Innu-speaking communities in Quebec, Canada, that seeks to democratize access to digital tools involved in the documentation of their language. 

“Mobilizing methodologies of linguistics, digital and public humanities, this research makes an important contribution to current developments in language documentation research and constitutes a major step in broadening the tools for language preservation within the Innu speech communities,” Lambert-Brétière explains to Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities and host of The Academic Minute, a daily show featuring faculty from colleges and universities worldwide speaking about their cutting-edge research. 

UMBC’s Academic Minute takeover week

Lambert-Brétière joined five UMBC scholars this fall in UMBC’s first Academic Minute Takeover Week, featuring the latest research in media and communication studies; philosophy; language, literacy, and culture; and history. This series is republished on NPR podcasts and Inside Higher Ed.https://academicminute.org/2023/09/renee-lambert-bretiere-democratizing-access-to-digital-tools-in-the-documentation-of-the-innu-language/

Learn more about Renee Lambert-Brétière’s research

Lambert-Brétière’s book, À la recherche d’un signe perdu: Jean-Baptiste de La Brosse, S.J., Éléments de langue montagnaise (1768) (Chemins de tr@verse, 2018), is the first edition of the grammar of the Innu language written in Latin in 1768 by the Jesuit Jean-Baptiste de La Brosse. It offers a unique testimony on the state of this nomadic language in the middle of the eighteenth century. Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed outlets that include the Journal of Language Diversity, Anthropological Linguistics, Journal de la société des océanistes, and Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics.

Learn more about UMBC’s modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication program.

When you think about UMBC’s Homecoming, you undoubtedly conjure images of carnival rides, black and gold decorations, and the beloved Puppy Parade. But what Homecoming is really about, for us, is the people. We asked social media intern Allison John ‘24, psychology, to share what it was like to walk a mile (or more accurately, many, many miles) in her shoes during this year’s Homecoming. 

We always hope the skies will be blue and the sun will be shining for UMBC’s Homecoming, but that unfortunately wasn’t the case this year. Luckily, that did not stop students, alumni, family, and friends from taking part in all the festivities that Homecoming brings! This year I was lucky to not only partake as a student, but also as a board member of UMBC’s Student Events Board (seb), and as an intern for University Communications and Marketing (UCM). Being involved in all these roles meant I got to see Homecoming through a different lens. 

As a student, I loved going to the carnival with all my friends on Homecoming preview night. We enjoyed all the different rides, played carnival games, and took in the moments knowing that college goes by so quickly and if we don’t cherish it while we’re here, it’ll be gone before we notice. 

Helping co-create Homecoming

As a board member of (seb), I loved getting involved with activities that I may not have participated in otherwise. I got the chance to interact with all the amazing vendors we had, ranging from the petting zoo and food trucks, to the balloon and caricature artists. This role allowed me to create amazing memories for so many people and to play a part in the magic that happens on campus during Homecoming. I even got the chance to ride around campus on golf carts, placing the huge Homecoming stickers on the sidewalk that always amazed me when I was a first-year student.

By far, my favorite role of all was the role I played as a UCM intern. I had the opportunity to capture memories throughout Homecoming weekend by taking pictures at the Puppy Parade and seeing all the festive dogs that got to partake in such a fun tradition. I also had the opportunity to explore the Alumni and Friends Tent and meet so many alumni and witness them reconnecting with old friends and talking about how much has changed since they graduated. 

Being a senior now, I got emotional throughout Homecoming weekend. I know that although I can always come back for Homecoming, this was the last time I had the chance to make an impact on the UMBC community as a student and help create the special memories that Homecoming is all about. Homecoming is truly a culmination of so many different events including the annual bonfire, Athletics games, the 5k run, Puppy Parade, carnival, food trucks, pumpkin painting, the Alumni and Friends Tent, and so much more. 

As I took the time to reflect on Homecoming, I came to realize that, at its core, Homecoming is about one thing—you. It’s about your story and how UMBC has played a part in that story. Homecoming is so special because it brings so many people together in one place to reconnect, and whether it’s been one year since you graduated or 30, there are still so many memories to be made at Homecoming. 

