UMBC’s Grand Challenge Scholars Program is designed for students from all majors who are interested in solving important societal problems. The program fosters a vibrant interdisciplinary community to help tackle the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) Grand Challenges, and gives students experiences and skills to create solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century.

What are the Grand Challenges?

The Grand Challenges are 14 broad problems in the areas of sustainability, health, security, and knowledge. Solutions to these issues require interdisciplinary teamwork and years of sustained effort. Read more at engineeringchallenges.org.

UMBC Grand Challenge Scholars

Each scholar will complete three one-credit seminars to help them create a personalized program to explore a selected Grand Challenge. This personalized program provides experiences in five program areas include research, interdisciplinarity, entrepreneurship, global dimensions, and service. Upon graduation, scholars will receive a formal designation for their accomplishments in the program.

Application.

As part of the Dresher Center for the Humanities’ Inaugural Public Humanities Speaker Series, assistant professor of history and director of the Graduate Program in American Studies at Rutgers University, Mary Rizzo, delivered a fascinating lecture on the intersection of the Black experience and poetry within the historic Baltimore publication of “Chicory” magazine.

Her research centered around this magazine and how it is “the most authentic microphone of Black folks talking ever devised.” Upon coming across boxes upon boxes of “Chicory” editions hidden away, Rizzo and the Pratt Library in Baltimore breathed new life into the work by digitizing each and every page of every publication to be accessible on a public database.

In Nov. 1966, the first issue of “Chicory,” written by everyday residents of Baltimore City, was published. Publishing original poetry with little to no editing, the magazine grew as a space for young people of color in the poorest neighborhoods of the city to express themselves.

Working as a “vehicle for civic dialogue” and fostering a community environment among the Black ghetto, “Chicory” was for who Rizzo described as “people who don’t necessarily like to write, but who have something to say.”

These powerful, untouched words were profound in revealing the Black experience in Baltimore while also challenging the notion that poetry is meant only for the most elite and white writers in the literary world.

Rizzo explained, “The words of the people were already poetry.” This allowed submissions to be open-ended and unbound to any specific framework. One poem about the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in her community was written by a twelve year old Black girl living in Baltimore.

Another powerful poem, “A Message From the Ghetto,” was written by two Black women and published in “Chicory” with their home addresses listed below for readers to contact, showcasing these women’s desire to continue the conversation of Black experience in Baltimore. This and other poems of “Chicory”  highlighted the large part that everyday people played in organizing social change within the city.

Throughout the digitizing process, Rizzo and the Pratt Library came across challenges in determining who the legal owners of the poems were, given that the magazine stopped publishing in 1983 and many of the authors submitted poetry while they were very young, meaning they might not remember sending in their pieces.

Rizzo also faced challenges in dealing with the ethics of digitization and increasing the accessibility of the database itself. However, even though “Chicory” closed its doors to the publishing of poetic expression in 1983, the work of these young Black voices will continue to live on and inspire generations to come through this online database.

Follow Rizzo and the Pratt Library’s progress of digitization at collections.digitalmaryland.org and discover the profound, raw voices of the Black experience in Baltimore once again.

According to U.S. News rankings released today, UMBC graduate programs are some of the best in the nation for 2020. The rankings are developed based on expert opinions and statistical indicators for quality. Over 2,000 programs and more than 22,000 individuals were polled to determine this year’s honorees. While some programs have been newly recognized on 2020 rankings lists, others continue to lead on lists developed in prior cycles.

It was another strong year for the graduate programs in UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS). Five CNMS fields are recognized in U.S. News graduate program rankings, including mathematics, statistics, biological sciences, chemistry, and physics.

“The breadth of programs recognized in CNMS is a testament to the dedication and extraordinary effort of the faculty and staff across the college,” says Bill LaCourse, dean of CNMS. “I gratefully appreciate their commitment to setting high standards and providing a quality education for all our students.”

As a whole, UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) stands as one of the best engineering colleges in the nation. Just three other Maryland institutions appear on the overall 2020 list of best engineering programs. COEIT remains on the lists of the country’s best electrical, mechanical, and environmental engineering graduate programs, and is featured on the new 2020 list for chemical engineering.

“All of our researchers, faculty, staff, postdocs, and especially graduate students, contribute to an environment that enables innovations that help keep UMBC at the forefront of engineering and computing,” says COEIT Dean Keith J. Bowman.

UMBC’s School of Public Policy welcomed new director Susan Sterett in 2017. Since then, the school’s graduate programs in public policy have continued to thrive. Their success is evident with a 2020 U.S. News ranking in the top 100 of all public affairs graduate programs across the nation.

“UMBC’s School of Public Policy is proud of our excellent faculty and students, who contribute every day to informing the public about health and education policy, equity in cities, and public management and regulation,” says Sterett. “With such excellent scholars in publicly significant fields, we look forward to growing and continuing to contribute to the field in a way that rivals our larger, older peers.”

Graduate programs in fine arts, psychology, and clinical psychology also continue to be recognized as among the best. Earlier this year, U.S. News heralded UMBC’s online master’s degree in information systems as one of the top 20 in the nation, up four spots from last year.

Banner image: UMBC graduates at May 2018 Commencement. Photo by Catherine Borg for UMBC. All other photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.