According to the U.S. Election Project, a whopping 41.9 percent of eligible voters did not go to the polls during the most recent presidential election. And despite recently overtaking the baby boomers as the largest voting-age demographic, citizens ages 18-24 have consistently had the lowest voter turnout of all age groups over the past several presidential elections.

Elections have consequences, so if you want your voice to be heard, you need to be involved and you need to understand how governments works.

This January, expand your knowledge as you examine the far-reaching impact political decisions have on the way we live our lives with one of these thought provoking courses:

Winter Session 2017 POLI Courses

Concerned about the fate of the globe and our environment? POLI 409: Politics of Climate Change, focuses on how populations will be impacted by climate change and the degrees to which state and non-state actors are trying to mitigate these challenges. (Online course)

Ever wondered how countries around the world reach agreements? Investigate case studies such as the US-Cuban Rapprochement, Iran Nuclear Negotiations, and Global Climate Talks.  POLI/GLBL 483: International Negotiation can be applied towards upper-level credit in Political Science or Global Studies.(Hybrid course)

Curious about how nations collaborate to accomplish common goals? Dive in to worldwide diplomacy and intergovernmental agencies such as the United Nations through POLI 280: International Relations. Develop fundamental skills that can be applied towards communications, international law, research, development, and many other fields of study. (Online course – fulfills Social Science GEP)

Intrigued by how our government assists those in poverty? Compare U.S. welfare policy to that of other nations and learn how the politics of Congress, interest groups, and the bureaucracy impacts the formation and implementation of welfare policy. Explore all this and more in POLI 446: The Politics of Poverty. (Online course – fulfills Writing Intensive GEP)

Thinking about how legal issues are handled in the international sphere?  Discover how international law impacts human rights issues as you explore American and international legal systems.  Examine treaties, customs, and judicial opinions that form the creation of international law and the role of the United Nations.  POLI 482: International Law. (Online course)

Curious as to how public opinion in the U.S. compares to that in Europe? Explore how people engage in politics and how upbringing influences political ideology in POLI 469 – European Political Thought. Students will investigate American political leanings and how they compare to opinions in the the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. (Online course)

Hebrews 11:38a (NIV) - “…the world was not worthy of them.”

This short verse is a brief commentary that the author of Hebrews gives to the accounts of faith by the ancients (biblical characters). It is quite unique how faith is placed in so high a level that the world was not even deserving of it. It makes you wonder how precious and how much worth faith is placed in a person’s life over against other things - like character building, self accomplishments, education, etc.

Honestly, this verse is also quite disturbing, because it bids the reader to consider his or her own value system. In the scale of our personal inward lives, where is faith valued in comparison to other things we hold as important? Is faith above or below our sense of accomplishment, even a sense of duty as honorable as it may be? Perhaps, we need to reconsider and repent and turn to Christ once again.

The ancients had faith in Christ and it was said that the world was not worthy of them. We also have the same faith in Jesus Christ, so let us be rekindled in this passion and ask the Spirit to change our mindset, our own value system.

As you recall from the message, think about the 10 people that died instantly from the bombing attack in Tajikistan. Although the descriptions of their death were quite horrific, the Lord saw it fit for the church to experience such immense difficulties - the world was not worthy of their faith.

Response and Prayer: Spirit of God, please fill me and transform my mind and my value system. Help me to hold on to faith as most precious, especially when I’m challenged to think otherwise during pressure and stress. In the end, help me to never let go of faith in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Sing in response: “Miracles” by Jesus Culture

https://youtu.be/IOslAAUcKcc

-MK

UMBC has accumulated a rich history in its first 50 years, rising from a patch of Baltimore County farmland through the social and political turbulence of the mid-20th century to become a university nationally recognized for the quality of its education and its commitment to diversity. This year’s annual Hilltop Society dinner, in addition to being a “thank you” to our donors, carried on that story, as guests dined amid the “UMBC at 50: Sharing the Past, Building the Future” exhibit at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery.

The exhibit was curated by Tom Beck and Lindsey Loeper ’04, American studies, with the help of various partners across campus. It features more than 200 items from UMBC’s archives. Official documents, letters, photos, physical artifacts, and a continuous video loop all help to tell the story of UMBC, from long before the ground was broken until today. (It’s open to the public through December 15, but if you can’t make it to campus, it lives online as well.)

With such a storied past behind us, it’s only fitting that the two students who spoke at the event be excellent examples of UMBC’s present and future. Bentley Corbett-Wilson ’17, music, this year’s student body president, has been involved with the Student Government Association (SGA) since his very first semester here. He spoke at length about how his UMBC experience has shaped his understanding of the world, and how UMBC’s commitment to shared governance empowers students to speak out on what matters to them.

“It is not uncommon for students to passionately express concerns about an issue on campus, and find that it has been solved the next semester by simply reaching out to SGA, campus departments, or other administrators on campus,” he said. “The potential that SGA has to help move this campus towards an even higher level of greatness is immense, and I’ve been honored to help guide the organization to do exactly that.”

Corbett-Wilson is also a recipient of the Sprint to the End Scholarship, which was established to help upperclassmen in need complete their degrees here. “I want to thank you all […] for your generosity to this community and its students,” he said.

Jeffrey Carr ’19, interdisciplinary studies, told the audience that while he wasn’t sure what to expect when he first got to UMBC last fall, he took the advice of Dr. Jason Schiffman, a psychology professor who spoke to Carr’s orientation group, to heart: “It’s cool to be smart at UMBC, [and] this place will be what you make it.”

His intellectual curiosity led him to the Discovery Scholars Living-Learning Community, which provides opportunities and resources for undecided first-year students to forge their own academic path. Carr said that the support he received from both his fellow students and the faculty and staff members involved in the program gave him the confidence to branch out and try new things. In the past year and a half, he’s competed in the Pan-American Chess Championships with the UMBC B-Team, become a Peer Mentor for Discovery Scholars, and even joined the baseball team…as its statistician. (Carr hopes to work in baseball management after completing his degree.)

“Through the generous contributions of my donors […] and backed by the support network obtained through the living-learning community, I don’t think I could have had a better experience up to this point,” he said.

Throughout our past and into our present, UMBC has remained a place that students, no matter their background or interests, can make their own. With your generous support, we hope to continue that legacy far into our future.

— Julia Celtnieks ’13; all photos by Marlayna Demond ’11

Meet Sean,

He is a Visual Arts major and an URA Scholar. He is a proponent of research funding... "You have nothing to lose except the potential of how far $1500.00 can push you in your career. You can do almost anything you want with the funds as long as you just prove that it’s worth doing." His future goals is to freelance as a photographer and to continue to visually tell the stories of people who can’t tell their own.

Sean's creative project will document the "invisible citizens" of Baltimore City. Homeless individuals are visible casualties of racial and socio-economic class divisions, yet as individuals they are often invisible to much of society. In an effort to make some of these individuals visible, Sean will interview and make individual photographic portraits of select homeless persons with whom he has become acquainted in the past year. This work will personify the individual. Homeless people who participate will be able to take credit for helping others who share their struggle.

Read more about his research here…