During my time talking to alumni, our conversations would always lead to me learning more about how college played a role in who they are now. Some told me about lessons that they learned while attending UMBC, and I even learned about one alum who met her fiancé here. It’s these lessons and memories that make us who we are. Homecoming is what reminds us every year how special these moments are and why we should take a break from the chaos of life and enjoy the people that surround us. Homecoming 2023 was one to remember because it’s a reminder that even the weather can’t put a damper on the importance and strength of a community, our UMBC community.

By Allison John ’24, psychology

Banks, large corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals alike lend and loan money to make more money, spur corporate growth, buy property, start a business, and help those in need. Funding prosperity and goodwill can be one outcome of financial investments. However, it’s not all good news. Today, we often hear about financial mismanagement, embezzlement, and money laundering, sometimes leading to bankruptcy and/or government bailouts—But financial fraud is not a modern story.

UMBC’s Amy Froide, professor of history, teaches courses in British history and European women’s history between 1500-1800 and researches social, economic, and gender history. During a research trip to the U.K., Froide found documents about the Charitable Corporation’s financial disaster of 1732, which she wrote about in The Conversation.

“The Charitable Corporation was notable in having a high proportion of female investors—35 percent of the funders in the 1700s were women,” Froide explains to Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities and host of The Academic Minute, a daily show featuring faculty from colleges and universities worldwide speaking about their cutting-edge research. “When the financial scandal came to light, it was these women who led activist shareholders to call for government compensation.”

UMBC’s Academic Minute takeover week

Froide joined five UMBC scholars this fall in UMBC’s first Academic Minute Takeover Week, featuring the latest research in media and communication studies; modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication; language, literacy, and culture; and history. This series is republished on NPR podcasts and Inside Higher Ed.

Learn more about Amy Froide’s research:

• Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690-1750 (Oxford University Press, 2016)
• Never Married: Single Women in Early Modern England (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)
• Single Women in the European Past, 1250-1800 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013)
• Professor Froide has served as the book review editor for the Journal of British Studies and as president of the Mid-Atlantic Conference on British Studies.

Learn more about UMBC’s history major and graduate programs.

The leaves of the trees on campus are turning red, orange, and gold as the temperature finally starts to cool down. The semester is halfway over now as the autumn weather settles in, but there are still many great events to look forward to. So take a sip of your apple crisp oat milk macchiato and let’s look at six of the best ways to get in the spirit of the season at UMBC.

Peek “Beyond the Veil”

Throughout the months of October and November, online “Beyond the Veil” lectures will take a look at the ways different cultural histories intermingle with the spirit world, pulling from the Special Collections’ Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation collection. Topics include the root of everyday African cultures in spirituality, the origins of Hoodoo during chattel slavery, and the influence of Spiritualism. Join any session of this speaking series for the chance to celebrate cultural histories and the supernatural.

Shiver Your Timbers with Mind’s Eye

“The extraordinary story of the Chicago bellhop who attempted to transfer mental images to Polaroid film,” is how the Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios is billed for interested readers. Out this October, the book features photography from the Jule Eisenbud collection in the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery’s Special Collections, as well as essays by Emily Hauver ’06, visual arts, exhibition curator, and Beth Saunders, head of Special Collections. If the idea of “thoughtography” (Serios thought he was psychically transferring his thoughts to film) intrigues you, take a look at the images and data created by the mind’s eye of Ted Serios. 

If You Dare, Go See Dracula

If you enjoy drama, the story of Dracula, copious stage blood, or the idea of the deconstruction of horror through a feminist lens, take your seat and enjoy the show! UMBC’s Theatre Department is staging Dracula: a Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, from November 2 to November 12. The show—which one might compare more to Kill Bill than Saw—will have a free matinee for UMBC students with an actor talk-back for its final performance. 

Production stage manager Tessara Morgan Farley has been researching stage blood for several months to present the most realistic color, texture, and spray. The director of the show, Kathryn Chase Bryer, says, “The fact that I’m working on a show that has a blood person, that’s really special and well done for UMBC.”

Quake in Your Boots with the Hallowzine

With Halloween comes the Hallowzine, commonvision’s annual spooky zine and digital gallery. “It’s very creative and accepting,” says Anna Mishonova ’24, media and communications studies, who submitted to the Hallowzine last year before joining the commonvision staff. “I really enjoyed it, and everyone is very talented. There are some really nice photos, and the poetry can be very moving.”

