UMBC Peaceworker Alumni Remain Engaged in Baltimore Communities

While nearly 85 percent of UMBC’s Shriver Peaceworker Fellows originally come from outside the Baltimore region, 60 percent have settled and remain engaged in service careers in local communities.

“With 100 percent of Peaceworker alumni continuing in public service careers and more than half staying in our region to engage in community service careers, the Shriver Peaceworker Program is proving to be a ‘creative-class’ infusion for the City,” said Program Director Joby Taylor ’05, Ph.D. language, literacy and culture.

The Peaceworker program at UMBC’s Shriver Center was founded by Sargent Shriver in 1994, and now has 100 alumni. The program focuses on finding ways for returning Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) to serve their states and communities when their missions abroad are completed.

Few people have had a greater impact on public service in America than Shriver, who founded and directed the Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy. Both men envisioned a powerful impact of RPCVs on American society, and as a native Marylander, Shriver realized this vision concretely in the establishment of the Peaceworker program at UMBC, with an urban problem-solving focus on the Baltimore region. Shriver will be honored in an upcoming PBS documentary to be pre-screened on Thursday, November 15, at the Patterson Theater at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore.

“Shriver’s genius in the Peace Corps and Peaceworker programs was his ability to marshal a sense of ‘practical idealism,’ which is optimism about making a difference matched with realism about the hard work this involves,” said Taylor.

Peaceworker alumni working in the Baltimore region include:

Erin Hood ’07
Graduate Degree: UMBC Master’s Degree in Public Policy focused on Human Services, with a Certificate in Nonprofit Management.
Peace Corps Volunteer: Jamaica.
Peaceworker Fellowship: UMBC Coordinator for Service and Volunteerism to foster student’s sense of social responsibility through community service.
Where she is now: Director of Development, Community Mediation Program, Baltimore City

Brian Greenan ’05
Graduate Degree: UMBC Master’s Degree in Intercultural Communications focused on Spanish language study and Latin American history and politics
Peace Corps Volunteer: Niger
Peaceworker Fellowship: Centro de la Communidad, serving Baltimore’s growing Latino community. As a mayoral fellow and then with the Downtown Partnership, he provided direct outreach to homeless persons in the downtown area for which he was given a commendation by the Baltimore City Council.
Where he is now: Organizer with Neighborhood Housing Services

Sarah Morris-Compton ’07
Graduate degree: UMBC Master’s Degree in Public Policy focused on Human Services Policy
Peace Corps Volunteer: Turkmenistan and Kenya.
Peaceworker Fellowship: Coordinator of a service-learning project that linked college Web design classes to non-profit organizations at the University of Baltimore’s School of Information Arts and Technologies
Where she is now: Program Associate for the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore working on large-scale state child welfare and juvenile justice system reform.

Sargent Shriver’s legacy through the Shriver Center at UMBC was featured on WYPR 88.1-FM’s Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast on November 12. Click here to listen.

(11/13/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) will host environmental professionals from around the region on Nov. 7 at a conference on bio-solids, byproducts of water treatment that can be recycled into fertilizer.

The conference, “Hot Topics/Hot Tools for Effective Biosolids Management,” will bring members of the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA) to campus for a full day of idea-sharing on environmentally sound biosolids management.

“MABA is comprised of environmental professionals in the water pollution control field,” said CEE professor and chair Brian Reed. “We are committed to keeping waters in our rivers, lakes and aquifers clean. MABA and its members are clean water experts who know that biosolids recycling is often the best tool for managing biosolids.”

CEE is part of a growing cluster of collaborative environmental research entities headquartered at UMBC, including the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) and the U.S. Geological Survey's MD/DE/DC Water Science Center.

The conference will be held starting at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7 in the University Center Ballroom. For more information or to register, visit
http://www.mabiosolids.org/index.asp

An Eco-Opportunity Employer

Now that the U.S. Geological Survey’s Maryland-Delaware-Washington, D.C. Water Science Center is on campus at bwtech@UMBC, research partnerships with faculty and career opportunities for students are growing.

For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association recently awarded a three-million-dollar grant to UMBC, USGS, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Princeton University to provide real-time, wireless, online data on Baltimore’s Gwynn Falls watershed. As the USGS-UMBC team’s eco-research reputation increases, more opportunities for student internships and employment will take root. Just ask Lonnie Lanham ‘98.

