Now is the time for fluent French speakers to find a job in development, according to global development recruiters.

More than half of respondents to the “Devex Career Trends in 2015” survey listed French as the most in demand language — over Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese and Russian — 

when asked which language other than English they predict will be most in demand for their organization’s hiring in 2015.

Recruiters identified French as the most in-demand language.

But recruiters might not find that talent in the United States. Enrollment in French language programs in universities across the U.S. is on the decline just as demand for skilled French speakers within global development is on the rise, particularly in West Africa.

UMBC welcomed the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a regional grant-writing workshop on February 20, 2015. The workshop, conducted by the NEH’s Division of Research Programs, was sponsored by the Dresher Center for the Humanities; the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS); and the Office of the Vice President for Research. 

Faculty participants from UMBC and seven area colleges and universities learned about NEH grant and fellowship programs, and special initiatives. The Maryland Humanities Council also spoke about its grant opportunities. A “mock” evaluation panel, led by UMBC NEH Fellows Kate Brown (History), Thomas Field (MLLI), and Anna Shields (MLLI), discussed the NEH proposal review process. Grant application-writing strategies were also shared. 

"The Dresher Center was pleased to welcome the NEH to campus,” noted director Jessica Berman. “Workshops like these give a shot in the arm to researchers, who then begin to consider how their work fits into national priorities and initiatives. The workshop also showcased the strengths of UMBC faculty work in the humanities.”

With an annual program budget of $108 million, the NEH awards grants to individuals and groups of humanities researchers at universities, museums, libraries and archives, and other cultural and educational organizations. These highly competitive grants, which are evaluated by scholars and other experts in their field, have an average award rate of between seven and ten per cent per year. If denied, NEH encourages applicants to re-submit.

The Endowment also supports public programs and special initiatives, like the new “Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square,” which seeks to bring humanities scholarship to public attention in new, significant ways. The NEH’s Office of Digital Humanities provides grants to projects that integrate new technologies in humanities research, as well as those that study digital culture from a humanistic perspective. 

NEH-funded research projects often cross the disciplinary boundaries between the arts, humanities, and social sciences. At UMBC, NEH fellowships and grants have been awarded to CAHSS faculty in the departments of Africana Studies; English; Geography and Environmental Systems; History; Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; Political Science, Sociology-Anthropology, Theatre, and Visual Arts. 

For information on NEH programs, contact Rachel Brubaker, Assistant Director for Grants and Program Development, Dresher Center for the Humanities: rbruba1@umbc.edu. 

Photo (from left to right): Anna Shields, MLLI; Tom Field, MLLI; and Kate Brown, History

The Dresher Center for the Humanities invites applications for two residential graduate student research fellowships. Funding will be given for the fall 2015 semester and is intended to promote promising research by graduate students in the humanities. The fellowships are open to all UMBC doctoral and master's level students working on humanities-related research projects that will culminate in a dissertation or master's thesis.

Fellows will reside two days a week in a shared office in the Dresher Center during the fall semester and will receive up to $1,000 to be used for research travel, materials, or other directly-related research expenses. Fellows will present a session as part of the CURRENTS: Humanities Work Now series and attend the Humanities Forum and other Dresher Center events and workshops.

After the fall semester, fellows will submit a summary of the work they accomplished during the semester, as well as a statement on the progress made towards the completion of their dissertation or master's thesis.

Applications for Fall 2015 fellowships must be received by March 15, 2015.

For information and an application: http://dreshercenter.umbc.edu/scholarly-resources/umbc-graduate-student-residential-fellowship-program/ 

Undergraduate and graduate students engaged in research related to Asia and the environment are invited to submit posters and papers for presentation at the first in a series of annual conferences.  

Today it is impossible to think seriously about the challenges of sustainable development and the environment without understanding the local and global environmental footprint of rapid economic growth in Asia—and the Asian response. At the same time, Asian Studies students increasingly require familiarity with the scientific, cultural and political dimensions of environmental crises and sustainable development.

With the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, Bard College is sponsoring an annual student research conference, providing a venue for students to present undergraduate, masters and PhD level research at the intersection of these critical issues. The conference seeks to shed critical light on how we all might live sustainably—or not—in a 2050 world with three billion more people, limited resources, a thickening blanket of carbon dioxide heating the planet, and a global economic development process increasingly defined by Asian models and leadership.

The conference will be held on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, which is easily accessible by train from New York City. Registration is $30, and housing and meals will be provided for student participants. Meals are included for non-student registrants. The conference will begin at 4 PM on Thursday, April 16, and end at 9 PM on Friday, April 17. 

To submit a paper for a panel, or a proposal for a poster presentation, please send a one paragraph abstract to Env-Asia@bard.edu. Undergraduate students must also include a letter of support from a professor.