Political leaders are increasingly engaging in "constitutional hardball"  bending lawmaking rules for partisan gain. This lecture contextualizes this phenomenon historically and describes how constitutional hardball weakens American democracy today.

Free boxed lunches will be provided 

Organized by the Department of Political Science and cosponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship.

Baltimore Field School 2.0 creates a framework for UMBC graduate students, staff, and faculty to collaborate with community partners in building ethical and sustainable research and teaching projects focused on public humanities. The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has awarded a public engagement grant of over $150,000 to support Baltimore Field School (BFS) 2.0: Undoing & Doing Anew in Public Humanities. The award will further develop a planning intensive that moves away from extractive research models and helps build ongoing Baltimore-based humanities projects. The grant will fund collaborative projects developed with community fellows and will focus on food and land justice, racial equity, and journalism/public information. As part of UMBC's Public Humanities program, the innovative field school and community fellows project is led by Sarah Fouts (principal investigator), Nicole King (co-investigator), Jasmine Braswell (project coordinator), and Tahira Mahdi (evaluator). The award will broaden the reach of the Baltimore Field School (BFS), launched through a $125,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2020. 

Today we proudly announce our new cohort of eight Community Fellows:

• Betty Bland-Thomas of South Baltimore Partnership. Bland-Thomas will work with Courtney Hobson.

• Yesenia Mejia of Creative Alliance. Yesenia will work with Tania Lizarazo. 

• Curtis Eaddy II of Presidential Brands. Curtis will work with Bill Shewbridge. 

• Eddie Conway and Cameron Granadino of Real News Network. Eddie and Cameron will work with Beth Saunders. 

• Tisha Guthrie of Poppleton Now and Baltimore's Renters United. Tisha will work with Nicole King.

• Lisa Snowden of Baltimore Beat. Lisa will work with Jasmine Braswell.

• Aishah Alfadhalah of Mera Kitchen Collective. Aishah will work with Sarah Fouts.

• Eric Jackson of the Black Yield Institute. Brother Eric will work with Charlotte Keniston. 

Eleven UMBC graduate students, staff, and junior faculty in the social sciences and humanities will receive a $3,000 stipend for their participation in the Baltimore Field School 2.0 in Summer 2023. Applications for this workshop will open in December 2022.

Full descriptions of the Community Fellows, their projects, and our BFS 2.0 team are included on the BFS website: http://baltimorefieldschool.org/ Inquiries and questions can be directed to Sarah Fouts: sfouts@umbc.edu.

Full press release is attached.

• Register to vote in Maryland: Maryland's voter registration deadline for the 2022 general election is October 18. UMBC's voter registration portal will help you take the first steps to registering to vote regardless of where you live. If you are a Maryland resident, you also can go straight to the state's online portal.

• Request a mail ballot, then vote in The Commons: Registered Maryland voters can complete an online request for a mail-in ballot here. Once you have received and completed your ballot, you can submit it by placing it in the official Board of Elections dropoff box in the lobby of The Commons (near the Campus Information Center desk) starting later this month. No postage is necessary. The Board of Elections will pick up ballots placed in the box daily.

• Make a pledge to vote: Every election year, ALL IN to Vote hosts a Pledge to Vote leaderboard for university students across the country. UMBC placed #9 in the nation on the leaderboard in 2020. This year, let's reach #1! Take the pledge, and spread the word.

• Access Maryland and out-of-state voter resources: Find the latest information, including dates for early voting and deadlines to request mailed and electronic ballots, on the UMBC Center for Democracy and Civic Life website.

• Serve as election judge: The Baltimore County Board of Elections is recruiting election judges to work at polling stations during the 2022 general election. These are paid positions and an important public service.

• Participate in Election 2022 programs: Follow the Center for Democracy and Civic Life's myUMBC page for information about upcoming programs.