Used to working in beautiful sunny weather, Giovanna Orfali, a visual arts senior from São Paulo, Brazil, spent this summer behind the camera as a digital content intern at the Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC). A seasoned filmmaker and photographer, this internship was an opportunity to expand her professional network and bring a fresh perspective to Maryland history by creating short-form social media content to share the center’s unique exhibits and events with audiences across the state.

Orfali is a recipient of the #YouAreWelcomeHere scholarship that offers tuition support for international students. She came to UMBC with experience as a television video editor and videographer and has used her skillset working on a wide range of projects. She produced and edited “Arthropod Biodiversity and Applications,” a full-length instructional video course for the Department of Biological Sciences, and works part-time as a photographer for UMBC athletics events. When Orfali is not at the MCHC, she produces digital media for UMBC’s event and conference services, her second summer internship site.

“When I began taking classes back home, no one was interested in editing audio, so I volunteered. I learned to say yes to all opportunities. At the TV station, I filmed interviews, exercise classes, and tourism commercials,” says Orfali. “I did the same when I came to UMBC. Being open to learning all aspects of audiovisual production has made me more confident and helped me make a lot of connections in and outside of the classroom.” Orfali’s short film “A Shared Story of Distance” was chosen to represent UMBC at the 2023 Maryland Film Festival Day: Student Shorts Showcase.

Hundreds of Retrievers like Orfali maximize their summer by putting their hard-earned skills to work in collaboration with campus and community partners. The 2025 arts, humanities, and social sciences summer interns are getting it done, one sunny day at a time.

Designing a career

No matter where a Retriever is in the world, they can search the online student job platform Handshake for thousands of summer internships, including on-campus opportunities. This was crucial for Humanities Scholar Kendal Howell, who stepped off the plane after studying business management abroad in France this past spring and into the office as an intern at UMBC’s Division of Student Affairs for their new academic partnerships and high-impact experiences (APHIE) unit. James DeVita, assistant vice president for APHIE, says his group needed materials and resources to help stakeholders understand the value of developing and engaging in high-impact experiences. So he turned to the experts in student experiences—the students themselves.

“We wanted to add to the number of on-campus internships. It was wonderful to have created a new professional experience for over 25 students, whose research will directly benefit their peers in a multitude of ways,” says DeVita. “By the end of the internship, the interns had collectively reviewed over 30 publications and drafted six resources in addition to completing the mapping research and related presentation.”

“The student-led research team studied high-impact practices for scholars programs, including UMBC’s, and synthesized academic research of these practices on student success in higher education,” says Howell, an Africana studies and sociology senior, with a minor in entrepreneurship. She focused on entrepreneurship, education abroad, work-based learning, and student leadership opportunities. “The information we gathered will help inform campus leaders in improving UMBC’s scholar programs. This was my first internship, and I loved it!”

Second-year gerontology doctoral student Claire McDonald also had the opportunity to conduct new research. Trained in quantitative research in psychology, McDonald gained qualitative methodology skills in her spring sociology class as part of her training to conduct research about aging in the LGBTQ+ community, a growing area of research. She is utilizing the mixed-methods LGBTQ+ Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study, one of the few datasets on this topic, and hopes to add to her dissertation qualitative data from interviews with older LGBTQ+ adults in Baltimore for a mixed-methods project. Impressed with McDonald’s rigor, her professor recommended her to Rowena Winkler, the new assistant director for graduate student career development at the UMBC Career Center, who was seeking graduate students to conduct a 10-week qualitative research project. 

“I recruited over 100 students, conducted 11 individual interviews, and three focus groups to learn how and why graduate students use the Career Center and why they don’t,” says McDonald.  Winkler appreciated the partnership. They co-facilitated two of the focus groups together. “I watched Claire build rapport with the students. She was very open-ended and asked great prompts and follow-ups,” says Winkler. “I’m happy she had the opportunity to hone in on some of these skills that she learned in her class.”