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Check Out Holly Horror by Alum Michelle Jabès Corpora 

A girl named Evie moves into a place called the Horror House (her first mistake), where the previous resident mysteriously vanished from her bedroom. Michelle Corpora ’03, English, penned Holly Horror, a young adult book published by Penguin Random House earlier this year as a dark twist on a beloved classic. If you enjoy ghosts, mysteries, and scary stories, this book is for you. 

Groove Along to Some Halloween Jazz

Strange things are afoot at UMBC. Come spend the afternoon with the UMBC Jazz Ensemble performing an all-Halloween-themed live (or undead) show. Treat yourself to these tricky grooves! Bring your human soul to the Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall on Sunday, October 29 at 3 p.m., if you dare!

Selections include Giant Steps by John Coltrane, Dance You Monster To My Soft Song by Maria Schneider, Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen, A Call For All Demons by Sun Ra, Oh! by Ernie Wilkins, and more!

Animals must constantly make the choice between using energy to gather information about their environment or to carry out goal-driven tasks. Animals use sensory input, including humans’ five senses and other senses like electromagnetics and echolocation, to make those decisions. 

A new study published in Nature Machine Intelligencefinds that all 11 species the research team investigated—ranging from amoebas to humans—demonstrate similar patterns of movement. These results have implications for robotics, because robots must be programmed to make the same kinds of decisions animals do to move safely and efficiently through unpredictable environments.

The research team ran experiments with glass knifefish, and then analyzed data available in the scientific literature on 10 other species: humans, mice, bats, moles, three butterflies, cockroaches, and two amoebas. Every single species demonstrated the same pattern of decision making, which involved turning the information-gathering mode, called “explore,” on and off depending on how uncertain the animals were about their environment.

The mathematical strategy that best represented the animals’ behavior “is the trace of a covariance matrix—which I don’t think the fish is actually computing,” jokes Kathleen Hoffman, professor of mathematics and statistics and an author on the new paper.  

Robots, too, must constantly interpret the sensory input they’re receiving and use that information to make decisions. Understanding how real animals tackle that process, even if they don’t know themselves, is useful for robotics, Hoffman explains, “because the robot actually can compute the trace of a covariance matrix.”

Interdisciplinary innovation advances robotics

Specifically, the paper’s results showed that an animal explores until its certainty about its environment decreases below a given threshold. Then it switches to using that information for tasks, which is called “exploit” mode. When uncertainty rises again, it goes back to exploring. This kind of mode-switching is called “triggered excitation.” It differs from a model called “persistent excitation,” which involves constant exploring.

Applications involving sensory processing, like robots, often use the persistent excitation model, so the team was surprised to discover that persistent excitation is not consistent with their observations and analysis. The team’s findings could have a significant impact in the field of sensory modeling.

The work for this paper required many areas of expertise, and the team included researchers in mathematics, engineering, and biology. Debojyoti Biswas, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, is the first author on the new paper, and the other authors include Hoffman and researchers at University of Minnesota, Cornell University, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The project grew out of a conversation between Hoffman and John Guckenheimer, an emeritus professor of mathematics at Cornell. They invited the rest of the team members on board as their expertise was needed. From figuring out how to track the position of the knifefish in the experiments with extreme precision, to analyzing the data on other species, to interpreting the math in a way that made sense in a biological context, everyone had a role to play.

“This was one of the coolest interdisciplinary groups I’ve worked in,” Hoffman says. “I really don’t think that any one of us could have done it on our own.”

The remaining “head-scratcher”

The new paper has generated new questions as well as answers. “Here’s the head-scratcher,” Hoffman says: “What’s the mechanism that leads to this?” The team observed the same pattern in species as different as butterflies and moles, which use completely different senses. And they were able to deduce the pattern from published research that was originally undertaken to answer completely different questions. 

Moving forward, some of the same team members, including Hoffman, plan to dig deeper into the mechanism behind this surprising pattern—and whether the mechanism is the same or different across species. “To me,” Hoffman says, “this is fundamental and really important.”

Hoffman is grateful to have been a part of the team. She took the opportunity to grow as a mathematician by contributing primarily to the project’s data analysis, when her focus is usually in mathematical modeling.

“I wanted to really push the limits of what I could do and make it broader. I wanted to develop skills that I didn’t have before,” she says. Overall, “I had fun. You never know what you’re going to be working on as an applied mathematician.”

