Students in this graduate seminar explored the intersections of communication and culture within a framework of global digital exchanges and new media. We investigated the unique challenges and opportunities in the public sphere of the internet for global and intercultural communication, collaborative knowledge production, political and personal stories and narratives, and participatory media. Two students made place-based digital stories that are described and linked here.

Negotiating the Ameristani Kitchen by Autumn Reed This story takes place in my and Amar's kitchen in Millersville, a suburb south of Baltimore in Maryland, USA. In appearance the kitchen is typical of what one would expect to find in the United States, but the food cooked within is anything but typical. Food is not the only thing made in this space, but also cross-cultural and cross-gender connections. The multiethnic foods prepared in this space serve as a mediator both linking and mixing the East with the West and the male with the female. This kitchen is a borderland; a place where barriers are broken down and stereotypes transcended and not only those of an American female but also those of a Pakistani male, for culture flows in both directions. Therefore, at one level, this story is about two individuals working out their differences in the kitchen, but at another level, it serves as an example of the potential that we have, as cultural beings, to learn from one another.

The Secret by Lori Edmonds I had been wanting to make a video about raising "my" children for some time. Partly, I wanted to do this because I wanted to document that very rewarding and crazy time of my life and partly I wanted to do it because I had a very unique family and I thought others would find the story interesting. I was nearly finished writing it when a horrible event occurred with one of my children that I had not expected. I decided not to tell my original story after all but with encouragement returned to my original plan because it would also help me to emotionally deal with it. The result is one story that, in some ways, tells many stories. Yet, it is a simple story of life with its twists, turns, predicaments, and secrets. Thank you for being part of my audience. This story was made for you. If you are one of my children, I hope this reminds you of the experiences we have had together and the power of our relationship because of the experiences we have shared. If you are watching this as a native of the Westside, I hope you enjoy seeing your city through my eyes. If you have not lived in this city (or another like it) I hope you are intrigued by the power of this place. When I speak of power, I'm referring to the unlikely way that the previous history of this space spilled over into our lives. I am also talking about the ability this space had to knit together the lives of four people and their four different stories. I hope that you are moved as your unique experiences interact with this story. In that way, the power of that place will continue to live.

During the summer of 2009, UMBC’s New Media Studio teamed with the Center for History Education to offer a two-week workshop for Baltimore County K-12 teachers exploring the intersections of oral history and digital storytelling. The workshop was the culminating activity in CHE’s two-year “Making Master Teachers” program. Year One of the program focused on reading and research, while Year Two focused on incorporating primary sources in the classroom. The program was funded through the U.S. Department of Education's Teaching American History Grant Program. Teachers had an opportunity to learn classroom skills for creating their own work and developing student projects.

Projects from the workshop included "Hampton: A Revolutionary Place" .

Information for attendees : This summer workshop provides you with the opportunity to learn skills of digital storytelling that you will be able to use in your classrooms, both in delivering your own content and as a project option for your students' original work. In addition it will allow you to disseminate the work you did on Baltimore '68 and will provide UB with an innovative addition to its Baltimore '68 website. Since we are working under time constraints, we hope to come to the June sessions with a good idea of the form of the project, although the content can evolve over the course of the workshop. I propose that the Baltimore County high school group break into two teams and produce two digital stories about the uprising of April 1968 in Baltimore. I would suggest that each team takes a section of the UB Baltimore '68 driving tour (voted "Best Driving Tour for Visiting In-Laws" by City Paper and available at http://archives.ubalt.edu/bsr/timeline/index.html) and flesh it out with primary documents, excerpts from oral histories, music, images and anything else that would be illuminating. Before and after shots would be particularly effective in telling the story of the events. The finished products could find a home on the UB and CHE websites. This project would build on research you have already begun, could draw on the resources we have collected on the website, and would contribute greatly to UB's effort to make this time period understandable to the public. I hope you will consider it.

Recommended readings We recommend reviewing these first articles during the initial week and guide the discussion around the question: What makes an effective digital story? Other questions could be: What is a digital story? and How might I use digital storytelling in the classroom? The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling The Art of Digital Storytelling These next two articles will be discussed in the second week. The discussion could may on: What are the barriers to implementing digital storytelling in the classroom? As an advocate, how could I overcome these hurdles? Implementation of Digital Storytelling in the Classroom Digital Storytelling: Moving from Promise to Practice ALSO, here is a link to the introductory chapters of the Digital Storytelling Cookbook: http://www.storycenter.org/cookbook.pdf

On May 25, 26 and 27, UMBC's New Media Studio conducted a three-day introductory level digital story workshop for faculty. In addition to producing a digital story of their own, those attending the workshop gained insight into digital storytelling as a pedagogical and research tool.