From intern to staff

Professional growth and community building throughout the summer help students maintain ongoing growth at every stage of their learning process, leading to new jobs in other organizations, extending their internship to another semester, or a promotion from an intern to a staff member.

Like Howell, Handshake helped Orfali find both her summer internship at the MCHC as well as a spring internship in media production and audiovisual at the CATO Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. She impressed the MCHC team so much that they have extended her internship through the fall. “I learned a lot about working at a nonprofit that values the importance of history and culture, as well as collaborating with the external affairs team to create content for marketing purposes,” shared Orfali on LinkedIn. “This experience made me very interested in producing informative and educational videos and documentaries.”

As students advance in their academic careers, they can access paid, hands-on learning opportunities by serving as graduate assistants. Over the last eight years, Caleb Ruck, a language, literacy, and culture doctoral student and two-time alum, has climbed UMBC’s student worker ladder, including as a graphic designer and social media manager for UMBC’s Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging. He served as a special projects intern for the Center for Democracy and Civic Life and moved to the front of the classroom as a graduate teaching assistant for the modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication department. 

Ruck is now the first year-long graduate assistant for the Center for Social Justice Dialogue where he is helping develop and establish programming and procedures, such as co-facilitating a first-year seminar on the intricacies of dialogue around social identity, race, power, privilege, and oppression, and co-facilitating Building Bridges Across Difference: A Dialogue for Every Day for staff and faculty. 

This summer, Ruck focused on professional development by attending the National Intergroup Dialogue Institute, hosted by the University of Michigan’s program on intergroup relations, and preparing to welcome the first group of interns he helped interview.

“The skills I’ve acquired in this job make me feel more competent and prepared to co-facilitate dialogue, especially in student, staff, and faculty-facing contexts,” says Ruck ’22, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, and M.A. ’24, intercultural communication. “I want to be a faculty member, teach, and conduct research on social identity topics. Being able to navigate dialogue across differences is key.”

The UMBC Career Guide has templates and resources for students to help with internet and job search at every stage of their internship and job search. Listen to more tips on UMBC’s Careers Unleashed podcast.

Clair Volkening 

Degree: B.A., English
Hometown: Boonsboro, MD
Post-grad plans: Technical editor, Defense Intelligence Agency

Humanities Scholar Clair Volkening has used her voice as a writer, editor, and facilitator to help UMBC community members build connections with one another and to inspire social change. 

Volkening, who is also a member of the Honors College, was a participant and a coach in UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s (CDCL) STRiVE program, where she developed her leadership and civic engagement skills. Because of her contributions to STRiVE, Volkening was recruited to participate in CDCL’s first cohort of the ConnectionCorps program, a year-long facilitator training program for students. As a ConnectionCorps facilitator, Volkening facilitated community conversations involving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and local and state leaders on various issues. She also facilitated workshops for students involving reflection, storytelling, and discussion.

Volkening extended her coaching and leadership work further by helping students along their academic journeys. She was a tutor in UMBC’s Writing Center, assisting fellow Retrievers with strengthening their writing skills. This experience inspired her to join the editorial team for UMBC Review, the university’s student-organized, peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal. That work, she says, was an “incredible learning experience” that informed her burgeoning career pursuits as an editor. 

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“David Hoffman, who earned his Ph.D. at UMBC and is director of the CDCL, and Elaine MacDougall, lecturer in English and the director of the Writing Center, influenced me the most during my time at UMBC. Working with Hoffman at CDCL events and learning from him has changed my outlook on life in all areas, not just school. MacDougall is a role model and someone who has taught me so much. She helped me find myself as a tutor and leader.

“There have been so many mentors and students who have made a huge impact on my time here, including many of my fellow Humanities Scholars who have made UMBC feel like home. Sally Shivnan, principal lecturer in English, and Lia Purpura, UMBC’s writer in residence, have helped me grow in my creative writing and have shown me what it is to live like a writer.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“The people, by far, have been the best part of my time at UMBC. From my professors to my friends to the teachers in classes at the Retriever Activities Center, the people at UMBC make the university what it is. So many of the conversations that I’ve had with people on campus—whether they were serious and introspective, or silly and fun—have taught me about how community is formed and how we can all exist as people in our world.”

