April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the Women’s Center is hosting its 6th consecutive Take Back the Night on Thursday, April 12th. Over the years, we’ve had a lot of questions about what Take Back the Night exactly is, why it looks the way it does, and how students can get involved. To help get those questions answered we started the “What You Need to Know” series focused on TBTN last year and are continuing on the tradition, so stay tuned for more posts over the next couple of weeks. This blog focuses on the evening’s campus march against sexual violence.

1,2,3,4 WE WON’T TAKE IT ANYMORE

 5,6,7,8 NO MORE VIOLENCE! NO MORE HATE!

As a survivor of sexual assault, the Take Back The Night march reminds me that I’m not alone.

Mariana De Matos Medeiros, ’16, and former student staff member at the Women’s Center, said “To me, having the opportunity to speak and march at TBTN last year reminded me that I am not alone and that I can stand in my power to speak about my experience. It took me 3 years to finally speak about my assault and one of the very first times was at TBTN last year. Seeing so many gathered to support allowed me to speak and speaking has allowed me to heal.”

It can be easy to blame yourself, isolate yourself, and feel like you’re the only person struggling with your healing; However, the march lets you connect with people who support you and believe you.

Sarah Lilly, a 2016 and 2017 Take Back The Night student leader says “Marching is us showing that solidarity is a verb, and it brings me great pride to feel so supported by my local UMBC community and to see the unconditional support for everyone else in our community.”

In an open letter in her school’s newspaper, survivor and student activist, Angie Epifano, recounted the aftermath of her sexual assault, namely her experience with institutional betrayal. She ended the letter with, “Silence has the rusty taste of shame.” Due to rape culture, victim blaming, a lack of support for survivors, and more, it is understandable that many survivors do not disclose their experience and sexual assault is rarely spoke of in public.

Much like the Baltimore-based Monument Quilt is creating and demanding public space for survivors to heal, Take Back the Night demands for space in which we will not be shamed into silence. Activists like Angie, the Monument Quilt creators, and YOU during the march are creating a new culture where survivors are publicly supported, rather than publicly shamed. Come see the Monument Quilt at UMBC on Tuesday, April 17th.

Here’s some helpful information about the campus march against sexual violence to those attending Take Back the Night at UMBC: 

• The survivor speak-out is intended to center the voices and experience of survivors (of all identities) of sexual violence. The speak-out is for allies to listen and survivors to break their silence but the march is for EVERYONE to GET LOUD! 
• We encourage individuals and groups to make rally signs ahead of time. Signs are a great way to show your solidarity and support while also representing your student orgs, res hall communities, and frats/sororities.
• We’ll line everyone up in the march in waves. Survivors wanting to march up front with other survivors are invited to line up first along with other community members needed to take an accessible route march. Everyone else will then line up as survivors begin to march towards the south exit of The Commons.
• As we march, walk slowly and stay together. Try to avoid large gaps in the line.
• Due to construction, there will be a change in the march route this year. As we make out way through the new route we will stop midway through the march and hold our first Survivor Circle.
  • The Survivor Circle is a chance for survivors who may or may not have shared their story during the speak out to be recognized, come together, and be surrounded in support and healing by those attending the march. This is an opportunity for those who identify as survivors to come together without having to speak out or share their story if they do not wish to do so.
• The march will end back on Main Street where the space will be ready for the evening’s resource fair and craftivism. As you’re heading back into The Commons, come all the way into Main Street so everyone else behind you can get into the space as well.
• There will be one more chance to share your experience as a survivor post-march at a survivor discussion group led by the student organization We Believe You in the Women’s Center. (This event will be private and for survivors only).
• Counselors-On-Call will be available throughout the evening. Any one needing additional support or simply needs to take a break are invited to visit the self-care station that will be set up in the Commuter Lounge.

For more information about UMBC’s TBTN (check out Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter too by searching the hashtag #UMBCTBTN):

• Stop by the Women’s Center the week leading up to TBTN to make a rally sign for the march on April 9th, 10th, or 11th.
• A blog post about UMBC’s 2005 TBTN march written by alum, Dr. Grollman.
• Speak: Knowing a Survivor Without Knowing Their Story – a blog post on cultivating a survivor-responsive campus
• Register for and attend an upcoming Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence workshop. Click here for more details on the students workshop.
• The Women’s Center 2017 TBTN roundup
  

Stay tuned for the next installment of what you need to know about TBTN 2018! 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the Women’s Center is hosting its 6th consecutive Take Back the Night on Thursday, April 12th. Over the years, we’ve had a lot of questions about what Take Back the Night exactly is, why it looks the way it does, and how students can get involved. To help get those questions answered we started the “What You Need to Know” series focused on TBTN last year and are continuing on the tradition, so stay tuned for more posts over the next week. This is an updated post to last year’s information focusing on the survivor speak-out.