The workshop was facilitated by a team of faculty, staff and graduate assistants who have over the last few years have worked extensively with digital stories in a number of ways. These included Bev Bickel, Jason Loviglio, Steve Bradley, Paul Iwancio, Bill Shewbridge, Polina Vinogradova and Satarupa Joardar.

One of the highlights of the workshop was a session on audio conducted by Steve Bradley of Visual Arts. Steve covered recording techniques and sound effects with a hands-on demonstration of creative techniques for building soundtracks.

The Doctors Are In

It’s Career Week at UMBC – an annual event focused on helping students and recent alumni select and secure jobs. Justin Alexander ’09, ancient studies, is looking for work this spring. He clutches a copy of his resume as he enters the University Center Ballroom.

He’s come to the right place. This is the Resume ER, a clinic staffed by a rotating team of employers and alumni dedicated to triage and surgery on clutter and disorganization in the gateway document for all jobseekers.

Two staffers from UMBC’s Career Services Center – Lori Logan-Bennett, associate director of recruitment and marketing, and Sue Plitt, coordinator of employer relations and job development – are on hand to help direct those seeking to make their c.v. just right.

Since the event’s inception in 2009, volunteers have pointed out flaws that may trip up jobseekers at the very first step. After all, the resume is usually the first impression a potential employer glimpses.

“Typographical errors and students underestimating their abilities are two of the biggest problems we see,” says Plitt.

“They don’t think critically about what they can offer an employer,” adds Logan-Bennett. “Sometimes, they follow a template.”

Plitt and Logan agree that resumes should be refreshed for each job opportunity. Including words from the employer’s job description is key.

Alexander says he got just what he was looking for at the clinic: “I had formatting issues and realized that I needed to make my words jump off the page.”

— Derek Roper ’11

Page Turners

Each fall, UMBC’s New Student Book Experience provides an opportunity for freshmen and transfer students to connect with the university community through a shared conversation about a single book. Faculty and staff moderate small-group discussions about the book during orientation, and new students can even enter a writing contest.

In 2010, the book is The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari – a memoir that views the genocide in the Western Sudan through the eyes of a native who translates for foreign journalists.

But how does a book get selected? The process is a mirror of the experience itself: A committee comprised of faculty, students and staff gets together and reads.

Anyone in the UMBC community can nominate a book. But it is the committee – led by Michelle Scott, associate professor of history, and Janet McGlynn, director of communication and outreach in the Office of Undergraduate Education – that sifts through the nominations and finally settles on three books that go to President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, and Provost Elliot Hirshman for a final decision.

Committee meetings are often the scene of passionate debate on the merits or flaws of particular books. The group must select books that are of a high quality and broad enough in appeal to take in the diversity of the university. The books must also be widely available for purchase, so that students can read them before arriving for the fall semester. Opinions fly fast and furious.

In the end, however, a consensus forms. And the winning book becomes an integral part of the university’s conversation.

— Richard Byrne ’86

A Legacy of Leadership

The UMBC community mourns the passing of Albin Owings Kuhn, the university’s first chancellor, at the age of 94. Kuhn died on March 24 at his home in Carroll County.

Kuhn’s oversight of UMBC’s initial planning, development and construction laid the foundation for the university’s continued growth and success as an institution of higher education.

Kuhn earned three degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.). He taught there early in his career as a professor of agronomy (1941-1955) and as chair of the Agronomy Department (1948-1955). He then shifted his career in academic leadership, serving as assistant to the president (1955-1958) and then as executive vice president (1958-1965) of the University System of Maryland, which at that time included the College Park, Baltimore City and Eastern Shore campuses.

In 1965, Kuhn was selected as the chancellor of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) – the oldest campus in the system. At the same time, he was handed the task of developing a new campus for the University System of Maryland on rolling farmland in Catonsville.

At UMBC’s debut in 1966, Kuhn was proud of the fact that the university opened on schedule.”It worked,” he told The Maryland Magazine at that time. “We opened on the day we were supposed to, right on schedule. Buildings were ready to be occupied; sidewalks were installed; the faculty was here. There were blackboards and even chalk.”

