Joan Shin, education professor of practice, recently published an article in The Conversation that examined the power of using children’s songs to introduce children to different cultures and the world around them. “Without realizing it, children learn language and content simultaneously. Songs build skills that help children distinguish the sounds of a language, and connect sound to script and assist with vocabulary building,” Shin wrote.

Shin discussed the teaching approach she developed that combines her song research and search for cultural materials to teach English as a global language. Shin’s “international children’s song approach” uses songs from around the world as a method of teaching English to young children.

“Whether children are learning English as a second language, or even a third or fourth language, they are being exposed to it at earlier and earlier ages worldwide. Using international children’s songs from around the world is an effective approach for teaching English as a global language to kids. Language is a carrier of culture, and English is uniquely positioned to communicate across cultures around the world. Materials to teach itshould embrace all cultures,” Shin described.

To read the full article “How should kids learn English: through Old MacDonald’s farm or Ali Baba’s farm?” click here.

An article published June 18 in the Baltimore Sun examined a digital history project documenting the unrest surrounding the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Denise Meringolo, an associate professor of history, is collaborating with the Maryland Historical Society and University of Baltimore to collect images, oral histories, and videos taken by everyday citizens documenting the events. Meringolo, who is featured in the article, set up a website for the project.

“I decided to establish a site that allows people to participate directly in the act of collecting,” Meringolo said. “When you study social movements from the past, sometimes what’s missing are the experiences and perceptions of the people who were in that moment. You find the official reports, but it’s very difficult to get a sense of what that protest was like viscerally from the ground view.”

To read the article in the Baltimore Sun, click here.  For additional coverage by the Associated Press, click here. To learn more about the project, visit baltimoreuprising2015.org.

Following the recent arrests of FIFA officials, Sunil Dasgupta, director of UMBC’s political science program at the Universities of Shady Grove, wrote anarticle for International Relations and Security Network (ISN) News about the arrests illustrating a key feature of American soft power.

“Rather than blaming the media or the public for paying more attention to a sporting controversy than to developments in the South China Sea, this unlikely legal move by the U.S. Department of Justice should be taken as evidence of the symbolic nature of power in contemporary international politics. On the symbolic terrain of soft power, the governance of football may indeed be more important than the geopolitics of Chinese island construction projects. If so, the FIFA arrests may indicate that the United States is more capable of shaping certain elements of the international system than reports of its decline have suggested,” Dasgupta wrote.

In the article, he also discussed what the FIFA controversy says about governing on an global scale: “…the football controversy promises to define new rules for governing non-state international organizations—a type of entity left outside the post-World War II institutional order. It also offers a new methodology for solving problems: state action on behalf of a global, rather than a national, public, which is a novel and potentially exciting model for reorganizing the international system.”

To read the full article titled “Football or Atolls? Why Football Matters More than Chinese Island Construction for World Politics,” click here.

Sustainability Across the Disciplines, Faculty Curriculum Development Workshop, Tuesday, June 2, 2015

By Leah Dorrian, Sustainability Intern 

   The Sustainability Across the Disciplines on June 1st and 2nd was a workshop for professors across the disciplines to brainstorm and share ideas of how to incorporate sustainable topics into their classes. Organized and facilitated by Dr. Rita Turner and Tanvi Gadhia, this two day workshop featured a tour of the campus garden, faculty presentations, and group discussion that encouraged innovative strategies and ideas for the development of a sustainability unit in each professor’s curriculum. 

On the second day of the workshop, I sat in on visionary discussions amongst professors. Each speaker of the day was incredibly passionate and eager to share their past experiences with this topic in their classes, as well as offer progressive ways in which this broad topic could be delivered to students in a successful way. 

Faculty at the Community Garden and Permaculture Food Forest tour with Jill Wrigly, INDS

Dr. Biehler, a professor of the Geography and Environmental Systems department, presented at the workshop with a holistic approach towards Sustainability. The presentation gave an overview of environmental injustice, where the inequalities and struggles of environmental issues are felt by fragmented communities. She honed in on the idea that sustainability involves not only the environment but economics, culture, and politics; it involves the people. It is not jobs OR sustainability, the culture OR environmentalism, but it is BOTH-AND. Dr. Biehler emphasized that it is imperative to express this to students and to encourage them to hold contradictions in their minds in order to resolve the problem. In her past classes, she has taken students to work with inner-city communities to help restore dilapidated areas where environmental injustice is rampant. The ultimate resolution, she describes, is not clear and often requires continuous work to maintain justice within these communities. With a quote from Bell Hooks, Dr. Biehler relates that “it’s not about ‘saving the world’ or ‘saving these kids’ but about building relationships.” 

After this presentation, the rest of the professors brainstorm and discuss ways in which these commendable ideas could transform their individualized lesson plans. It was consensual that exposing students to the issues of environmental justice was an important component of a more holistic representation of sustainability. 

Tanvi Gadhia followed up this discussion with an valuable speech about campus sustainability resources. Providing data of UMBC’s carbon footprint, she offers ways in which professors and their students could become more aware of their impact on the environment. She invites feedback and concerns from the professors, and as a group they brainstormed new ways in which each of them could incorporate the resources to compliment their courses for the upcoming semester and years. 

After David Hoffman’s talk on “breaking ground” for UMBC’s sustainability efforts, the workshop transitioned into a group discussion on how to design their courses and implement these new ideas into their classes. 

It is quite evident that professors of UMBC are ambitious in spreading ideas of sustainability to their students. As a student myself, I am now aware of the efforts behind the scenes that manifest such meaningful courses, and it is inspiring to understand the level of enthusiasm that these professors have adopted on environmental matters.

The Gordon Center for Performing Arts is currently seeking a part-time Technical Assistant. This position is charged with assisting in the production of all Gordon Center events including music, dance, film, theater, family programs and more. This position includes the complete support of staging, lighting, sound, rigging, AV needs and event specific requirements. The successful candidate will be a strong problem solver, a flexible, proactive and positive teammate who is committed to high-quality, professional presentations. This is a part-time position (25 hours/week).