View from the survivor speak-out at Take Back the Night 2015. 

The survivor speak-out is the heart of Take Back the Night. This is the point in the night where survivors are encouraged to come up and share their story with the crowd before the march throughout campus. As a survivor, sharing your story at TBTN allows you to publicly acknowledge your experience with a crowd that believes you and supports you.

Kayla Smith, UMBC Class of 2017, started the speak out in previous years and cherished that moment as a time where she could share her experience with people who she knew wouldn’t judge her. She could look out into a crowd of people who wouldn’t tell her its her fault, ask what she was wearing, ask if she was drinking, or tell her that she was responsible for her assault. “Speaking out about my assault empowers me to talk about my experience with confidence.”

This year we want to focus on dispelling the myth of the “perfect victim” that often times dominates sexual violence discourse. There are a variety of stories and experiences that are shared during the speak- out. Some may share stories or healing while others are still angry, sad, or scared. Many stories may come from women-identified folks and/but male survivors are also invited to share their stories at the speak-out. All of our stories and experiences are valid. And, no matter where you are at in your experience as a survivor (i.e. your assault happened 10 years ago or just last week) or what your identities may be, you’re welcomed to share your story.   

Former Women’s Center Student Staff Member Kayla Smith speaking to the crowd at TBTN 2017. (Photo Credit: Jaedon Huie)

If you’re thinking about speaking at Take Back the Night, feel free to reach out to Women’s Center staff ahead of time if you feel like it would be helpful to talk to someone ahead of time about your story and how you may want to share it. Of course, we know many survivors may not plan on speaking at TBTN and then feel called to do so once the speak-out begins and that’s okay! If you feel uncomfortable sharing during the speak-out, that’s also 100% okay! There will be a chance to be recognized during the March at the Survivor Circle (which will be a new part of this year’s march – stay tuned for our updated What You Need to Know about the March post for more details!) or discuss your experience in a more intimate setting at We Believe You’s survivor discussion group post march.

It’s also totally okay if don’t feel ready to share your story at Take Back the Night – there’s many other ways you can share your story in less public ways throughout Sexual Assault Awareness Month (like making a t-shirt for the Clothesline Project or attending the Monument Quilt workshop or the other ways at TBTN we mentioned in the above paragraph) and Take Back the Night (counselors will be available throughout the event and there will be the self-care station). Survivors or anyone impacted by sexual violence can also always schedule a time to talk to Women’s Center staff – we’re quasi-confidential resources on campus and can link you to additional support and resources.

Here’s some helpful information about the speak-out we think is helpful for everyone to know whether they’re speaking or listening:

• Any one can be a survivor of sexual violence. Any survivor regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation is welcomed to share their story at the speak-out. At the beginning of TBTN’s creation the speak out was only for women, but we welcome men and all others who may have differing gender identities to speak out. We wish for the speak out to be an inclusive space of healing and representation of different identities can help dispel the dangerous “perfect victim” narrative.
• The survivor speak-out is intended to center the voices and experience of survivors of sexual violence. The speak-out is for allies to listen and survivors to break their silence. Thank you in advanced for respecting this request. Allies are also encouraged to attend the Women’s Center workshop on Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence on 4/26. A faculty and staff version of the workshop will be held on 4/3. 
• Since TBTN functions as a public forum, normal reporting procedures look a bit different. If you choose to share your story, and want to go no further in the reporting process, we encourage you not to disclose any names or other specific identifying information, such as locations or familial relationships, as those details may prompt staff to follow up with you for reporting matters. Staff are available at the event for those who do want additional resources and want to report their experience through UMBC’s Title IX reporting process or police.
• We ask that you try to limit your story to about 3 minutes. We know it may be hard to do so but we want to make sure as many survivors as possible can speak during the allotted speak out time which is one hour long. If you’d like to continue sharing your story, you may want to go to the We Believe You discussion group after the Take Back the Night march.
• Speakers will have the option to identify their story as confidential by placing a sign marked “confidential” on the microphone. Speaking from the “confidential” microphone prohibits anyone from taking pictures, quotes, or recording of any kind.
• Counselors-On-Call will be available throughout the evening. Any one needing additional support or simply needs to take a break are invited to visit the self-care station that will be set up in the Commuter Lounge.

