Intern: Summer Arts and Learning Academy Planning Intern

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Summary

Dance & Bmore is looking to hire​ experienced teaching artists for our diverse range of Programs: FazaFam (Family program), Forever Fit & Fun (Elders Program) and Dance & Bmore (After School Program).

Dance & Bmore utilizes a variety of disciplines including dance, percussion, theater, and sining. Teaching artists with experience in more than one discipline are encouraged to apply. Part- time, paid positions available.

Ideal candidates are:

- Energetic and enthusiastic

- Great collaborators

- Professional

- Punctual

Photo courtesy of Samantha Smith

“We’re all at a turning point in our lives where we can throw away everything we’ve been taught and adopt new ideas, or we can stick true to our roots,” said Samantha Smith, UMBC’s assistant director of health promotion, explaining the importance of collegiate health education. “Once we hit a certain age, occasional habits start to solidify and shape who we are.”

For more than five years, UMBC’s Peer Health Education Program has worked in conjunction with University Health Services to provide wellness support for UMBC’s student body.

Located across from UHS, tucked in next to the Erickson Hall’s stairs, Smith and her team of peer health educators devise strategies to promote healthy living across campus. Information sessions are one of the many services the Peer Health Education Program provides, concentrating on: general health and wellness, mental health and stress, sexual health, nutrition, alcohol, tobacco and drugs and constructing healthy relations.

A typical peer educator’s plate is chock full of training sessions and speaking to University Departments and Student Organizations about the importance of health and wellness. Groups can request a peer-led information session by filling out a form on the UHS website. Larger events are available on campus, but are less frequent.

During the fall semester, the Health Promotions office and peer health educators are busiest during the weeks leading up to Halloween and Thanksgiving. For Halloween, the office focused on sexual health and relationship dynamics, giving larger talks around campus and handing out fliers in the Commons. Following the ‘No Shave November’ theme, the program partnered with UMBC Men’s Athletics to promote men’s sexual and physical health around campus.

While the program allows Smith to take off her administrative hat and become one of the peers from time to time, the biggest challenge she faces is the number of peers she has. These low numbers make it hard for Smith to match every program request with a peer. Smith is hoping to see an increase in peers for the springtime when applications for the position open.

“Students should consider joining the program because it’s truly a great opportunity,” said Smith, “Okay, that may have been a little biased.”

“On a more serious note, students leave with professional and communication skills that prepare them for graduate, medical and professional schools,” she said. “In addition to professional development, participants can look forward to Practicum notification provided by the Career Center.

“When looking at applicants, those who communicate their flexibility and willingness to learn are the ones that stick out the most. The best peers aren’t necessarily the most outgoing or most creative, but the ones with the strongest work ethics,” Smith said.

The post Working towards a healthier campus appeared first on The Retriever.

Headshot courtesy of Michael Fallon

UMBC is teeming to the brim with talented and interesting individuals. Though our university is known for its STEM programs, we have brilliant professors and directors across the board. This week, The Retriever spoke with one of those masters of his craft, Michael Fallon from the English department.

Fallon has been teaching creative writing, literature and composition full-time at UMBC since 1985. His poems have appeared in the American Scholar, Sin Fronteras and the Oyez Review and his reviews, essays and articles have appeared in the Maryland English Journal, Lite Magazine and the Loch Raven Review. Fallon has won multiple awards for his collections of poetry, including two Maryland State Arts Council Fellowships in 1988 and 2009 and the first prize at the Plan B Press Poetry Chapbook Competition in 2011 for his collection, “Since You Have No Body.”

Despite the heavy focus on STEM subjects at UMBC, Fallon believes that the community does an exceptional job staying active in fine arts. “I think the new Performing Arts Building itself says a lot about UMBC’s commitment to the arts – not to mention the fact that the English department is on the fourth floor with such a beautiful view of the Baltimore skyline,” Fallon said.

“Personally, I really love the sculpture that was chosen for the front of the building,” Fallon continued. “I like the way it echoes Stonehenge – such amazing shadows a different times of day – and a sense of Greek or Roman ruins at the same time. I just really like working in a building that is bursting with artistic ferment and activity.”

From these ideas alone, Fallon made it clear that he is a man who lives and breathes poetry. He explained that his love for poetry blossomed at a very young age. “I come from a big Irish family where jokes and stories are told at every gathering. There is a love of conversation and an appreciation of the beauty of the spoken word,” he said.

“I love the sense of intimacy and community that stories and poems create, so I discovered very young the great pleasure of making something out of words,” Fallon said.

This life-long love of poetry ended up carving a path for Fallon’s career as a writer and professor. According to Fallon, UMBC is a fantastic environment for writers like himself. “I think UMBC has clearly shown its interested in hiring writers and promoting the literary arts. We now have Lia Purpura as Writer in Residence and at least eight other English faculty who are actively writing and publishing,” said Fallon. “We also have a very good reading series featuring nationally prominent poets and writers.”

Nonetheless, Fallon believes the University could do more for its writers. “I think we could do more to promote the writers here on campus and help support their work by making some UMBC grants available to them,” he said.

This semester, though, Fallon has not been present among his fellow UMBC writers as he’s been on sick leave to recover from throat cancer. Thankfully, he reports that he’s made it back to “3/4 strength” and is recovering well. His experience with throat cancer has allowed him to look back fondly on his career at UMBC, which he will be closing out fairly soon.

“When you are diagnosed with cancer, there is a certain chance that the cancer will kill you. This does tend to make you reexamine your life and decide how you are going to live if you recover and survive,” he said. “You don’t want to waste time, but to do only what is most worth doing.”

“I am retiring soon and my teaching career is ending. I do not regret a moment of it,” said Fallon.

Fallon ended our time by reflecting on the students of UMBC: what they have taught him and his words of advice for them as writers and as people. “I have learned so much from my students about what is beautiful and meaningful,” he said. “To the writers of UMBC, you are a writer only if you don’t give up. You have failed only if you are the only one who honestly thinks so. Failing is much easier and more common than success, so do it often and keep going. There is always a bit of success in failure and a bit of failure in success. Look for it. Learn from it.”

The post Michael Fallon looks back on success, failure and the intimacy of telling stories appeared first on The Retriever.