HRSTM is thrilled to kick off our annual HRSTM Week with an inspiring keynote from Marci Walton, MA, MS.! 

In today's rapidly evolving workplace, the ability to adapt and learn is more than a skill; it's a necessity. While many understand the concept of a "growth mindset," many find it challenging to incorporate it into daily practice. Marci will guide us through the essential shift from static thinking to dynamic action, sharing proven best practices for making growth a permanent habit rather than a fleeting goal.

Join us for an engaging session designed to help you dismantle mental barriers, embrace challenges as opportunities, and cultivate the resilience needed to excel in any environment.

The session will be held Monday, April 20th from 10:30am to 12pm in the Fine Arts: Recital Hall

Click the attachment to learn more about Marci's background and expertise! 

NOTE: This is an in-person only event

Click here to register

Five-Year Commemoration of the Walter Lomax Act

Honoring Mr. Lomax: Champion for restorative justice

Date: Thursday, April 16, 2026

Time: 7:30 - 9 PM

Location: Performing Arts & Humanities Building (PAHB): 132

This event will feature Mr. Lomax, elected officials, members of the Maryland state government, and others integral in the passing of the Act, which compensates wrongly convicted and incarcerated individuals. 

All are welcome!

Presented by the Department of English, The School of Public Policy at UMBC, The Dresher Center for the Humanities, The Shriver Center, the Department of American Studies, and the Department of Political Science.

On April 6, 2026, Zareen Taj of LLC Cohort 22 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy.  Her degree will be conferred in May.

Her virtual defense went smoothly and she gave a powerful presentation of her dissertation research, Journey of a Scholar-Activist: An Autoethnographic and Multimodal Inquiry.

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Zareen's committee:

Co-Chairs:

            Tania Lizarazo, Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication

            Joby Taylor, The Shriver Center

Members:   

            Tanya Saunders, Language, Literacy, and Culture

            Sally Scott, Community Leadership

            Melissa Skye Kerr Chiovenda, George Mason University

Congratulations, Dr. Taj!

The Women's, Gender, & Equity Center will be closed tomorrow, Friday, 4/10, and next Friday, 4/17. 

Staff will be available virtually throughout this time. If you have any questions or concerns, please email womenscenter@umbc.edu.

The WGEC is open to all individuals regardless of their sex, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.
 
UMBC is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors. If you have difficulties accessing any of the materials on our site or any of our events or discussions, please contact us so that we can provide an alternative format and/or remedy any accessibility challenges. For questions or for accessibility requests, contact us at womenscenter@umbc.edu.

UMBC-Shady Grove STEM Exploration Day – Join Us!

UMBC-Shady Grove invites you to attend STEM Exploration Day, an in-person event at The Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Maryland, on Thursday, April 16th from 3:00–7:00 pm.

This is a great opportunity for Computer Science or Mechanical Engineering students who are interested in completing the last two years of their degrees at our Montgomery County campus to see the facilities and meet the faculty!

Participants may attend the afternoon session (3:00–5:00 pm), the evening session (5:00–7:00 pm), or both. Throughout the event, rotating interactive activities will highlight our Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Translational Life Science Technology bachelor’s degree programs.

Event activities include:

• General information sessions for each academic program

• Guided lab tours and simulations

• Student organization highlights

• Campus tours

Light refreshments and parking waivers will be provided.

Please see the attached UMBC-Shady Grove STEM Exploration Day flyer for additional details. We look forward to welcoming you to campus and connecting with you!

For questions, contact sgcoeitadvising@umbc.edu.

ADVANCE and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) is hosting an ADVANCE Distinguished Speaker event:

🗓 Thursday, April 16
🕓 4:30–5:30 PM
📍 UC 312

Dean Jeanne M. van Briesen, Dean of COEIT, will present “Confluences in Life and Research.”

This is a wonderful opportunity to hear from and connect with the new Dean of COEIT. We encourage our members to attend and to share this event within your networks.

Please see the attached flyer for additional details.

Get ready to boost your financial know-how and take control of your future!

Join us for our annual Money Smart Week (Monday, April 13, 2026 – Friday, April 17, 2026), a week dedicated to helping you build smart money habits and make confident financial decisions.