Lanham, a geography and environmental systems (GES) major with a certificate in Cartography, connected with USGS during his last semester at UMBC thanks to the advice of GES mentors like Joe School, Keith Harries and Tim Foresman. His internship and work experience in departmental laboratories helped Lanham land a job at USGS combining his geographic information systems (GIS), mapmaking, technical illustration and Web design skills.

“The experience that I gained while actually working within my major was very valuable,” Lanham said. “I feel that it gave me a definite edge when it came to getting ‘a real job.’” Lanham has remained at USGS since, working his way up from webmaster to lead information technology specialist for the USGS Center.

In his job, Lanham makes sure a multitude of USGS servers, workstations, network equipment, printers, scanners, cameras, data projectors, hand-held devices, and as he puts it, “lots of other things that a geography major would not likely want to get involved with,” are all working reliably. He credits several USGS officials for their mentorship, including USGS acting chief information officer Paul Exter, publications unit chief Jean Hyatt and Jim Gerhart, director of the MD-DE-DC Water Science Center.

Dan Soeder, hydrologist and information and outreach coordinator for the USGS Center, notes that while the USGS is seeking to be more efficient and streamlined in staffing, they are always looking for talented interns to fill highly competitive student positions. “We want to attract students who demonstrate the talent, skills, and abilities the USGS needs,” Soeder said.

“The work is fascinating and there are many opportunities in the Federal Government as well as in the private sector,” said Lanham. “A major in the arena of environmental sciences, especially geography, can offer a good foundation on which to build a career.”

Students, faculty and staff looking to learn more about the USGS should attend the MD-DE-DC Water Science Center’s Open House event on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

(10/19/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC Presents Work by Award Winning Playwright, Alumna

Kara Lee Corthron ’99, theatre, is emerging as one of theatre’s most promising playwrights. Her new play, Wild Black-Eyed Susans, which will be performed at UMBC October 17-21, received the 2007 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights. In addition, her play Like a Cow or an Elephant was awarded the 2007 Theodore Ward Prize for African-American Playwrights and was produced at the DePaul Theatre School in Chicago. She was also the winner of the 2006 New Professional Theatre Writer’s Award, is a three-time recipient of Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Foundation Award and was a semi-finalist for the 2007 Sundance Theatre Lab and Princess Grace Award. Corthron’s plays have been developed with the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Center Stage (Baltimore), African Continuum Theatre (D.C.) and at the Julliard School.

Corthron says UMBC’s theatre department helped to prepare her for the challenges of a career in theatre, encouraging her to understand the business of theatre as well as the research and work that goes into a production. Classes in script analysis gave her an appreciation for dramatic literature and helped to inspire her passion for writing.

She also believes that taking classes in theatre will benefit non-majors as well. “Even takng a class in dramatic literature can help you to learn about the human experience,” says Corthron. “You read about people who have to make decisions and work through problems. Or, if you choose to get involved in a production, when you are in character you have to figure out how you will work with that person is going through. In theatre, you learn to understand other perspectives, empathy and compassion.”

Lynn Watson, chair of the theatre department, says that students are benefiting from working with Corthron’s play. “As I watch the actors in rehearsal and work with them on the text of Wild Black-Eyed Susan’s (as a voice specialist, I coach our students as well as professional actors in speech and text), I’m particularly struck by the sophistication of Kara’s writing. She has a keen ear for the emotional underpinning of a casual comment. Her characters are believable and identifiableóworking class people living in a region where jobs are drying upóyet she imbues their speech with poetic imagery and lyricism. Her ability to intermingle lyricism and rough urgency in the speech of contemporary characters is exceptional.

“For our students, the opportunity to play these roles has made for marvelous acting lessons,” adds Watson. “As actors dig into it, the play constantly yields up more and deeper layers. It’s exciting to see Kara’s talents passed on through her play to the development of another generation of UMBC theatre students.”

A schedule and ticket information for Wild Black-Eyed Susans is available online. The production is also part of UMBC’s Homecoming and Family Celebration events. For more information, visit www.umbc.edu/homecoming.

(10/15/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC Collaborative Digital Storytelling Project Wins International Award

A pioneering and unique Digital Storytelling Project created by UMBC and Charlestown Retirement Community and funded by Retirement Living TV (RLTV) has won a Bronze Telly Award. The prestigious Telly Award cites the Digital Storytelling Project as being among the world’s best in local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as among the finest in video and film production. This year’s Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents.

The Digital Storytelling Project is the nation’s first three-way partnership between a media company, a university and a retirement community. UMBC students (hands-on with the media technology) worked with Charlestown residents (autobiographical story and narrative) to create a series of 17 digital stories and music in two-to-three minute videos. The project was organized and supervised by UMBC’s New Media Studio.

