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

Peter Bailer| Music

Music By Numbers: Writing a Process Piece in the Minimalism Style of the Late 20th Century

Joseph Eagle | Music

The Space Between the Notes

Mentor: Jeremy Cochran

Gabrielle Franks| Music

Producing an Extended Play Compact Disc (EP) Release: A Multinational Collaboration

Mentor: Alan Wonneberger

Christian Hartman | Music

Strings Attached: The Life of a Professional Orchestra Musician

Mentor: Gita Ladd

Jeremy Keaton| Music

A Force That Gives Us Meaning

Mentor: Linda Dusman

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

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. 

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

Jonathan Acuna-Lopez | English

Seeing in Parts: Borderlands Consciousness in Bless Me, Ultima

Mentor: Sharon Tran

Kiara Bell | English

Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: Using Afrofuturist Theory to Examine Themes of Black Visibility

Mentor: Maleda Belilgne

Anna Hartman| English

Understanding Uprisings: Media Discourse and Maryland Race Uprisings (1845-2015)

Mentor: Lindsay Dicuirci

Anna Hartman| English

Timed Writing: Perfecting This Essential College-Readiness Skill

Mentor: Cheryl North

Ajay Kharkar| English

Developing More Effective Tutoring Strategies for Multilingual Writers in the Writing Center

Mentor: Elaine MacDougall

Tanya Ramsey| English

Peer Education Impacts on Student Outcomes: A Case Study from the UMBC McNair Scholars Program

Mentor: Elaine MacDougall

Tiwalade Topia| English

Poems About Homes

Mentor: Lia Purpura