Global Pathways for Students (GPS) program connects 20 - 25 globally minded, rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors to international companies here in Baltimore. The program aims to expose these students to a wide array of companies, careers, and opportunities in international business.  The goal is to keep global talent local and to help these students build their professional networks.  Due to current conditions, GPS will be virtual for this year’s program and will run from May 27^th to June 5^th.

We expect the virtual program to offer all of the same transformative content, plus more and we’re extremely excited. Some of this year’s participating companies include: Lockheed Martin, Stanley Black & Decker, Ciena, and McCormick & Company. Here’s a quick video recap highlighting last year’s program.  

For more information visit:  http://www.wtci.org/gps/. The application deadline is April 30^th so please apply sooner than later! There is a $250 program fee, but WTCI is aware of the financial implications of COVID-19 on many students and have scholarships available to subsidize the program cost for students in need.

Join us for Virtual URCAD, April 22-29, 2020!

You will be able to view student presentations and interact with the presenters.

URCAD.umbc.edu

Christine Abraham | Information Systems

The Interpretability of Machine Learning and How it Relates to Image Recognition

Mentor: Jianwu Wang

Adam Afilaka| Information Systems

Comparative Analysis of Hyperledger and Etherum Blockchains

Mentor: Karuna Joshi

Sonali Ghante, Harveer Kaur, Muhsina Helal | Information Systems

Where Will a Guest Book Their First Travel Experience?

Mentor: James Foulds

Lauren Haden| Information Systems

Ice Layer Tracking in Radar Imagery with Active Learning

Mentor: Maryam Rahnemoonfar

Aaleyah Lewis | Information Systems

Conflict Mediation at Scale: Leveraging Big Data to Mediate Online Conflicts

Mentor: Susan Fussell

Faizah Pirzada| Information Systems

A Qualitative Study of Assessing the Usefulness and Usability of Home Care Quality Toolkit by Home Health Care Agencies

Mentor: Gunes Koru

Katherine Sublett | Information Systems

Integrative Platform for Predictive Health Outcomes

Mentor: April Householder

Jordan Troutman | Information Systems

Subset Feature Selection with Considerations of Fairness

Mentor: James Foulds

Uchendu Uchendu| Information Systems

Nonlinear Granger Causality Discovery Using Xgboost

Mentor: Jianwu Wang

Mei-Lian Vader| Information Systems

Use of Voice Activated Assistants By Individuals Who Are Blind

Mentor: Ravi Kuber

UMBC’s 16th Digital Entertainment Conference, online 11-5 Sat. 4/18

16th UMBC Digital Entertainment Conference

11:00am-5:00pm, Saturday, April 18, 2020

Online on YouTube

The Digital Entertainment Conference (DEC) is an annual event run by the students of the UMBC Game Developer’s Club that brings professional game developers from the area to UMBC to talk about their experience in the game industry. DEC’20 will be held online 11-5 on Saturday, April 18 on the UMBC Game Developers Club YouTube Channel. Attend online to see and interact with professions from the local game industry.

This year’s speakers include four professionals from Zenimax, a video game publisher headquartered in Maryland: Bobby Foster (Figure Artist), Eric Bakutis (Content Designer), Ryan Griffin (Artist), and Katie Hirsch (Programmer).

DEC’20 is free to attend and open to UMBC students, high school students, UMBC alumni and anyone interested in game development. It is sponsored by the UMBC Game Developers club and funded by the COEIT Dean’s Office’s Collaborative Student Funding Program.

The post UMBC 16th Digital Entertainment Conference, 11-5 Sat. 4/18 online appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

In the absence of physical space to learn, create, and come together, the Women’s Center is taking Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) 2020 online. Each week during April, we will focus on a specific topic/theme as it relates to sexual violence awareness and prevention (see image below). Together, via out social media platforms like Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram, we can watch videos, read articles, and engage in other content for learning and skill-building.

Have you been taking a break from social media? Missed a few posts? That’s okay! In addition to posting on social media throughout the month, at the end of each week, we’ll provide a round-up of all the content we shared along with some action items to consider doing.

We just wrapped up week two of SAAM and spent the last several days exploring rape narratives and myths through the following content:

1.What is rape culture? Rape culture is a sociological concept for a setting in which sexual violence is pervasive,  normalized, or encouraged due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. As exemplified in this image, tolerance of things at the bottom leads to excusing the behaviors at the top. 

2. The prevalence of rape myths reinforces a very narrow definition of what sexual violence/rape is and how and when it happens. By deconstructing rape myths, we enable survivors to better access support and healing by ending a culture that blames victims. Learn more at Everyday Feminism

Want even more to read about this topic? Check out this list of books!

3. The phrase “Boys will be boys” is an “explain-away” that can work to reinforce rape culture (think back to that pyramid!). 

Here is a helpful article from the Good Men Project that further explains the importance of unlearning to use this phrase, but first, take a listen to one of Dua Lipa’s newest songs, “Boys Will Be Boys” which adresses sexual harassment some women (and also some LGBTQ folks) experience. What do you think?

4. What about implicit biases? So much of media is focused on “the perfect victim,” but this stereotype perpetuates dangerous myths that limit our understanding of the broad ways in which rape impacts people. Check out this video to learn more. 

What about LGBTQ survivors?  We live in a world where “heterosexuality” is default, and also where we are told that victims are women and rapists are men; however, in creating and perpetuating this rape myth, we are silencing a vast majority of survivor stories whose experiences reflect their LGBTQ identities. Read more in this vice article.

Important Take-Away:

→ Remember the pyramid! Tolerance of sexist attitudes, rape jokes, and catcalling all contribute to perpetuating rape culture. 

→ Examine your implicit biases. There’s no such thing as a “perfect victim”, and far too many LGBTQ survivors are silenced by steryotypes and rape myths. 

→ Cut out language that promotes rape culture. Never say “Boys will be boys”! 

Now that you’ve got some good readings in your tool kit, what will you do with them? Here’s some Action Items:

• Reflect on any implicit biases you might not realize you have. Read some of the articles we posted, reflect on your own beliefs, and start a conversation. 
• Share one of the articles above on your social media platforms. Ask your friends or family members if they’d be willing to engage in a conversation with you about one of the takeaways that stood out to you.
• Learn more about how to cultivate a culture of consent. Here’s one more video on consent you can watch and share! Are you on twitter? Read more tweets written by Spring Up here, and feel free to use their proposed tweets – they gave their consent! 

Follow the Women’s Center on myUMBC,  Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for SAAM updates and information throughout the month of April. You can also stay up-to-date by following #UMBCsaam 

Throughout this time of distance learning, campus staff are still here and available for support. Do not hesitate to reach out for questions, concerns, or care.

On-Campus Resources Available for Virtual Support: 

• Counseling Center
• Office of Equity and Inclusion 
• University Health Services
• Women’s Center
• Visit Retriever Courage for a full list of campus resources and support to include resources for USG students, faculty, and staff 
• For up-to-date details on how to access these resources during this time of distance learning visit UMBC’s COVID-19 resources page.

To report a complaint of sexual misconduct or discrimination, please submit this online form.