Students from all academic backgrounds perform music from around the world and throughout time in the Collegium Musicum and Gamelan ensembles. Collegium, a small ensemble, specializes in music that was composed up until 1750. Gamelan is a traditional 21-instrument ensemble with roots in Java, Indonesia. These two ensembles had a joint performance on Friday, Dec. 2 in the Music Box.

The Collegium ensemble performs medieval, renaissance, and baroque music. On Friday, the ensemble performed works all composed by women written from eleventh to the sixteenth century. Ten students played instruments including harpsichord, chamber organ, baroque violin, baroque viola, recorder, cello, guitar and voice.

Senior music composition and musicology major Zachariah Thomas took a music history course several years ago for a degree requirement. During the course, he found early music particularly fascinating.

“Getting to hear it as a composer immediately piqued my interest,” he said. “I have a soft spot for history, as well.”

Thomas has been a performing member of the Collegium ensemble (organ and voice) ever since.

While the Collegium existed before director Lindsay Johnson arrived to UMBC last year, she brought her own interests and experiences to the ensemble. She has several antique instruments such as crumhorns, for example, in her office and hopes that enough students will express interest such that they can be used in future ensembles. Johnson also made the performance a requirement for enrolled students.

“I teach [Collegium] every semester and it’s important to me that we perform every semester,” she said.

Gamelan, which literally translates to “orchestra,” is a traditional ensemble hailing from Java, a large Indonesian island. While individual instruments vary with each group, UMBC’s ensemble consists 21 instruments including suspended gongs, metallophones, drums and a string instrument. Instructor Gina Beck has been teaching since the 1990s, but this fall is only the second semester UMBC has offered gamelan.

Students adhere to traditional practices including removing shoes before playing and remaining seated on the ground while playing the instruments in a respectful manner. Students are never to step over the instruments, but must always move around them.  The people of Java have historically believed that spirits inhabit the individual instruments and the ensemble as a whole.

Students may enroll in MUSC 300, a two-credit performance studies course, or ASIA 300, in which students are required to write a paper on the culture of the Javanese people.

Junior Global Studies and English major Rebecca Haddaway enrolled in gamelan in Spring 2016, the first semester it was offered, in order to satisfy an elective requirement for her Global Studies degree. She enrolled again this past spring in MUSC 300.

“I find the practice of playing to be great and really relaxing,” she said. Since this is her second semester, she has been able learn some of the more difficult instruments in the ensemble: “I enjoy learning the other instruments. When you’re playing in a gamelan, you never stop learning.”

The post Collegium, Gamelan offer unique performance opportunities appeared first on The Retriever.

Name: Awa Bakayoko

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: University of Georgia, College of Engineering

Position Title: Independent Biomedical Researcher

Major(s)/Minor(s): Biology

Expected Graduation: May 2017

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

During my research experience, I had the opportunity to conduct groundbreaking biomedical research on breast cancer metastasis at the University of Georgia. I was fortunate to work in two labs, with two different mentors. In Dr. Davis' Genetics lab, I learned about racial disparities within different breast cancer sub-types. African American women affected with Triple Negative Breast Cancer have a higher mortality rate than Caucasian women affected with the same type of breast cancer. We hypothesized that this racial disparity could be due to altered expression of a receptor called Atypical Chemokine Receptor 1 (ACKR1). The ACKR1 receptor normally binds to inflammatory chemokines in the blood stream and sequesters these chemokines. Populations in sub-Saharan Africa have high amounts of a Duffy-null mutation, which means that they do not express the ACKR1 gene on their red blood cells. This means that they have high amounts of inflammatory chemokines within the blood stream which could explain why African American women with triple-negative breast cancer are harder to treat.