When James Dorsey arrived at UMBC in 2002 to major in music performance and composition, becoming an educator was not the original plan. But when opportunity knocked, Dorsey answered the call to teach. 

In the intervening years, Dorsey’s interactive, empowering methods of teaching music to kids have made him popular, and this fall he marks his 19^th year of teaching music and performance to the elementary school students in the Prince George’s County Public School system. And if that wasn’t enough, Dorsey ’05, music, is back at UMBC, sharing his pedagogical experience with a new generation of musicians and educators.

“I didn’t have pedagogy as part of my undergrad experience when I started at UMBC. The music education department was just beginning, so there were things that I just missed,” says Dorsey, who will receive UMBC’s 2023 alumni award for the performing and visual arts this Thursday, October 26. “But it’s great to enter education from a non-traditional pathway, because I really had to rely on my artistry, to help me connect with young learners and help them grow musically.”

A detour-turned-career

Dorsey entered the resident teacher program with Prince George’s County while still an undergrad at UMBC. After six years of apprentice teaching and taking summer classes, he was certified, launching an esteemed career that has made him a sought-after resource in musical education—and a key to that success has been in helping students tap into their creativity.

“Throughout my teaching career, as I have studied pedagogy and methods more carefully, I’m consistently working with people through the lens of ‘How can I help them create and connect with the world around them?’” says Dorsey. “How can I help them understand that music is a way to respond to what’s happening around them?”

With this approach to musical pedagogy, Dorsey has expanded his reach beyond the elementary classroom. In addition to his ordinary course load in the Prince George’s County school system, Dorsey also teaches music educators at Loyola—where he received his master’s degree—and back at UMBC, where Brian Kaufman, director of the UMBC Wind Ensemble, invited to Dorsey to coach the ensemble in creating original music for their programs.

“It’s really a full circle moment,” Dorsey says.“I’ve gotten to reimagine what music education looks like in elementary and secondary settings, and now I’m working with teachers who want to help their students create. I get to be a facilitator to help other people through that program, and not only am I helping them pedagogically, I also feel like I’m growing as a person and as an artist.”

“Making Music That Sounds Like Me”

Dorsey believes that a key to his success in teaching music to young people is allowing them room to fully express themselves. Every year, rather than selecting and rehearsing an existing musical play, Dorsey guides his students in writing and producing an original musical, a process which he finds to be both effective in teaching students how to be artists, and in honing his own craft.

“I don’t think of creativity as something that belongs to only a select group of people. I think creativity is something that everyone deserves to do,” Dorsey says. “And I’m included in that. Teaching has really taught me how to be a better artist.”

By putting the tools of creating a musical into the hands of his students, Dorsey has enjoyed watching them flourish, while exercising his compositional skills to create original electronic music with their direction. 

“When people think of a musical, they have an idea of what that’s supposed to sound like,” he says. “But with the musicals we create, I really get the chance to make music that I enjoy and that students really relate to, organized around prevalent rhythms and the style and vocal delivery that goes with it. They can say, ‘I got to make music that sounds like me.’ Just by teaching, I have seen so much evidence that trusting the process and making decisions based on an idea is a comfortable pathway to going from idea, to creating, and then realizing, ‘I can do that.’”

Dorsey’s pedagogical successes caught the attention of the Maryland State Department of Education Fine Arts office, who tapped him to begin offering professional development classes for other teachers centered around the creative process. To this end, he currently serves as a roster artist for Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms (MC3), supporting arts educators in developing skills and knowledge in providing quality arts-based instruction.

In this role, Dorsey facilitates sessions for instructors to think through their teaching strategies for helping people create, and along the way, they get the chance to create something. The result is powerful, says Dorsey. ”They know from their own experience creating music what they need to do to help other people feel comfortable. We really need to give everyone a chance to express their ideas through what they create.”

Find out more about the 2023 Alumni Awards and past award winners.

New research published in September in the Journal of the American Medical Association of Internal Medicine reported pricing discrepancies at top hospitals almost two years after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created the Price Transparency Requirements for Hospitals to Make Standard Charges Public rule. The rule requires all non-federal, non-tribal hospitals that are licensed in each state to list their standard charges for all items and services provided. 

The goal of the rule was to create greater transparency in the prices that hospitals charge to patients and payers. In theory, this data should help the public make the most informed decisions about where to receive their care, as reported by The New York Times with data support from Morgan Henderson, principal data scientist, and Morgane Mouslim, advanced policy analyst, at The Hilltop Institute at UMBC.