For more information about UMBC’s TBTN (check out Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter too by searching the hashtag #UMBCTBTN):

• Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence Workshop information for faculty & staff and students.
• Speak: Knowing a Survivor Without Knowing Their Story – a blog post on cultivating a survivor-responsive campus.
• The Women’s Center 2017 TBTN roundup
• The Retriever Weekly photo gallery of TBTN
• Stop by the Women’s Center on April 9, 10, 11, and 12th to make a rally sign for the march!
• Stop by the Monument Quilt Display 4/17 on Erickson Lawn.
• Stay tuned for the next installment of what you need to know about TBTN 2018! 

Program coordinator Amelia Meman reminisces about her feminist friendships and analyzes how these relationships foster empowerment and powerful networks.

This Women’s History Month, the Women’s Center was inspired by feminism’s legacy of collective action. While feminism is very much based in the personal and individual, it is also a movement built through the camaraderie, collective consciousness, compassion, and connections between people. That’s why, this March, the Women’s Center is celebrating feminist friendships. That’s also why I’m writing this blog post.

Every time I come to think about this theme, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, because I immediately think of the bonds I made at UMBC that have continued on. More on this later, but I’ll tell you this much: nothing brings you together, like the hot crucible of simultaneous existential crises via The Patriarchy. Our angst-ridden mental toil aside, describing a friendship as “feminist” might feel weird to some people, but I wonder what it means to those it resonates with.

For me, it’s not about the friends who encourage me to burn my bra and always validate my decision to not shave–although they also do that. It’s also the friends who affirm me and remind me that I am a person with power who deserves good things in the world. My feminist friends go to rallies with me and talk Butler with me, but they also are the first to watch Neighbors 2 and they’re the best at recommending sci-fi and fantasy novels.

The personal is political… and the political is personal

I think that all of my relationships are political. This is probably by virtue of being a feminist and a philosophical thinker, but it’s also because my friends are my political allies. We are constantly thinking about the political power that comes with being women, being queer (AF), being trauma survivors, being white and/or people of color, being (dis)abled, etc. and being radically together. We’re friends who empower each other to live when so many other things in this world act to kill us. We’re constantly navigating privilege and oppression, and we get a lot of things wrong. We teach other, call each other in. We are committed to the process of constantly learning how to be better humans to one another and all of the people we interact with.

Does anything scream friendship more than this group shot of the Great British Baking Show judges?

So when I say that the personal is political, I mean that things we like to keep in private (i.e. whether or not we’re having sex, what kind of sex we’re having, birth control, abortions, survivor status, etc.) are personal experiences that are also–with feminism–political. Rather than continue to make the prudish world of vanilla, purely procreative sex comfortable, feminists talk reproductive justice, use the words “vagina,” “penis,” “vulva,” “anus,” etc. Those things that people would rather sweep under the rug? We dig those out and we burn the rug.

Just so, the political is personal. This, for me, is feminist friendship. My unity and belonging with other feminists is tied, not just to our affinity for one another as funny weirdos, but also to our political mindset. As we dance, we move toward liberation. As we laugh, we banish the silence pressed into us as women and femmes. As we eat together, we feed each other the love and power we deserve.

The political is personal, because my liberation is tied to theirs, and we both know that as we watch the latest season of The Great British Baking Show.

Shine theory

So as we move throughout Women’s History Month and think about all of our herstorical sheroes who give us life (often literally), think about those friends that are around you who make you shine brighter. Whether that’s your mom, your professor, Oprah, think about the women who inspire you.

Take a breath, and think about your best memory with that person. How did you become friends? What do you all do best together? How do you feel when you’re around each other?

Seriously take like 15 seconds to meditate on that.

Alright, now you can come back to me.

Didn’t that make you feel shiny?

In the Women’s Center, we like to talk about shine theory. Jess is the one who introduced me to this concept a while ago (see her awesome UMBC Women Who Rock series), but basically, shine theory is a lens through which we can think about friendship. Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow (of Call Your Girlfriend) coined the term “shine theory” in an article on powerful women as best friends. Friedman wrote: “when you meet a woman who is intimidatingly witty, stylish, beautiful, and professionally accomplished, befriend her. Surrounding yourself with the best people doesn’t make you look worse by comparison. It makes you better.”

Friedman and Sow add that in its simplest form, shine theory is this: “I don’t shine, if you don’t shine.”

Feminist friends, to me, push you and support you so that you can shine as bright, if not brighter, than them and we all get a little better for it.

