On December 23, Donald Norris, professor and director of the School of Public Policy, joined WYPR’s Midday with Dan Rodricks for a review of the year’s most significant political stories. Norris, along with Melissa Deckman, chair of the political science department at Washington College, analyzed the results of Maryland’s gubernatorial election, discussed the future of outgoing Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, and other significant national political stories heading into the new year. The full segment can be accessed here.

On January 7, Norris was quoted in an article published in Bethesda Magazine examining the future of the Purple Line under incoming governor Larry Hogan. “He has enormous power to kill it,” Norris said.

He added, “if [Hogan] zero-funds the Purple Line, or the Red Line in Baltimore, then the legislature, through the budgetary process, can’t do anything,” said Norris, while adding: “That said, the legislature has enormous power otherwise—and they can make life so miserable for the governor that he wouldn’t do something like that or if he did, he would be brought right back to be accountable by the legislature.”

To read the full article titled “Supporters Would Have Little Recourse if Hogan Moves to Halt Purple Line,” click here.

In his January 6 column in the Baltimore Sun, Political Science Professor and Chair Thomas Schaller wrote about his new book “The Stronghold: How Republicans Captured Congress but Surrendered the White House,” published this month by Yale University Press. In his column, he discussed the core argument of his book:

“My main contention is that the Republicans — and, I suppose, the Democrats too — have reached a point of ideological-institutional confluence. Specifically, in our protracted modern era of partisan polarization and divided government, it makes sense that the more conservative party dominates Congress rather than the presidency.”

In the column, he discussed that the recent history of the Republican party since the era of Bill Clinton contrasts with previous decades when Republicans won seven of ten presidential elections between 1952 and 1988. He analyzed the shift in recent years and its implications for the future of the Republican party:

“Presuming divided government is indeed the new normal, conservatives should prefer that Republicans control Capitol Hill rather than occupy the Oval Office. But whatever its allures, a Republican Party defined by its congressional wing is risky political business for the GOP.”

To read the full column titled “Conservatives better suited to Congress,” click here.

Schaller is scheduled to present a talk on his book at Baltimore’s Ivy Bookshop on Wednesday, February 4 at 7:00 p.m. For more information, click here.

Associate Professor Denis Provencher interviewed Eric Fassin discussing his lead essay from the special issue of Contemporary French Civilization on Marriage Equality in France (Vol 39.3 (2014)). “Interview with Eric Fassin: Au-delà du mariage/Marriage Equality in France.”  H-France Forum, Dec. 2014.

On November 2, 2014, Associate Professor Elaine Rusinko received the John Mihalasky Humanitarian Award from the Carpatho-Rusyn Society. According to its description, “The Mihalasky Award honors those who have dedicated themselves to the cause of Rusyn culture, heritage, and humanitarian aid.”

Ana María Schwartz Caballero, Associate Professor of Spanish and Second Language Education, was honored with the 2014 NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award at the September 28th Ravens versus Carolina Panthers game at M&T Bank Stadium (September 28, 2014). For more information, click here.

Denis M. Provencher co-organized the international symposium, Queer Québec, as part of the biennial American Council of Québec Studies (ACQS) in Montreal, Canada in October 2014. He and co-organizer Dr. Charles Batson (Union College), will guest edit two special issues of the journal Québec Studies (Liverpool UP), on the symposium’s theme, which will appear in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Dr. Provencher also published a new article: “Stepping Back from Queer Theory: Ethnography, Language, and Sexuality in French Cultural Studies.”/French Cultural Studies/ 25.3/4 (2014): 408-417. This essay is part of the 25th-anniversary special issue of the journal French Cultural Studies on the state of the field and Dr. Provencher’s essay is featured in the last section, which points to future directions in the field.

Dr. Provencher received $1,500 from The Graduate School at UMBC Mini-Grant Program, to organize a series of cohort-based writing workshops for the students enrolled in the M.A. in Intercultural Communication. The workshops will address writing an M.A. scholarly paper, writing in the discipline, and resume & cover letter development and will be held in February 2015.

In its January issue, the Howard County Beacon published an article about the Food on the 15th program and UMBC’s Asian studies food pantry program for low-income Asian seniors at Longwood Apartments in Columbia.

Asian Studies Program Management Specialist Julie Rosenthal is founder and director of Food on the 15th and was quoted extensively in the article. Longwood Apartments was added to the program last year, and an internship was created for UMBC students to work as food pantry workers and translators for Chinese and Korean residents living in the apartments. Rosenthal saw a need, and now the program has delivered more than 18,000 bags of groceries and toiletries free of charge to the seniors. A community service project for children of all ages was also started as a component of the program to show them what some of the seniors go through on a daily basis.

“I wanted them to see the beginning, the middle and the end of the project, when they collected the food, sorted it and delivered it,” Rosenthal said. “The parents were also involved.”

To read the full article in the Howard County Beacon, click here (continued on pg. 9). For more information on the Asian studies food pantry program, click here.

On January 5, WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show aired a radio series produced by UMBC humanities scholars which examined the people, places, and social movements which have contributed to the history and culture of Baltimore City. The radio series was part of a course taught by Kate Drabinski, lecturer of Gender and Women’s Studies, and Nicole King, associate professor of American studies titled “Place and Public History in Baltimore.”

The goal of the series was to dig below the surface and uncover the social history of the city by asking the question: What should the public remember about Baltimore history and why? Several Baltimore residents were interviewed for the series, which included segments on the history of day laborers at Camden Yards, Chinese immigrants, and the Our Daily Bread program.

To listen to the full, thirty-minute radio series, click here.