“Hospitals have been required to post this data for almost three years, and most hospitals are posting something,” says Henderson, a co-author of the paper along with colleagues from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, Rice University, and business entrepreneur Mark Cuban. “However, very little attention has been paid to the extent to which the prices appear to be accurate.”

Secret shoppers, different prices

The new cross-sectional study compares 60 U.S. hospitals’ online cash prices with their over-the-phone cash prices for vaginal childbirth and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The data was collected between August and October 2022 from “secret shopper” phone calls to 20 top-ranked hospitals as well as 20 safety-net hospitals (which accept patients who cannot pay) and 20 non-top-ranked, non-safety-net hospitals.

The study found that the online prices hospitals are required to post were missing for 47 percent  of hospitals for childbirth and 10 percent for MRIs, said Merina Thomas, a doctoral student at UTMB at Galveston, who was the lead author of the paper.

“Among those hospitals where prices were available online, the online price often did not match the prices provided over the phone,” Thomas said to utmb Health. “For example, a hospital might have an online price for an MRI of $2,000 but give a phone price of $5,000, or an online childbirth price of $20,000 but a phone price of $10,000.”

This research is among the first to attempt to investigate the validity of hospitals’ pricing transparency data relative to other pricing benchmarks. “While this study doesn’t explicitly assess the accuracy of these price transparency data files,” says Henderson, “by comparing them to telephone-based price estimates, we demonstrate that something (either the accuracy of the price transparency data, or the accuracy of telephone estimates, or both) isn’t working.”

The paper was authored by Thomas; Peter Cram, professor of internal medicine at UTMB; Cuban; James Flaherty, UTMB medical student; Jiefei Wang, assistant professor of biostatistics and data sciences at UTMB; Henderson; and Vivian Ho, professor of economics at The Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University.

Henderson and Mouslim have conducted several studies on price transparency. Learn more about this research at The Hilltop Institute.

By Roni Rosenthal

For those who grew up—or still are—spellbound by movies like Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, and The Lion King, you are part of what some historians dub the “Disney Generation.” Your childhood joins forces with a collective nostalgia that weaves Disney’s enchanting tales into our very own identities. In a country with many competing cultural icons, Disney—for better or worse—remains a singular unifying brand for anyone who spent their childhood in the U.S.

Smithsonian museum specialist and curator Bethanee Bemis ’09, history and anthropology, M.A. ’11, history, is an expert in weaving narratives with identity and a storyteller at heart. Her work shines best when married to her earliest passion—Disney.

Where the magic all started

In her newly published book Disney Theme Parks and America’s National Narratives: Mirror, Mirror for Us All, Bemis shares her journey with Disney. She was brought home from the hospital to a Disney-themed nursery, went to Disney World at age two, and around that age, watched The Little Mermaid for the first time, marking her enchantment. Bemis acknowledges her mother’s infatuation with Disney World in the 1970s as the catalyst for her own passion and appreciation of the imaginary world. 

This profound connection with Disney would eventually shape Bemis’ academic and then career path. During a recent installation of a Smithsonian exhibition on American democracy, Bemis recalls, “The central inquiry revolved around who holds the authority to narrate America’s tales. Must our collective narrative be uniform for national unity? Can such unity even exist? That’s when it hit me—Disney! Disney is the narrator of American stories.”

As the curator of the exhibit “Mirror, Mirror: Reflections of America in Disney Parks” at the National Museum of American History, Bemis explores Disney’s impact on American culture and reminds us of the significance of cultural artifacts like movies, dolls, and historical items. These artifacts can inspire conversations, challenge assumptions, and even drive change.

“A great way to launch”

Bemis used her time at UMBC to fuse her early fascination with storytelling and her dedication to exploring the intricate threads of history.

Reflecting on her UMBC days, she remembers the transformative role of Seth Messinger, then an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at UMBC. “Initially, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Dr. Messinger, my undergraduate advisor, believed in me,” says Bemis. “He was convinced that I could achieve success with a little extra effort. He pushed me to go outside my comfort zone and grow, which I appreciated….Well, later on, not in the moment.” 