GWST-ers 4 Life

I would be remiss to not note that the thing that brought some of my best, most steady feminist friends together was our journey through the UMBC Gender and Women’s Studies Department. We were knit together through a shared affinity for feminist politics, and I know I was able to find myself through them. Not because they showed me a self I wanted to be, but because they allowed me to actually BE the person I always wanted to be.

It wasn’t all hearts and rainbows and radical self-care quotes from Audre Lorde. It was a lot of shit. We went through heartbreak together, we grieved together, we powered through classes like beleaguered Weather-people in a hurricane. In queer theory, we read Michel Foucault’s interview, “Friendship as a Way of Life,” in which he lays out this idea of queer community:

The notion of mode of life seems important to me. Will it require the introduction of a diversification different from the ones due to social class, differences in profession and culture, a diversification that would also be a form of relationship and would be a “way of life”? A way of life can be shared among individuals of different age, status, and social activity. It can yield intense relations not resembling those that are institutionalized. It seems to me that way of life can yield a culture and an ethics. To be “gay,” I think, is not to identify with the psychological traits and the bisible masks of the homosexual but to try to define and develop a way of life. (p. 137-138)

Being “gay” or “queer” or, in our case, “feminists,” is not about defining who we are, but about creating a way of life that suits our needs and that is, potentially, radical. When the institution is so often your oppressor, molding new culture and ethics through friendship becomes a way of also creating new futures and pathways that the institution did not initially have open to you. For example, I don’t know where my self-confidence would be without my therapist and the power of my friends, but I know that the impacts of sexism, racism, ableism, etc. were limiting my self-confidence, and when I learned about myself as someone who was strong and capable of loosing that sort of weight, I was able to achieve more and better. I have a job, I’m pursuing my (very high) educational goals, I’m publishing this blogpost; this is all enabled through this alternative way of life that teaches me that I have power, I am power, and that my friends and I disrupt oppression.

Feminist friendship, shine theory, all that glorious glowing goodness that brought us together–it created power.

So the next time you think about your friends, your shiny people, your feminist sheroes, think about the power you all cultivate and bring forth by being your badass selves together. Think about how that power can grow with you and the friendships you share. Think about what your perfect world would look like for you and your feminist friends–and then make it. 

More resources, if you’re interested:

Michel Foucault, “Friendship as a Way of Life”

Dan Willey, “Gay Hair”

Gaby Dunn, “It’s A War Out There: How Queer Female Friendships Can Save Us All”

Cori Wong, “Feminist Friendship” TEDxCSU

Make feminist friends and build up your network at our Women’s History Month celebration on March 28th from 6 pm to 8 pm in the Skylight Room! RSVP via myUMBC!

On January 16th, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) called “on colleges and universities across the country to engage in activities, events, or strategies that promote healing and foster engagement around the issues of racism, bias, inequity, and injustice in our society” for a National Day of Racial Healing.

As a new member of AAC&U’s  Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center network, UMBC students, faculty, and staff will show their commitment to building community and breaking down racial hierarchies through the spirit of service. Did you volunteer at one of the many service sites hosting volunteers on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, Jan. 15), or by hosting your own service event on Jan. 15th or 16th?  If so, share your work by creating a social media post for twitter, facebook, or instagram, and use the hashtag #Bmore4TRHT and DiversityandInclusion. Feel free to tag the Shriver Center, the Mosaic Center, and the Choice Program. If your post receives the most likes within one week, lunch for you and four other members of your group is on us! If you have a group larger than 5 participating in service, consider creating multiple teams of five to submit multiple posts. The deadline to post was 1/17 at 12pm.  To be considered for the lunch, let us know that you posted on your platform by sending an email to afrank3@umbc.edu so your post can be considered.

UMBC’s Truth, Racial, Healing, and Transformation Campus Center is in its early stage of development, but already students are convening, planning, and doing great work. Student organization representatives from the Charm City Connection, Amnesty International, Hillel, Black Lives Matter, the Black Student Union; as well as representatives from the Choice Program, the Peaceworker Program, Service-Learning, and College JUMP are actively thinking about what Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation means for our campus and for community engagement. This winter, student representatives will attend AAC&U’s “inaugural TRHT Institute in Washington, DC, where TRHT Campus Center teams will come together to discuss and refine their visionary plans to engage and empower campus and community stakeholders to uproot the conscious and unconscious biases and misbeliefs that have exacerbated racial violence and tension in American society.” 

Stay tuned for more updates as the work progresses, and for opportunities to get involved!