Danylo Leshchyshyn

Degree: B.A., History and Political Science (certificate in Security Studies)
Hometown: Columbia, MD
Plans: M.A. in History, University of Toronto

“The most valuable part of my UMBC experience has been learning that I can succeed at what I do—not only that I can succeed academically, but that I can succeed in the social aspects that I struggled with in high school. I can build meaningful relationships. I can even be president of a club. I can do whatever I set my mind to.”

Danylo Leshchyshyn ‘22, history and political science, came to UMBC hoping to receive the support he would need to succeed. He found it in the form of friendly staff members with Student Disability Services, and in strong connections he formed with other students. He remembers “life changing conversations, which I will be forever grateful for” with friends in the Humanities Scholars Living Learning Community. He also found a path to involvement in campus life through a mythology-themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign organized by the Ancient Studies Council of Majors. 

Leshchyshyn quickly became a supportive community-builder in his own right. He helped revive UMBC’s chapter of Delta Alpha Pi, a national honor society for high-achieving students with disabilities. He also co-founded the Autism Spectrum Student Association and actively participated in several other organizations.

Leshchyshyn’s grandparents came to North America from Ukraine after WWII. He is a fluent Ukrainian speaker and still has relatives living in Ukraine.

In the months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, he has connected with others at UMBC who have Ukrainian connections and spoken at a campus program, “Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Historical, Political, and Personal Perspectives.” He plans to pursue a master’s degree in history at the University of Toronto, focusing on Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

Story written by David Hoffman, Ph.D. ’13, language, literacy, and culture (LLC), director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, and Romy Hübler ’09, modern languages and linguistics, M.A. ’11, intercultural communication, Ph.D. ’15, LLC, assistant director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life.

Kelly Wan ’18, global studies and financial economics, and Humanities Scholar is one of fourteen UMBC students and recent alumni to receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards — a new university record.

During her junior year, the Ellicott City local, who is Chinese-American, studied abroad in Shanghai to learn more about Chinese language and culture. There, she became acutely aware of the challenges of managing different identities. “As a Chinese American I encountered misconceptions that Chinese citizens and foreigners alike had about who could be considered an American based on an individual’s physical features,” explains Wan. Through her Fulbright experience in South Korea, she’ll further explore Asian and Asian-American identities.

Wan is currently a graduate student of American studies at Columbia University. Through her Fulbright teaching assistantship, she will gain more insight about South Korea’s political, social, and cultural history. She’ll also seek to understand how Asian Americans construct their identities while reconciling both their Asian and American heritage.

As she connects with students in South Korea, Wan shares, “My hope is to dispel the stereotypes that people often associate with the United States and demonstrate that anyone, regardless of physical appearance, can be American.”

Wan’s story resonates with UMBC’s other Fulbright recipients, the university’s largest group to date. As students prepare to leave over the coming months to connect with people around the world, they share how they hope to challenge stereotypes and encourage peace-building through a shared humanity.

A history of international excellence

UMBC began participating in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in 1970. Since then, Fulbright has chosen more than 70 UMBC students and recent alumni to represent the United States through conducting research, teaching English, or pursuing graduate studies internationally. UMBC has been particularly successful in the past five to ten years. In the last decade, UMBC has had 65 recipients.

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.

Brian Souders Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy, and culture, has been a key leader in collaborating with faculty across campus to identify qualified students in all majors. He then provides one-on-one support for students beginning the summer before the Fulbright announcement and continues providing placement, academic, and social support while students are abroad. As the Fulbright program coordinator, Souders’s attention to detail and passion for connecting Retrievers with this prestigious experience has resulted in a steady increase of recipients over the last ten years.