On campus, Bemis felt that she could unfold her wings and explore her interests. “I really appreciated how the community at UMBC was a safe space to experiment and think about the person I wanted to be when I finished college,” says Bemis, who met her husband Benjamin D’Alessio ’10, M.S. ’11, chemical engineering, when they were both grad students on campus. “It’s a lifetime community if you want it to be,” she smiles. “It’s not just a school.” Though only seven years old, her daughter already talks about being a Retriever someday. 

With mentors like Messinger, Denise Meringolo, associate professor of history, and Amy Froide, professor and chair of history, Bemis found herself propelled beyond her comfort zone, guided to embrace challenges and expand her horizons. The influence of these educators was not confined to her university years; it stretched into the present day, with continued support and advice shaping her path.

Messinger, who has kept in touch with Bemis after they both moved on from UMBC, says Bemis has made him so proud. “In addition to taking my classes, she served as a research assistant for me. She’s very detail oriented and organized, as well as warm and kind as a person. I’ve loved watching her family and career flourish.”

Bemis’s journey through academia led her to a pivotal connection with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. What began as an internship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History grew into a career mission to uncover stories hidden within the museum’s vast collections. Over the years, she moved from intern to curator, specializing in political history and weaving narratives that resonate with the pulse of the nation.

In fact, she says, “I think that the key to finding success in my chosen field was internships and taking advantage of all the opportunities that UMBC provided as a student. Finding a job is often about who you know, and UMBC offers a safe space to grow your network. It is a great way to launch.”

Keep telling stories and making space

In an era when entertainment is not just about escapism but also about challenging norms, forming identities, and prompting thought-provoking conversations, the Barbie movie emerges as a recent and unifying testament to the evolving storytelling landscape. 

Although Barbie isn’t a Disney creation, Bemis says, “I think that our pop culture has always held the story of us. It isn’t just about entertainment; it’s a reflection of societal values, norms, and aspirations.”

Bemis is proud of her achievements but reminds us that “there’s so much more that needs to be done.” She plans to continue working in the public history field and to tell untold and uninvestigated stories, especially stories that are underrepresented in the public history field.

“We must keep telling the stories and make space in the museum for people to tell their own stories,” says Bemis. “I hope that whatever I do will contribute to that somehow.”

Doctoral students diligently work through coursework to become doctoral candidates. But, the process of writing a dissertation sometimes overshadows the joy of moving closer to earning a Ph.D. Family and work responsibilities can pose additional barriers to completing a dissertation. 

Ramon Goings, associate professor of language, literacy, and culture, notes that over 40 percent of doctoral students who enter a program and do not finish recognize the dissertation process as a major contributing factor.

His research found that once students finished their classes, projects, and presentations, the structure that had scaffolded their progress throughout the program did not continue during the dissertation process. “In my research, I sought to unpack the beliefs and skills that propel doctoral students to finish their dissertation in one year or less. What I found can be broken down into what I call the 3P Formula. People + Process = Product,” Goings explains to Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities and host of The Academic Minute, a daily show featuring faculty from colleges and universities worldwide speaking about their cutting-edge research. 

UMBC’s Academic Minute takeover week

Goings joined five UMBC scholars this fall in UMBC’s first Academic Minute Takeover Week, featuring the latest research in media and communication studies; philosophy; modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication; and history. This series is republished on NPR podcasts and Inside Higher Ed.

Learn more about Going’s research.

• Books
• 14 Secrets to a Done Dissertation
• Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships (Information Age Publishing, 2019)
• How the Obama Presidency Changed the Political Landscape (Praeger, 2017)
• A.C.E. Mentoring Through Social Media

Learn more about UMBC’s language, literacy, and culture program.

UMBC’s work in strengthening students’ preparedness in cybersecurity defense is proving effective not only on campus, but well beyond. This summer, three UMBC students competed in an international “capture the flag”-style cybersecurity competition in Japan, with one Retriever taking home a victory—and all three bringing back a greater range of expertise. This opportunity helped UMBC students build global relationships and attain more practical experience in cyber defense. 

In August, Kevin Chen ’23, computer science, Zachary Amoss ’24, computer science, and Leela SaiNadh Gade, M.P.S. ’24, cybersecurity, competed in the 2023 Country-to-Country Capture the Flag (C2C-CTF) event at the Hiyoshi Campus of Keio University in Yokohama, Japan. The competition—which convened in person for the first time this summer since it began in 2020—brought together 80 students from around the world to team up and complete 25 cybersecurity challenges within 10 hours. Teams were tasked with solving challenges such as identifying hackers in various cyber scenarios or using open-source investigative methods to pinpoint geographic locations of different photographs. 