On the eve of UMBC’s undergraduate commencement, we are thinking of all the graduating seniors out there who finally made it the finish line. Congrats!

We’re especially proud of the graduating students we work with through the Returning Women Students Scholars + Affiliates Program and want to shout your success from the rooftops! Since the Women’s Center is located on the ground floor of The Commons, though, we’ll exchange the rooftop for our blog.

The Women’s Center is proud to support the Returning Women Students Scholars + Affiliates Program for UMBC students 25 years and older seeking their first undergraduate degree. These students are called “returning” because they often have various circumstances that have kept them from the traditional college path and they are now “returning” to college to pursue their degree. Student scholars in this program not only receive scholarships to help financial supplement their tuition, but also benefit from tailored support and programming from Women’s Center staff through individualized meetings, programs, and events that meet the specific needs of older students on campus. Each year we have between 20-25 scholars and affiliates participate in this unique program. Returning women students (or you may have also heard the term “adult learner” or “non-traditional”) not receiving a scholarship are still welcomed (and highly encouraged) to participate in our events that are open to any adult learner at UMBC. Students can also participate in our program more fully as an affiliate. For more information, visit our website.

But, enough shameless plugging, onto celebrating our graduates!

We reached out to each student graduating tomorrow and asked them to write a short paragraph about what they were involved in at UMBC, what’s next for them after UMBC, and some sage advice for other adult learners. Here’s what they had to say!

Returning Women Student Scholars + Affiliates at the end of the year graduation celebration and pinning. This has become a special tradition of our program where each scholar + affiliate receives a purple paw print pin they can wear at graduation to represent their membership in the Returning Women Student Scholars + Affiliates program.

Meriam Bahta
Despite the fact I only had an eighth grade level of education when I moved to the U.S., with hard work I put in and ambition I carried with me, I earned my certificate in just one year while working 30 hours a week to support myself. I subsequently enrolled in Montgomery Community College for two years. In the fall 2015, I transferred to UMBC with a GPA of 3.80. I am now graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a minor in physics. Last summer, I participated in a summer internship program at the National Cancer Institute of the NIH and I had an amazing experience. Since I extremely enjoy my lab courses, I always thought that I would be good at research and my experiences at the NIH has truly showed me that research is where I thrive, and I would love to engage in research during my gap year before I enroll in medical school by the fall of 2019. As a returning woman student, I consider my unfortunate circumstances and struggles as the driving forces behind all my achievements. If it wasn’t for all the responsibilities, which includes caring and supporting my mother and four younger siblings, I juggled while going to school full time, I would not be the strong person I am today.

My sage advice is this: The Women’s Center is a great place to connect with other returning women students and to get inspired by their stories. I highly recommend taking advantage of the different events.

Janiqua Dunn
My name is Janiqua and I transferred here to UMBC in Fall of 2015. I’m graduating with my B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. During what now seems like such a short time here, I got involved in a ton of things! My largest and most long-term commitment was co-founding and serving on the executive board of the Parents Club, which we started in Spring 2016. I started off as the Secretary and I am now the Vice President. We started the Parents Club to provide a space and support system for UMBC students who also have children, and so far it has been a success! It’s been such a great feeling to be a part of that! Outside of that, I have served as a Student Ambassador, Research Lab Assistant, Writing Fellow (for the Psych department), and I’ve taken on a number of internships, both on and off campus. This all in addition to raising my 5- and 6-year-old sons! Plans for after graduation are to land a full-time job and begin my Masters within the next year or two.

My sage advice is this: If you’re a student parent, join the Parent’s Club! You can find out more about this student organization at their myUMBC group.

Emma Matthews
My name is Emma Matthews. I’m a Richard & Roselyn Neville Scholarship recipient. In the last 4 years at UMBC I have been a McNair Scholar and a member of the Honors College. I have developed and presented research in psychology regarding stress and oppression in college students with Dr. Shawn Bediako’s lab, and I interned at the Special Victim’s Unit at the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office. I have been accepted into the University of Baltimore for their Master’s of Science in Criminal Justice and Trauma Informed Certificate Programs and am awaiting news on acceptance, stipends and assistance-ships from two other graduate schools. I intend to focus on victim services and domestic violence issues.

My sage advice is this: It’s not easy being a first generation, non-traditional student, but I think that every student at UMBC faces their own unique challenges. Gratitude and humility will help you take inventory of what you have and what you need, and carry you through each new obstacle.

