“The Mark Rice Collection and the Homo-Erotics of Photography after Stonewall”
Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery

Held in conjunction with the exhibition Man, Image, Idea: Photographs of Men from the Mark Rice Collection (read more here), this talk by James Smalls considers the social, cultural, and aesthetic dynamics of the nude figure in gay male photography, along with the complications of its reception during the last decade of the twentieth century. It explores the aesthetics and reception of the Mark Rice Collection of photographs, on exhibit in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery from August 30th to December 12th, whose subject matter engages the mostly nude male body. The Mark Rice Collection is comprised of more than 80 photographs constituting part of the history of gay male photography produced after the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969, a significant historical event that fostered the visibility and optimistic development of a gay male subculture during the 1970s and early 1980s. Sadly, that carefree optimism turned to a melancholic introspection with the devastating onslaught of HIV/AIDS from the mid-to-late 1980s through the 1990s. Most of the photographs from the collection date to this latter decade and will be considered in this historical context.

James Smalls’ research and publications focus on the intersections of race, gender, and queer sexuality issues in nineteenth-century European art and in the art and culture of the black diaspora. He is the author of Homosexuality in Art (Parkstone Press, 2003), and The Homoerotic Photography of Carl Van Vechten: Public Face, Private Thoughts (Temple University Press, 2006). He is currently completing a book entitled Féral Benga: African Muse of Modernism.

Are you a leader looking to put your exemplary customer service skills to good use in a dynamic, fast pace, artistic environment? The Gordon Center for Performing Arts is seeking a part-time house manager to oversee all public areas of the theater during performances. Duties include leading and training other house managers and volunteers, enhancing the patron experience, assuring the theater is safe, managing all box office and concessions operations and working closely with Technical team to ensure a smooth and professional experience.

While attending college, students have a tendency to need and spend a lot of money. Between the cost of tuition and textbooks, as well as room and board if you decide to live on campus, many college students may find themselves running low on funds for other things outside their college life. As a result, students may find it necessary or advantageous to get a job while attending college.

A majority of students that get jobs while at school, do it in order to have a stable source of income. One such student is Alexis Brady, a junior visual arts major. Brady stated that she enjoys “having a job that is close to campus because [she is] able to spend a few hours a week working so [she doesn’t] have to worry about not having money to go out and do things with friends or being able to buy any school supplies that [she needs] throughout the semester.”

For other students, getting a job while going to college is not only about having a source of income, but is also about gaining experience. Paige Matthews, a junior social work major, explained that “while being able to work is nice, [her] main focus is to gain experience in hopes of having better career opportunities after leaving college.”

“By having a part-time job now, I hope to be able to have a job waiting once I graduate,” she added.

However, not everyone agrees with the idea of having a job while going to college. Nikki Kehl, a sophomore computer science major, stated that “having a job while trying to balance all of your classes is not a great idea. A job can add more stress on top of the stress normally caused by school. Having a job will also take away from time that may be needed to study, especially for harder or higher level classes.”

Not everyone agrees with Kehl however. Some students believe that it is possible to balance academics and a job, while still having time for social events and other things. Furthermore, while the income or experience may be what motivates some students to get a job while attending college, other students find that it gives them something else to focus on aside from their studies.

One of these students is Chloe Sauma, a freshman film communications major. Sauma stated that “working while going to college can be a good thing as long as you are able to balance the job with your academics.”

“By having a job, I am able to focus on something other than academics for a while and forget about the stress of grades,” she continued. Sauma firmly believes that all students are capable of having a job while attending school.

Overall, a majority of students believe that all students are capable of, and will also benefit from, having a job while also going to college. Students should, at the very least, apply for jobs while still in college, as the opportunity could only help better their future.

Port Discovery Children’s Museum is seeking a part-time Junior Designer to assist with graphics projects for a 3-month temporary assignment.

Position offers 24 hours per week; we are flexible on the schedule worked. All work must be completed on-site. Pay rate is $19 per hour.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

The Federal Work-Study program is a form of financial aid awarded to students based on their financial need. This award is a subsidy that is distributed to employers to encourage them to hire students with the award over other applicants. The minutia of this distribution is handled through the employer, and as an employer, UMBC’s methods for distribution are a bit controversial.

This controversy stems from a complicated bureaucracy on campus. Students with work-study awards can get jobs on campus. There is a page on the financial aid website with a list of jobs as well as advertisements around campus. Students are then hired through these departments, which range from the AOK Library, to the academic program offices. However, these departments do not have direct access to the award.

Instead, the award is handled by the Financial Aid Office, which accepts reports from departments with work-study students on payroll and reimburses them afterward up to the full amount of the student’s award.

This becomes a problem when the managers and various departmental administrators try to hire and pay work-study students. Since they lack direct access to the funds awarded students, they have to treat them the same as every other employee in the office, thus destroying the incentive to give these students the jobs and hours, as well as the aid, they need.

It does not matter that they are receiving money after the fact because most departments have no way of accounting for that. A student who earns ten dollars an hour in a position with work study is only costing the department, say, five dollars an hour because the award covers much of their pay. However, they must be treated by the managers who schedule and hire them as costing ten dollars an hour because they are not allowed to account for that aid at the time of their work and pay.

Despite these complications, UMBC has a robust Federal Work-Study program. According to Shelly Kessler, a Senior Financial Aid Counselor and coordinator of the FWS awards distributed on campus, “UMBC receives approximately $350,000 each year to support this program … Generally, around 150 UMBC students are employed through FWS each year.”

“This administrative approach benefits both students and departments by providing the flexibility for the department to retain the student employee in their position should the student earn all their FWS award,” Kessler goes on, explaining why the current system exists.

“Because FWS is a financial aid award, the student cannot earn more FWS than they have been awarded,” she elaborates, “The approach we use does not require the department to terminate the student once their award is earned.”

Yet, many other universities seem to use a system wherein managers of work-study students can factor in their work-study status, but do not have to, when allotting hours. This allows them to get the full use out of the awards without leaving the students jobless upon the award running out. This fix could very well be implemented with a slight procedural change, the likes of which simply need the administrative effort to push through red tape.