Explore engaging workshops, interactive sessions, and valuable resources designed to meet you where you are—whether you're budgeting for the first time, learning to invest, or planning for your future!

Check out the full schedule by downloading the attached Money Smart Week 2026 Schedule

Visit the Events tab to view all session offerings

Pre-register for sessions directly in myUMBC through each event posting

Don’t miss this opportunity to invest in yourself, grow your financial skills, and have some fun along the way. We can’t wait to see you there!

The quest begins April 18th, and the rewards are worth fighting for!

Participate in the HackUMBC Mini Hackathon for a chance to win some amazing prizes:

🚁 Holy Stone Drone

🎮 Nintendo Switch 2

📺 Amazon Firestick 4K

This is your chance to show off your skills, build something awesome, and walk away with some incredible loot. Don't miss out! The quest begins April 18th! 

Stay tuned for more details and we hope to see you there!

Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD)

Come out and support our researchers at URCAD 2026!

Visit the RAC on Wednesday, April 22, to see our students and your peers in action. Be sure to stop by their poster sessions and presentations to engage with their work and show your support.

School of Social Work Student Presenters

• Stephanie Williams & Willow Brandy
  Beyond the Lecture: Evaluating Game-based Training to Foster Empathy & Perspective-taking in Future Helping Professionals | abstract
  Mentor: Kerri Evans
  RAC 230 | 11 – 11:15 a.m
• Amy Taylor & Margot Anthony
  Power and Control: The Impact of Religious Cults on the Lives of Women | abstract
  Mentor: Lauren Allen
  RAC Arena | 2 – 3 p.m | Poster #67
• Ashwathi Menon, Claudia Gerry, Abigail Asare, Bekkah West
  Dance and Equine Therapy: Alternative Approaches to Applied Behavior Analysis | abstract
  Mentor: Lauren Allen
  RAC Arena | 10 – 11 a.m | Poster #60

For the full schedule see: urcad.umbc.edu

Join us in conversation with author of A Room in Bombay: A Memoir, Manil Suri, and English/MCS Alumnus, Aditya Desai. The event will be held on Thursday, April 16th, starting at 4:30PM in the Library Gallery!

Food will be provided.

About the Author: Manil Suri is the author of the forthcoming memoir, A Room in Bombay, three internationally acclaimed novels, The Death of Vishnu, The Age of Shiva and The City of Devi, and a book on popular mathematics, The Big Bang of Numbers.

He has served as a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and is a distinguished university professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is a passionate promoter of both mathematics and the humanities, and has motivated audiences worldwide to embrace both, rather than just one or the other.

Aditya Desai, who will be in discussion with Manil Suri during the event, is a writer, editor, teacher, and activist living in Baltimore, Maryland. He also works with several arts & racial justice organizations in Baltimore including the CityLit Project, Baltimore Youth Arts, and the Asian Pasifika Arts Collective.

More about the book: Indian American author Manil Suri grew up in a large crumbling apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai) which his parents, who were Hindu, shared with three Muslim families. Their single room, at times a refuge from the religious and territorial tensions pervading the apartment, was also a prison that held them captive―his parents stuck in an unhappy marriage, the author unable to explore the dawning realization he might be gay. At age 20, Suri managed to break free and come to the US, where he finally found the freedom to embrace his sexuality and find a life partner. But the room, which still held his parents hostage, kept wrenching him back to Bombay.

By now real estate prices had risen so much that neighbors had begun conspiring to take over the room, causing Suri’s parents to dig in even more. Eventually it was only his mother, Prem, left, who had staked all her happiness on her son but was unable to escape the room’s hold on her. When a rash of mysterious incidents seemed to beset the room, Suri realized how little time he had left to convince Prem that a happier life might await beyond the four walls that both enthralled and imprisoned her.

This remarkable, gripping memoir explores how an abode can shape destiny, while delving into the difficult question of how much to prioritize our parents’ happiness over our own. Inspired by over 2,700 letters the author wrote home over three decades, it is ultimately a testament to the abiding, unbreakable bond tying a son to his mother.

This event has been organized by Asian Studies with support from the Global Asias Initiative.

This event is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

See the original post here.