Embracing different languages and identities

As a linguistics major, Bryce Moore ’19, modern language, linguistics, and intercultural communications (MLLI), is most at home surrounded by people who speak a variety of languages and traveling to countries unfamiliar to him. While studying abroad in Portugal he learned Portuguese and traveled to the U.K., Spain, and Germany. “I have not been anywhere east of Germany,” explains Moore. “Teaching in Kazakhstan is an opportunity to learn Russian and understand more about surrounding countries, each with their own unique identities.”

Dymond Elliott, ’19, psychology and MLLI, also accepted a Fulbright placement in a country unfamiliar to her: Malaysia. Elliott has studied Japanese culture and language extensively through her minor and her study abroad experience. Malaysia presents an opportunity to expand her knowledge of Asian cultures.

“I don’t speak Malay but I am excited to learn and deeply interested in immersing myself in a culture that doesn’t expect assimilation but embraces immigrant identities,” says Elliott.

Deepening cultural ties

After teaching English for two years in Costa Rica, Michael Schapiro, M.A. ’19, TESOL, is ready to apply those skills in Colombia. He is particularly excited about the opportunity for cultural exchange.

“The Latin American people I have met in the U.S and abroad have been very friendly, welcoming, and hospitable,” says Schapiro. “I enjoy that type of rapport and want to continue to build more relationships throughout the continent as I become more fluent.”

Similarly, Corey Simon’s prior experiences in Barcelona and Uruguay, supporting community education organizations, inspired her to explore teaching English further. “I chose Uruguay because I was already familiar with the language, culture, and country so I could jump right in and be most effective with the time I have,” shares Simon ‘18, MLLI, and M.A. ‘19, intercultural communication. “But more than anything I want to give back to the country that has given me such a great experience.”

An experienced world traveler, Rebekah Kempske sees the exchange of ideas as the most pivotal takeaway of her upcoming Fulbright adventure. Kempske ’19, mechanical engineering, joined her family during breaks and holidays to travel the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Latin America. Through her travels, she saw different applications of engineering concepts, which sparked an interest in global engineering.

Kempske chose to learn more about global engineering through a master’s in industrial design at Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands. She believes engineering is successful when technical skills and people skills are combined maximizing different working styles and ideas. “International collaboration based on respect takes engineering from a concept to an applicable change agent,” says Kempske, “improving the quality of life for the people who need it the most all over the world.”

A full list of UMBC’s 2019 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awardees for graduate study, English teaching assistantships, and research is below. UMBC’s Fulbright semifinalist story from earlier this spring includes additional student features.

Research Assistant Awards

• Jessica Linus ’19, health administration and policy, Rwanda

English Teaching Assistant Awards

• Jennifer Bohlman ’19, M.A., ESOL, Germany
  
• Liam Connor ’19, information systems, Vietnam
• Dymond Elliot ’19, psychology and MLLI, Malaysia
• Chanler Harris ’19, ancient studies, Taiwan
  
• Leah Ginty ‘14, modern languages, linguistics and intercultural communication, and M.A. ‘19, TESOL
• Bryce Moore ’19, MLLI, Kazakhstan
  
• Manneha Qazi ’18, biological sciences, Uzbekistan
• Michael Schapiro ’19, M.A., TESOL, Colombia
  
• Corey Simon, ’18, MLLI, and M.A. ’19, intercultural communication, Uruguay
• Kelly Wan ’18, global studies and financial economics, South Korea

M.A./M.S. Study Awards

• Rebekah Kempske ’19, mechanical engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
• Jacob Schubbe ‘18, mechanical engineering, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland
• Julian Tash ’19, Asian studies and history, Taiwan

Banner image: UMBC Fulbright recipients hold flags of countries from their respective placements. Images by Marlayna Demond for UMBC unless otherwise noted.

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.