Lindsey Titus
Lindsey Titus transferred from CCBC (Essex) to UMBC in the fall of 2015. I have been involved with Tau Sigma, a national honor society for transfer students, and was president of the UMBC chapter last year. I also held positions in the Sociology department, such as a peer mentor and grader. For the past two semesters, I was a part of the Accelerated Graduate Program in Applied Sociology, taking two graduate classes along with my undergrad coursework. Last spring, I was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa, one of the oldest honor societies. I am graduating summa cum laude with a double-major in Sociology and Anthropology with a minor in Management of Aging Services. I am excited to continue my journey at UMBC in the spring, working on my Master’s in Applied Sociology.

My sage advice is this: Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for assistance if you need it. I have found that my professors can be understanding to plights occurring outside of their classrooms. Whether I spoke to them after class or during a visit to their offices, I usually felt better about having my feet solidly on the ground for my education. I guess that’s why I’m sticking to these professors for grad school! Also, Jess and the Women Center are the best. It was always a treat to visit the Center, even if I didn’t get to visit very often. It was the one place on campus that felt like a warm and welcome hug when you opened their door. And we can always use an extra hug sometimes!

Big congrats to Sungeun Oller and Lily Glushakow-Smith who are also members of the  Returning Women Students Scholars + Affiliates Program graduating this December!

So while these students will no longer to “returning” to campus as undergrad students after tomorrow, we welcome you back as alumnae! In addition to celebrating these students, we hope hearing their stories will provide encouragement to other students still working towards their degree. You can do it!

At the Returning Women Students End of Year Celebration and Graduation Pinning!

Look out for our full list of Returning Women Students events later in January. We host events each month. Additionally, Returning Women Student Scholarship applications will be available beginning in early January! 

Kevin is a Biology major who will graduate in 2019. The major focus of his work is to explore issues at the interface between development and human disease, with a view towards identifying novel points of therapeutic intervention. He works in Dr. Charles Bieberich's lab on the ongoing question of homeobox gene function in mouse development intersected with human prostate cancer with the discovery of the mouse Nkx3.1 gene.

How did you find you mentor? I work with Dr. Charles Bieberich in the Biological Sciences department. I originally came to hear of his research through searches for researching professors in cancer biology at UMBC. I then emailed him and checked by his office persistently until I was able to schedule a time to meet with him.I began researching in cancer biology during a biophysics high school summer internship at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology in radiation dosimetry. I was enthralled by cancer research ever since and knew after meeting Dr. Bieberich that his research in prostate cancer would be a perfect fit for me.

Is this your first independent research? This is my second independent research project with the first being my radiation dosimetry project at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

How much time do you put into it? I spend about 15 hours an academic week in the laboratory with a 35-hour week during academic breaks and vacations.

How did you hear about the Undergraduate Research Award (URA) program? I heard about the Undergraduate Research Award from my mentors in the Honors College. I am currently preparing my application for the 2018-19 award.

What has been the hardest part about your research? The hardest part of conducting my research is that since I work with mice, I must be available at any given hour during the day to check on the mice and handle any circumstances that may arise from working within a murine model. It becomes difficult at times to manage working in the laboratory and working on schoolwork.

What was the most unexpected thing? The most unexpected thing to occur from working in Dr. Bieberich’s prostate cancer laboratory is that after two years of working in the laboratory, I would be working on proposing a dietary study that involves the surprising link between prostate cancer, diabetes, and obesity. I never thought that diabetes could actually decrease prostate cancer risk.

How does your research relate to your work in other classes? My work in the laboratory relates to many of the laboratory procedures that I learned about in BIOL141, BIOL302, and BIOL303. My newest research in the effects of diet on prostate cancer relate to my Honors College seminar on the science of obesity.

What else are you involved in on campus? I am Treasurer of the Honors College Council, a Red Cross Volunteer, and Student Brand Ambassador for Kaplan Test Prep.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? My advice to other student about getting involved research is to never be too shy to approach a mentor about their research. Mentors are busy and may seem cold at first, but they genuinely do want to teach students about research and inspire students to become involved in research.

What are your career goals? My career goal is to become a professor in cancer biology researching the effects of macromolecule receptors and microtubule stabilizing proteins on cancer progression.

Want to be featured as a Researcher of the Week?
Email aprilh@umbc.edu

Kourtney Rutkowski is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Psychology. She will graduate with her B.S. in May, 2018, and in 2019 she will complete her M.S. as part of the accelerated B.S./M.S. program in Mechanical Engineering. She is also a member of the Honors College, a CWIT Scholar, a Grand Challenges Scholar, and a member of Tau Beta Pi. She is currently conducting research at the Universidade do Porto in Portugal, as the first UMBC student to study in the UMBC/Porto exchange program.

