Congratulations to the 2020
Center for Social Science Scholarship
Summer Fellows!

Keisha McIntosh Allen

Assistant Professor, Department of Education

“The Souls of Black Teachers: Theorizing Black Teachers’ Spiritually Grounded Professional Lives”

While Black teachers’ spirituality has historically been the backbone of Black education rooted in both why and how teachers teach, it is missing from current conversations about Black K-12 teachers’ engagement with pedagogies rooted in social justice as well as how they engage spirituality to navigate racially mediated experiences. We position Black teacher spirituality as a justice-focused literacy that not only guides Black teachers’ practice but also how they navigate racism within the profession. This study utilizes semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and document analysis to theorize how Black social justice-oriented teachers engage spirituality in their professional lives. Findings from this research can be used to develop relevant professional development opportunities and supports for Black teachers to retain them in the profession.

Irina V. Golubeva

Associate Professor, Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication

“Intercultural Competence for College and University Students: Towards Social Change and Better Employability”

The overall goal of this project is two-fold: to pilot the methodology offered in the book which I am currently co-authoring, and to finalize the book manuscript based on the collected feedback data in collaboration with my colleague who is based in Europe. Focused on intercultural competence, this book addresses and links together three topics that we believe to be extremely important yet treated relatively separately in the current literature. First, how intercultural competence increases the potential for peace and positive relationships between people from different cultures. Second, how intercultural competence links to communicating effectively across cultures as well as to addressing issues of equality, diversity and inclusion – both domestically and worldwide. Third, how intercultural competence can also support them in terms of employability and career success.

Zoë McLaren

Associate Professor, School of Public Policy

“Data Visualization Approaches to Communicate Clearly, Inspire Policy Action and Achieve A More Inclusive Policy Environment”

This project seeks to determine the formats in which data visualization communicates information about equity most efficiently (i.e. with the least complexity or extraneous information) and most effectively (i.e. the most intuitive for end users to understand and in a way that is actionable).  This proposal has three specific aims: (1) develop and validate a set of measures of health equity; (2) produce a portfolio of data visualizations using Stata, R and Tableau Public; (3) perform semi-structured interview testing of visualizations to generate guidelines for inclusive engagement in data visualization. The project will produce six specific outcomes: (1) a set of validated health equity measures; (2) an electronic portfolio of data visualizations; (3) one policy brief about inclusive data visualization for policy communication; (4) at least one external funding application; (5) at least one peer-reviewed publication; and (6) instructional materials for an “inclusive engagement in data visualization” workshop for UMBC colleagues.  Producing data visualizations that are accessible to a broad audience of underserved populations is a critical step in creating a more inclusive policy environment.

MAY 8TH IS THE LAST DAY FOR SONA EXTRA CREDIT!!!

We are a team of undergraduate researchers in Dr. Lynnda Dahlquist’s Psychology lab. We are interested in: a) understanding how the recent COVID-19 pandemic is affecting UMBC undergraduate students, and b) identifying the personal, social, and environmental resources students are utilizing to adapt to this stressful situation. If you are interested in participating in this anonymous survey, please proceed to this link: UMBC Community Coping with COVID-19 Survey. 

There are many changes happening to student research as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and campus closure. The URA selection committee has some advice to encourage you to apply for a URA and start to plan your research, even if there are some unknowns for the summer and fall semesters.

1. We have moved the application deadline back to May 15, 2020 in order to give students some extra time to prepare their research proposals.
2. Some research that was scheduled to start this summer may be delayed until the fall or spring semester- that’s ok! The URA is good for the entire year, June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2121. You can complete the research at any point during that time frame.
3. Our expectations for a final product are fluid and relaxed. If the research plan doesn’t work out exactly as you proposed, that’s ok- it’s the nature of doing research.
4. Be creative in the ways you think about your project. You may have to focus instead on doing a thorough literature review, using a pre-formed data set to analyze, or looking at case studies, rather than collecting in-person data, or conducting research in a lab.
5. Methods such as lab benchwork, participant observations, focus groups, travel-related, in-person interviews, or other real-time collection methods may need some re-thinking. How can you collect data via online interviews, the internet, or other technological interventions?
6. Creative arts projects may incorporate some kind of online delivery method. We are hoping to be back on campus for URCAD 2021, but consider how VoiceThread might be used to display your creative work.

Remember:
URAs provide up to $1,500 to undergraduate students to support their research, scholarship, or creative work with a UMBC faculty mentor on an original project. UMBC students of all years and disciplines are invited to apply, as long as they remain enrolled at UMBC long enough to complete the proposed work.

Deadline: May 15, 2020

Applications require a research proposal and mentor statement of support.

Speciality URAs will be awarded to Social Scientists and Entrepreneurs