Among the awardees were Chen and his team, which included students from the U.K, China, Japan, and Israel. The team placed fourth overall in C2C-CTF’s main challenge and received the Hitachi award, named after one of the event’s sponsors. Claiming a victory wasn’t the only thing Chen wanted to accomplish at the competition.

“My [goal] was to learn extensively, tackle novel technical obstacles, and engage in international collaboration. I embarked on this journey with the determination for achieving victory, fully aware of the formidable nature of that challenge,” he says. 

Code cracking in real time 

Chen is a member of UMBC’s CyberDawgs team and has been participating in cyber competitions throughout the year in preparation for C2C-CTF. His prep paid off as he helped his team solve the final problem of the competition, a cryptography challenge in which competitors had to correctly guess an image’s location without being provided any identifying information.  

“Inside the images were a set of true images and false images [which] were meant to lead you down a rabbit hole,” Chen explains. “When selecting the true images, we had to piece them together in a certain order to get the code for that challenge.” 

The team used open-source intelligence methods to solve the problem, such as paying attention to the direction of the sun in an image to narrow down the range of countries, identifying specific landmark clues, and analyzing the images’ metadata. Minutes before the competition’s conclusion, Chen’s team cracked the code, earning them 300 points to secure the win. 

“My entry into the world of cybersecurity began just a year ago. Despite my relative newness to the cyber realm and my position as one of the younger members on the team, I played a pivotal role in addressing key challenges that propelled us into the top four [ranking],” said Chen. “My involvement in the [C2C-CTF] event marked a significant milestone. This allowed me to achieve success on an international stage and served as a gratifying culmination of my trip.”

An international partnership 

The annual C2C-CTF competition is organized by the International Cyber Security Center of Excellence (INCS-CoE), a global university network dedicated to securing critical systems against cyber threats through research, policy, education, and training. UMBC is one of the founding charter members of the INCS-CoE, which currently includes 12 academic institutions across six countries and recently expanded into Australia, France, and Israel. 

Karl V. Steiner, UMBC’s vice president for research and creative achievement, has worked with the group since its creation in 2019, and serves as the INCS-CoE’s 2023 board chair. Steiner joined the UMBC team at Keio University during this year’s C2C-CTF event and shared his pride in seeing UMBC students competing at such a high level on an international stage. 

“I was extremely proud to see our students compete at the international level. Competing in this competition provided them with a valuable set of new experiences and a set of new friends from across the globe. Each one of our students was fully dedicated to the spirit of competition,” shares Steiner.

Chen made note of the significance of collaborating with students from around the world, sharing that the experience helped him to “absorb valuable insights into the cyber capabilities and experiences of students globally. The contrasting nature of our experiences…was both enlightening and enriching.”

Kazuo Noguchi, executive director of the INCS-CoE added: “ The vision for this event is to provide inclusive and international education and training which can enhance not only new skills, but also, and more importantly, promote international friendship, collaboration, ethics, and teamwork.”

A “real world” approach to cybersecurity 

Rick Forno, principal lecturer in computer science and electrical engineering and assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity, explains that competitions like the C2C-CTF provide students with a look into the “real world” of cyber defense.

“The competition provides the next generation of cyber defenders an opportunity to tackle technical cybersecurity challenges and gain insight into the global nature of cybersecurity, [along with] the need for effective intercultural collaboration in working toward a common goal,” says Forno. 

Forno also serves as a coach for the UMBC CyberDawgs and adds that “structuring the C2C-CTF event with teams composed of members from different countries is an innovative idea that adds additional real-world ‘flavor’ to what participants will encounter later as cybersecurity professionals around the world.”

CyberDawgs member Zachary Amoss shared that while he has gotten the opportunity to compete with the team at national events, “the opportunity to represent UMBC on the global stage [at C2C-CTF] was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I highly recommend all current UMBC students, especially those who are already in cybersecurity spaces such as the CyberDawgs, to compete in next year’s event.”

Leela SaiNadh Gade added that the competition has been “an enriching experience that expanded my understanding immensely. The learning I acquired from this event will serve as an invaluable asset in my future endeavors.”