What are your research interests? I am interested in materials, composites, and additive manufacturing with metals and thermoplastics. This research is applicable for many industries, including the aeronautical, energy, defense, and automotive industries.

Describe your project: My current research project is determining a manufacturing strategy for the production of metal/polymer composite sheets. Currently, I am looking at which types of surface treatments are needed to best adhere the polymer, a thermoplastic prepreg, to sheet metal. The conditions in which the prepreg is applied and cured must also be tested, and material characterization will be performed to determine which process would be optimal for production purposes. The reason that this is important is that polymer/metal composite such as these are low in weight but are high enough in strength to replace heavier materials, especially in the transportation industries to improve safety and fuel economy. When I return from Porto, I will join the research team in Dr. Marcus Zupan’s lab, focusing on the development of tools and methodologies for qualifying additively manufactured parts. This research is in collaboration with JHUAPL and PAX River, and can improve the additive manufacturing technologies and part quality.

Who are your mentors and why did you choose them? I work withProfessors Abel Santos and António Torres Marques at the Universidade do Porto. Professor Abel teaches the Global Engineering class on the Porto side, allowing me to meet him from when I took the class in the Fall 2016 semester at UMBC. Professor Torres Marques was introduced to me by Dr. Zupan and is my main research advisor in Porto. Their dedication to the process, helping me get prepared to come to Porto, and helping with the bureaucracy once I arrived has been invaluable. They also introduced me to their labs and graduate students, and have been very helpful in regards to questions involving my research project.

How did you become interested in this project? As an avid outdoorswoman, I’m passionate about finding solutions for the conservation and preservation of our natural resources and mitigating for and adapting to climate change. This led to an interest in renewable energy sources, and using my skills as an engineer to solve problems related to making renewables for more efficient and economical manufacturing.  Through the Global Engineering course, I learned about different international cultures and made some good friends. I also studied abroad in Germany in January and took a course in renewable energy sources in Kassel, Germany. I wanted to study abroad in Porto and open the gate as the first student in the UMBC/Porto collaboration. I worked with Dr. Zupan and Dr. Moreira to complete an application to the Mobile 2+ Erasmus scholarship and was awarded a living stipend, airfare, health insurance, access to cultural events, and opportunities to interact with students from around the world, as well as the engineering faculty from U.Porto.

What has been the most unexpected thing about your experience abroad? I love my time here in Portugal but I have definitely had some mishaps! My second week in Porto a homeless woman stole my jacket at a café, and I still see her wearing it around the downtown area. My first time traveling outside of Porto, I got on the wrong train coming back from Lisbon and got kicked off at a train station in the middle of nowhere because I didn’t have enough cash to pay to the fare. Most recently, I had my mom send me some winter clothes which got held up in the Portuguese customs for a month, but luckily my flatmate lent me some for my travels further North.

What has been the most rewarding part? One of the best things was finally meeting my friends in person were from Porto and I had met through the UMBC Global Engineering course. In that course, students from around the world work in teams on theoretical solutions for global issues. Students interact via Skype and WhatsApp, and for some students, like myself, there were some strong friendships formed across the ocean. Meeting those friends who I had made, as well as making new friends here who are from across the world, has allowed me to learn about a variety of cultures and open my mind more and more every day. Even better, day by day I find myself feeling like a local here in Porto, and know that it will always be a second home for me.

What will you do next with your research? I’m hoping to bring back what I’m learning to Dr. Zupan’s lab and use my experiences as a basis to start my thesis research, which I hope to publish. I will present on my Porto experience and the research I conducted there at URCAD, in April.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? Be flexible and open minded. Don’t be afraid to take risks- say yes to things and take opportunities as they come. Ask for help- make connections and friends wherever you go. Don’t get locked into graduation dates. Studying abroad won’t take any extra time- you can combine it with Master’s work or do it over the summer or winter, so it won’t take time out of your academic schedule, even in a major with successive classes like engineering!  If for some reason it does take extra time, the experience to go abroad is more valuable than graduating in four years. Money is not an issue- there are so many ways to get it paid for and Portugal is really cheap in terms of the cost of living.  My rent is 250 euros a month and includes utilities!  No one looks back and regrets studying abroad and says, “I’m glad I didn’t do that so that I could graduate on time.”