“Being able to be a part of such a powerful project like the Digital Storytelling Project has not only expanded my awareness of the powerful influence that new media can have on society, but has also allowed me to develop my skills in creative thinking, communication, team work and technology,” said interdisciplinary studies senior Cathryna Brown. “To have received the honor and recognition of a Telly award makes me proud because it shows that we are accomplishing our goals and opening America’s eyes to the beauty of living beyond retirement.”

RLTV, a cable network dedicated to informing, involving and inspiring people aged 55 and over, was launched in September 2006. The RLTV network roots are in Erickson Retirement Communities, the National Institutes of Health, non-profit research foundations, UMBC’s Erickson School and leading gerontologists across the country.

Winners received their Telly Award statues at a September 12 ceremony at Charlestown

(10/3/07) © 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Dresher Center Expands Humanities Scholarship at UMBC

A recent gift from the Dresher Foundation will expand the scope and reach of UMBC’s James T. and Virginia M. Dresher Center for the Humanities, originally established in 1996 as the Center for the Humanities. A dedication will be held Tuesday, September 18, 4 to 6 p.m. at the Albin O. Kuhn Library.

“The new Dresher Center will engage scholars, students, visiting fellows and the community with the wide-ranging perspectives of scholarship in language, linguistics, literature, philosophy and ethics, history, culture, gender, race and ethnicity,” said Rebecca Boehling, director of the Dresher Center and associate professor of history.

The Dresher Center is also home to the Humanities Forum, an annual series of speakers and events, and the Humanities Scholars Program, which provides financial support and special academic experiences for outstanding UMBC undergraduates concentrating in the humanities. The center will begin sponsoring grant-writing workshops and forums for UMBC and visiting scholars to present their works in progress.

Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences John Jeffries said, “The Dresher Center for the Humanities marks a significant step forward for UMBC. Research and teaching in the humanities are central to UMBC, as to any research university. While humanities scholarship at UMBC is already exceptional, as demonstrated by the level of faculty publications and distinctions, the new Dresher Center will not only enable additional support for faculty and student research but will also make UMBC’s humanities scholarship better known both on campus and off.

“With Rebecca Boehling as director and Michele Osherow as associate director, and with endowment money from the Dresher Foundation and other sources as part of UMBC’s capital campaign, the Dresher Center is already off to a splendid start,” Jeffries added.

Please click here to RSVP to the Dresher Center dedication.

(9/7/07)

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

A pioneering and unique Digital Storytelling Project organized by UMBC's New Media Studio and funded by Retirement Living TV (RLTV) has won a Bronze Telly Award. The prestigious Telly Award cites the Digital Storytelling Project as being among the world's best in local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as among the finest in video and film production. This year's Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.

The Digital Storytelling Project combines the efforts of RLTV, UMBC and Charlestown Retirement Community. It partners a UMBC undergraduate student (hands-on with the media technology) with a Charlestown resident (autobiographical story and narrative) to produce 2-3 minute video stories. Drawn from the life experiences of the residents, the stories combine narration, animation and photography. The award-winning digital stories can be viewed at:
www.umbc.edu/oit/newmedia/studio/digitalstories/ctds.php

The Digital Storytelling Project is the nation's first three-way partnership between a media company, a university and a retirement community. UMBC students team with Charlestown residents to create a series of 17 digital stories and music in short movies to be shared with others. Charlestown residents work closely with student partners, acting as author and creative director of their individual story. Each student brings their own style and talents to the project, helping to create some unique examples of intergenerational storytelling. The project is organized and supervised by UMBC's New Media Studio.

Student award winners Jorge Rios, An Nguyen-Gia, Samantha Duvall, Andrew Chang, Joanna Lit, and Cathryna Brown received their statues at a ceremony held on September 12 at Charlestown. Andrea Olivier, not pictured. also received a statue.

"We are honored that the television industry has recognized the hard work that went into producing these fascinating digital stories," said Brad Knight, president of RLTV. "The digital stories are reality TV at its finest. They provide a rich, intergenerational experience for Charlestown residents and UMBC students."Winning an award like the Telly is significant in that it acknowledges that stories drawn from the life experiences of retirees with a wider audience," said Knight. "It is also gratifying that the award recognizes the entire collection of work from the Charlestown project. It is very much a group process and every story enriched the experience."

Andrea Olivier with RL-TV president Brad Knight