UMBC Staff, Faculty, and Alumni Coauthor Post on Imagining America Website, Participate in B’More with Imagination Gathering

UMBC staff, faculty, and alumni were among the planners of and participants at the B’More with Imagination Collaboratory’s recent meeting, held at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The Collaboratory is a group of representatives from UMBC, MICA, and Towson University that are connected with Imagining America (IA), envisioning how to support community thriving.

IA recently published “B-More with Imagination,” a website blog post about the Gathering was coauthored by members of the Collaboratory, including UMBC’s Dr. David Hoffman, Ph.D. ‘13, director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life; and Romy Hübler '09, M.A. '11, Ph.D. '15, director of civic engagement and social responsibility at Towson University. Dr. Mike Casiano, associate professor of American studies at UMBC, was also a coauthor.

The post reflects on the Collaboratory’s work and outcomes since IA’s 15th National Gathering: “Baltimore was the site of Imagining America’s 15th National Gathering, which centered on the theme ‘America Will Be! The Art and Power of ‘Weaving Our We.’ A decade later, three of the institutions that hosted the Gathering – Towson University, UMBC, and MICA – responded to IA’s call to form a new Collaboratory.

“When the six of us first met to discuss the Collaboratory, we wondered: Ten years after the Gathering, where are we now? Have we, as institutions educating students, created and fostered the pathways for scholars and artists to work together to nurture healthy, vibrant, and joyful communities?”

The coauthors added: “The B’More with Imagination Collaboratory will continue to work together as a cohort this year to implement the ideas that arose during the workshop. Collaboratory leaders are also exploring ways to continue their cross-institutional partnership beyond the 2026-27 academic year.”

UMBC participants at the Gathering also included Dr. Ciara Christian, Ph.D. ‘22, co-director of the Center for Social Justice Dialogue; Priya Bhayana, Global Asias Project Coordinator; Tess McRae ‘22, assistant director for connective learning, Center for Democracy and Civic Life; Brian Kaufman, associate professor of music; Dr. Amy Tondreau, associate professor of education; and students Duncan Winger and Bryan Castro-Velez.