What else are you involved in on campus? Besides the scholar’s programs and honors organizations that I am involved in, I am also involved with numerous other things on campus. I am an Undergraduate Teaching Fellow for the Mechanical Engineering department, which besides simply teaching the students, has also allowed me to meet and mentor the students in the years below me. I also try to work through my scholar’s program, CWIT to be a role model for the young women in engineering who are in the cohorts after me. I volunteer with an organization that holds its state competition here at UMBC named First Lego League (FLL). FLL is STEM competition for elementary and middle school students that helps to introduce them to topics such as engineering, and seeing the passion and intelligence of these students continuously encourages me in the promotion of STEM and fills me with hope for the next generation of engineers. Last but not least, I am a member of UMBC Cru and the UMBC Rock Climbing Club.

Career goals? After completing my M.S., I plan on obtaining a Ph.D. in environmental engineering. I hope to use my education to pursue a career that can create renewable energy solutions to help the environment, and people, in a large-scale way. After a while in industry, I plan on following the path of some of my mentors and becoming a college professor.

Want to know more about research abroad in Porto and other countries? Contact Dr. April Householder at aprilh@umbc.edu

The fifth annual Critical Social Justice explored opportunities for building individual and collective resistance and resilience. Events throughout the week, the theme of Rise, challenged us to think about how we can do better, do more, and persist in doing it when it comes to working towards positive social change and activism. Take a look back at some of highlights from throughout the week and catch up on anything you missed!

Leading up to the week, we were SUPER PUMPED for Critical Social Justice to get started – and so was the rest of UMBC!

You can see many of the other “I rise for…”

We kicked of CSJ on Monday with Chalking for Change on Academic Row before CSJ 101.

While people were writing what they rise for outside, CSJ 101 was taking place directly inside where students, faculty, and staff were encouraged to learn about Resistance and Resilience in social change and activism.

Those who attending brainstormed what they resisted for and how they can practice resilience.

Tuesday brought our keynote speaker, Dr. Adrienne Keene of the Cherokee nation to UMBC!

Her first stop was the Women’s Center for an intimate lunch and discussion with students and staff.

After lunch, Dr. Keene presented a workshop entitled, Responding to Campus Racism,  that covered her work with racism and cultural appropriation. Using a case study of a themed party that relied on harmful stereotypes of Native Americans, Dr. Keene encouraged students to think about how they would respond to the incident from an individual and institutional perspective. Through brainstorming, students learned from each other about campus resources and departments that could be helpful in responding to the issue, in addition to working on ways to prevent an incident like this happening in the future at UMBC.

Later that night Dr. Keene gave her keynote presentation entitled, “Native Appropriations, Indigenous Social Media, and Responding to Racism,” to a standing-room only crowd in the UC Ballroom.

To conclude her presentation and with Halloween quickly approaching, Dr. Keene gave us all some homework to help reduce cultural appropriation through the call to “don’t dress as (or let your friends dress as)  an “Indian” for Halloween.”

On Wednesday, faculty and staff participated in a panel and discussion called “Rising Tensions and Teachable Moments” that explores the ways in which faculty and staff could talk about hard issues both in and outside the classroom with not only students but their colleagues.

Later that evening, the Mosaic Center hosted “Rising in Times of International Tragedies: The Impact of Oppressive Symbols,” which was a panel of faculty and staff centering European, Jewish and African-American voices discussing their shared, intersectional perspectives connected to historically oppressive symbols.

Panel members from the Rising in Times of International Tragedies: The Impact of Oppressive Symbols event. 

Although the threat of rain meant the Monument Quilt Display was cancelled on Thursday, the Women’s Center still hosted two workshops surrounding sexual violence and support for survivors. During the quilt making workshop, participants spent time talking about the #metoo movement and how the online activism and story telling surrounding the hashtag showed up for them in their own lives.

Friday concluded CSJ with the Baltimore Walking Tour led, for the third year in a row, by Dr. Kate Drabinski from Gender + Women’s Studies.

Thanks again to all our partners and everyone who attended CSJ last week – You all made the fifth year of Critical Social Justice: Rise possible! We’re excited for next year, but let’s be sure to keep the momentum going. Critical Social Justice isn’t just a week but a year long commitment!

So to keep that momentum going:

• Follow the Women’s Center and Mosaic Center via myUMBC and our social media accounts to stay up-to-date about all of our social justice programming throughout the year. The Women’s Center is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
• A great round-up of diversity and inclusion resources can also be found at UMBC’s Diversity and Inclusion website and the Race, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice myUMBC page.
• Tell us what you think! Participate in the CSJ: Rise survey. Your feedback is important to us.