Flora Kirk
B.A., Ancient Studies
Minor: Political Science
Magna Cum Laude
Hometown: Middletown, Maryland
Plans: Fulbright researcher, Romania

Since I first rubbed True Grit’s nose, UMBC has presented me with unending opportunities to be involved in its vibrant campus life. As my UMBC career shows, whatever plan you have going into your undergraduate career, you will be exposed to enough opportunities here to find yourself in a much different, and better, path.

Flora Kirk’s career at UMBC has been punctuated by a seemingly unending list of internships, student activities, and academic accolades. As an ancient studies major in the Honors College, Kirk credits her department and mentors for providing her with unique opportunities and supporting her success. During her time at UMBC, she has received  the Christopher Sherwin Award, Jane and Robert Shedd Award, and William and Martha Christopher Scholarship. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and an Undergraduate Research Scholar.

Already Kirk has pursued her interest in ancient coins through research abroad. In 2015, she traveled to the Roman Baths and worked to catalogue an extensive cache of recently discovered coins. In 2017, Kirk received a grant through the Roman Society to travel to the Great North Museum in Newcastle, UK, for further research. Kirk also received the Jane C. Waldbaum Archaeological Field School Scholarship and traveled to Archaeotek Roman Villa field school in Transylvania, Romania.

Building on her already extensive travel dossier, Kirk will be relocating to Cluj-Napoca, Romania, after graduation as a Fulbright Scholar to conduct research on Roman coinage, specifically on the effect of propaganda as it relates to value.

Portrait by Marylana Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Morgan Zepp
B.A., English; B.A., Global Studies
Minor: Spanish and Writing
Magna Cum Laude
Hometown: Catonsville, Maryland
Plans: Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, Lithuania

UMBC has given me tremendous opportunity to explore my own values and take the initiative to help my community. I have felt like I am able to make change, be valuable, and commit myself to hands-on action, but I have also been given access to an amazing education.

Morgan Zepp grew up in Catonsville, just down the street from UMBC, but she wasn’t always sure UMBC would be the place where she would thrive. Now, as she is ready to receive her degree, she reflects, “Every day I am grateful I came here.”

Once she stepped onto campus four years ago, Zepp immediately got to work. She excelled in UMBC’s Honors College and took on two majors: English and global studies. She entered the university as a Humanities Scholar, and became a writing tutor and writing fellow, as well as editor of Bartleby, UMBC’s creative arts journal for students. Jessica Berman, director of the Dresher Center for the Humanities and professor of English, shares, “I think she incorporates all of best qualities of UMBC students and is someone we’d want to honor.”

Perhaps the largest responsibility Zepp has taken on is serving as president of UMBC’s Reach Initiative, launched by fellow UMBC student Isabel Geisler ‘17, global studies. The Reach Initiative offers support to high school girls who are interested in STEM, informing them about available opportunities, connecting them with research experiences, and linking them with supportive mentors. Zepp was recognized for her service, leadership, and work to achieve meaningful change through a France-Merrick Scholarship.

While firmly grounded in supporting communities in the Baltimore region, Zepp also has a keen interest in learning about the world, which led her to study abroad in Cuzco, Peru for a semester. Next, she will travel to Lithuania to teach English as a Fulbright Scholar.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.

Dylan Rogers Elliott
B.A., History
Summa Cum Laude, Certificate: Honors College
Hometown: Broomes Island, Maryland
Plans: University of Maryland Carey School of Law

I am leaving UMBC with a much wider knowledge of the world. Attending UMBC alongside such a diverse group of students…exposed me to very different ways of thinking about the world, as well as many different cultural, racial, religious, socioeconomic, and national backgrounds.

Dylan Elliott came to UMBC determined to become involved in his community by working with others. Four years later, he’s graduating from UMBC having helped lead the award-winning UMBC Mock Trial Team to its first appearance at the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament.

Elliott has served in several leadership roles, on the Humanities Scholars Program Senate, Residential Life Peer Review Council, and Honors College Council. He has supported students as a career peer advisor in the UMBC Career Center, and served as arts, humanities, and social sciences editor for the UMBC Review. He also received the UMBC Student Affairs Leadership Award this past April for his campus leadership over the past four years.