I was tasked with researching the effects of pro-inflammatory chemokines on breast cancer metastasis. In this lab, I cultured cells, performed wound healing assay's, and used software to measure breast carcinoma cell invasiveness with and without the pro-inflammatory chemokine CCL2. In Dr. Gomillion's tissue engineering lab, I developed a three-dimensional bio-material scaffold in order to simulate breast cancer metastasis. In this lab, I engineered the scaffold using bio-materials, observed cell motility through the engineered scaffold, and I fixed and stained the cells with a nuclear stain (DAPI). The results from the research I conducted could shed some light on the process of breast cancer metastasis and help us to better understand and characterize the disease.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I found out about the research program through Undergraduate Research group at UMBC. I obtained help from Mrs. Janet McGlynn, who gave me tips on how to make my resume stronger and helped me through the process of applying to research programs overall.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

What I enjoyed most about my summer research experience was working independently on my research project, and working full time. I also learned a great deal of lab techniques during my time in the lab. In my classes at UMBC, I learned many techniques that scientists used to learn more about how our body works, and being able to actually do these tests and techniques myself was very enjoyable.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I believe I have aided in helping to understand breast cancer.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Some advice would be to start your applications early, to get help especially on personal statements and resumes, and to search the UMBC Undergraduate Research group in order to find great opportunities and sites to conduct research.

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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!

UMBC CSEE Professor Marie desJardins was elected as a as Member-at-Large of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Professor desJardins will serve a four-year term as one of four AAAS members representing the field of Information, Computing, and Communication. AAAS members-at large are charged with assessing the performance and role of their section in the Association and working to involve its members in AAAS activities and professional interactions.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people. Established in 1848, the AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society, with more than 120,000 members.

The post Prof. Marie desJardins elected a Member-at-large of the American Association for the Advancement of Science appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Audio Visual Innovations (AVI-SPL)- Utilizing Digital Signage Technology to Better Engage Student, Faculty and Alumni

Description:

"The Education 'industry' is increasingly introducing technology within the education environment at all levels. With digital signage the means of presenting information is very varied and can include video, Flash animation, moving text, alternating images, RSS feeds and live TV.  With ONELAN digital signage you can:

•     Display news and details of campus events

•     Instantly convey emergency messages

•     Provide sports updates

•     Highlight important events

•     Wayfinding: assisting navigation for students and visitors

•     Allow instant registration for student clubs and activities

**Targeted Audience…  Education Administrators and IT Professionals               

Presenters:

Brian Hughes:    ONELAN North American Sales Manager, AVI/SPL

Sayed Enver:      ONELAN Senior Sales Engineering Manager, AVI/SPL

SHI/Symantec

Description:

The webinar description is as follows: Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) 14 "What's New"

New features to include:

- Intelligent Threat Cloud Service for client installation packages

- Generic Exploit Mitigation

- Advanced Machine Learning

**Targeted Audience… All existing Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) customer's                 

Presenters:

Brian Pallozzi, Principal Sales Engineer

A weekly round-up curated by Women’s Center staff member, Michael Jalloh Jamboria

In the spirit of my friend, who gave us the glorious name ‘Slaying on the Weekly’, every week I will be bringing you some interesting, funny or thought-provoking content from the internet! Be sure to join us next week for more and continue to slay!

Things you should know:

The Bell Foundry, a queer/POC dominated art space, was condemned on Monday December 5th, displacing dozens of artists and performers in the process. There are efforts to find temporary homes and long term spaces for those people, including a benefit relief fund event.

Article of the Week:

Time Magazine has a pretty good list of tips for exam week. Take care of yourself, get some sleep, you’ll do fine.

The holidays are coming up, meaning family. We understand family can be difficult to navigate and be around. Check out Feministing’s guide for navigating the holidays.

UMBC Happenings:

Self-Care Day is December 12th from 12pm to 1pm. Join us during free hour for arts/crafts, tea/coffee and a stress-free zone.

During Exam week and Winter break, the Women’s Center will be reducing the hours of operation.

Song of the Week:

I’ve been listening to really great music recently, and I want to share that with all of you! This week’s song is a youtube playlist for studying. Enjoy some jazzy goodness and get some work done!

You are great! You can pass all of your exams! Enjoy winter break!

The panelists and facilitators (from left to right: Shira Devorah, Dr. Kate Drabinski, Dr. Mejdulene Shomali, Dan Wiley, and me, Mike Jalloh-Jamboria) from the Fatness in Focus Roundtable. Keep an eye out for the roundup!