Kuhn’s commitment to making it work was intensely personal. UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, observes that “[Kuhn] and his family moved into one of the original farmhouses on the campus grounds – a small gray house that became his family’s residence, his office, and a welcoming place frequented by UMBC students and faculty members. Its porch became the catalog center for the library’s nascent 20,000-volume collection. That farmhouse is gone today, replaced by our library, which was named to honor Dr. Kuhn.”

Kuhn held both chancellorships until UMBC’s second commencement in 1971, when he gave up his leadership position at UMBC. He served as UMB’s chancellor until 1980.

Hrabowski notes that he continues to offer these thoughts – which Kuhn gave to the university’s first graduating class in 1970 – at each UMBC commencement: “If you bring to the future the same personal qualities and personal commitment you have brought to this campus as students, good and important things will happen to each of you, as well as to those around you… and the university community will be proud to have played a part in your life.”

— Richard Byrne ’86

Shovel Ready

As UMBC Magazine went to press, the university learned that the Maryland General Assembly approved $37.4 million for the first year of construction of a Performing Arts and Humanities Building.

Ground will be broken in June for the $170 million project. The first phase will include classrooms, class and open laboratories, multimedia study and collaboration spaces, a 275-seat main theater, a 100-seat black box theater, and support spaces.

John Jeffries, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, was delighted by the news. “At long last,” he observes, “our theatre department – and in the second phase, our music and dance departments – will have facilities worthy of their students and their talent.”

The presence of the humanities is also a big part of the equation, Jeffries adds. “The prominent position of the Dresher Center in the building,” he says, “and the presence of English and other humanities departments, will also substantially advance research, teaching and learning in the humanities at UMBC.”

Jeffries concludes by noting that “it will be a signature building on campus that will make it plain how important the arts and humanities are to UMBC and the state of Maryland.” The second phase of construction, which is planned for 2012, will include new dance and concert halls, and a new home for the departments of music, dance, philosophy and ancient studies.

— Richard Byrne ’86

It’s no secret that these are tough economic times. So what advantages do UMBC students have in the struggle to find and secure a career? The great education that they receive at UMBC is one asset. But the strength of the university’s commitment to securing internship opportunities is another head start that UMBC students have in the job hunt.

As UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, points out in our “Up on the Roof” feature, the university works hard to nurture relationships with potential employers in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. He also emphasizes the number of opportunities that UMBC has created on campus, observing that over 2,000 students gain work experience on the campus itself each year.

In this issue, we’re spotlighting the power of internships to shape and even transform one’s career aspirations and trajectory. In “Turn to Earn,” we feature the stories of four UMBC alumni whose internships took them in a much different direction than they may have planned for themselves at the outset of their time at UMBC.

It’s no accident that three of the four alumni we profile obtained their internships from UMBC’s Shriver Center. The center is a powerhouse for applied learning on campus, placing 1,300 students into internships each year and winning high marks from students and employers for its efforts. (Can you help The Shriver Center place a student? You can contact the center at shrivercenter@umbc.edu or 410-455-2493.)

The mentoring efforts of UMBC faculty also play a huge role in giving students a leg up on internships and other networking opportunities.

Christopher Corbett, author and professor of the practice in the English department, is just such a mentor for his students and the college journalists at UMBC. Noted author and screenwriter Rafael Alvarez (The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street) profiles Corbett in this issue of UMBC Magazine, and his piece traces Corbett’s path to success working at local newspapers in Maine and at the Associated Press in Baltimore.

These days, Corbett is imparting the lessons of those years in the journalism trenches to a new generation of students – through his classes and his job as faculty advisor to The Retriever Weekly. And it is Corbett who has helped many of his charges – including Jamie Smith-Hopkins ’98 of The Baltimore Sun, who is also profiled in our piece on life-changing internships – get their foot in the door at media outlets with a timely call to an editor.

“My experience has been that work begets work,” Corbett tells me. “Which I think is a truism of the trade. I’m sure you’ve known people who’ve had an internship and then somebody got drunk or ran off with the donut shop waitress, and then somebody got a job because they were there and these things happen.”

Corbett adds that “my philosophy about internships is that I only send out someone when they’re road-tested…. This isn’t complicated. And, historically, it’s led to people finding jobs.”

The UMBC community is also mourning the passing of the university’s founding chancellor, Albin Owings Kuhn, on March 24. Our feature on Chancellor Kuhn’s legacy can be found in “The News” section. A memorial service for Chancellor Kuhn will be held on Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery. A reception will follow.

— Richard Byrne ’86