Through a variety of experiences, Elliott has studied the legal profession, history of governance, and the work of policymakers. For his senior capstone project, Elliott spent hours in the Maryland State Archives researching Maryland’s chief tax official at the end of the Revolutionary War. His work earned the history department’s Joseph D. Reese Memorial Prize for best essay on a historical topic. He has also interned in the chambers of the Hon. Wanda Keyes Heard ’79, political science, in the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office, and worked as a legal assistant for the Dorsey Law Firm.

Next, Elliott will pursue his J.D. degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, with the intent to focus on civil rights and criminal law en route to a career as a public defender.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC’s Dresher Center for the Humanities and College of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) are launching a major new five-year initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the humanities through a $750,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Inclusion Imperative will cultivate a supportive regional community of scholars committed to diversity in the humanities and to expanding community-engaged humanities research, teaching, and learning focused on issues of race, equity, inclusion, and justice.

“The Mellon award recognizes and allows us to expand and deepen our work toward inclusive excellence in the humanities—not just at UMBC, but throughout our region,” says Scott Casper, dean of the CAHSS. “Thanks to this award, we will bring together a community of scholars and students who are developing a diverse vision of the humanities.”

The initiative’s three interconnected parts include the Visiting Faculty Fellows Program, Diversity Teaching Network in the Humanities, and Humanities Teaching Labs, coordinated by project directors Jessica Berman, director of the Dresher Center, and Dean Casper. In addition to supporting students and faculty in the humanities, these programs will produce new tools and partnerships to support Baltimore-Washington communities as they move toward meaningful change.

The Visiting Faculty Fellows Program will invite full-time faculty from the region’s colleges and universities to join UMBC for a semester or year as residential research fellows, with a focus on faculty who are committed to diversity and inclusion. These exchanges will promote the sharing of diverse ideas and perspectives, and development of new research and teaching collaborations.

Through the Diversity Teaching Network in the Humanities, current and former visiting fellows, and other interested faculty, scholars, and graduate students, will meet regularly to work on course curricula and research projects that focus on diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. This program will deepen UMBC’s partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), including Coppin State University, Bowie State University, and Howard University, creating a regional community of faculty committed to diversity and inclusion in the humanities.

“Coppin State University is pleased to be part of this timely and innovative project, which recognizes correctly the excellence that resides on our diverse campuses and encourages top scholars from these communities to engage each other as colleagues and not as competitors,” says Ron L. Collins Sr., dean of the Coppin State University Honors College. He reflects, “The Dresher Center’s bold and brilliant effort will spawn lifelong professional relationships among faculty and create research agendas that respect the important voices of scholars from diverse communities of practice.”

Berman shares this vision. She notes that nurturing strong relationships among faculty at different institutions will be essential to the success of the initiative, commenting, “I’m perhaps most excited about the chance to work in partnership with area HBCUs to diversify curriculum, build new approaches, and share insight and experiences.”

Humanities Teaching Labs (HTLabs), the third component of the Inclusion Imperative, will support faculty at UMBC and partner institutions in undertaking community-engaged work on issues of race, equity, inclusion, and justice. Faculty and graduate teaching assistants will be invited to attend workshops to learn about tools and methods of community-engaged teaching and will have access to state-of-the-art media tools for classroom use. HTLabs will support approaches that bridge the divides between fields and between universities and partners beyond the academy.

“I firmly believe that the humanities offer us crucial tools for addressing pressing issues of civic life,” says Berman. “Now more than ever, we need the tools of the humanities to advance local and national conversations about our history, our identities, and our common future.”

Image: UMBC Humanities Scholars seminar “Political Childhood and Children’s Citizenship in Western Culture” in the Dresher Center, November 2016. Students include, r-l, Julia Byrne, De`Jia Long-Hillie, Dever Cunningham, Jonathan Harness, Garrett Beeg, and Kara Gavin. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.