• Receive Two Year Membership to ASM
• Earn up to $4000 in student stipend
• Participate in the ASM Fellows Presentation Institute prior to presenting research at the ASM General Meeting
• Receive up to $1000 in travel support to the ASM General Meeting (if abstract is accepted)
• Recognition in ASM publications

Attention iCubed Study Group Participants!

Stop by my during my office hours to identify Study Group members for STEM Courses

• Targeting but not limited to:

- Math 106, 151, 152, 155

- Chem 101

- Biol 141, 142

Pick up your study group tool kit or 

Register your study group & be entered into a drawing for FREE PIZZA!

Today, November 18^th:  

10:30am-11:45am, Patapsco Hall Lobby

12:00-1:15pm, Main Street – Commons

1:30-2:45pm, Susquehanna Hall Lobby

3:00-4:15pm, Harbor Hall Lobby

                 &

Monday, November 21^st:  

10:30 am-11:45am, Chesapeake Hall Lobby

12:00-1:15pm, Main Street – Commons

1:30-2:45pm, Potomac Hall Lobby

3:00-4:15pm, Patapsco Hall Lobby

If you are unable to come to any of the events, you can also stop by my office to meet me and pick up your study group toolkits.  To schedule a 20 minute appointment, follow the link:  https://www.google.com/calendar/selfsched?sstoken=UURaS0VBMDN4VklsfGRlZmF1bHR8MWVlM2Q3ODkyODk1NzZmMWQ2NzFmYzdi

Kugel. Challah. Blintz. Lox.

For many students, these words aren’t even part of their vocabulary, much less their diet. They certainly weren’t for the fellows at the Imaging Research Center. But in spring 2010, they left behind campus grub for the world of Jewish food. The results of their endeavor are now featured in “Chosen Food: Cuisine, Culture and American Jewish Identity,” an exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Maryland that runs through next fall.

“I wanted the fellows to work on a project that would have a public impact and show off what they could do technologically, but also really enrich their experience,” said Timothy Nohe, associate professor of visual arts, who worked with the fellows on the project.

The fellows visited kitchens, banquet halls, restaurants and marketplaces, and conducted interviews in the studio. The end result of their work is a series of documentary films and interviews shown throughout the exhibition.

“We’ve been increasing our inclusion of media over the past few years, and the media components of this exhibition are the strongest we’ve had yet,” said Rachel Kassman, assistant curator at the museum. “While we’ve always relied on the stories of actual people, this really brings it home.”

None of the students who worked on the project are Jewish, but their unfamiliarity with the topic was often an advantage because the museum wanted to create an exhibit that was accessible to both Jews and non-Jews.  The students helped to universalize aspects of the Jewish food experience—such as the concept of “yosher,” or ethical consumption—to an audience that might not be familiar with these terms.

Timothy Bubb ’11, animation, and ’13 M.F.A., imaging and digital arts, pointed out that the project didn’t just take them out of their comfort zone culturally, but technologically as well. “Past projects have mostly involved creating artwork on a computer in the safety of my dorm room,” he said. For this project, the students had to physically travel to locations around the state and work with video and sound equipment.

That was part of the point of the project, said Nohe. “Everybody, at some point, took on the role of camera operator, sound operator or director,” he said. “That really allows them to experience what it’s like to be in the real world, because they’ll find that, once they leave UMBC, they’re constantly changing themselves because the market is constantly driving them in new directions.”

Giving students that real-world research experience is an integral part of the IRC Fellows program: cohorts of about 8 students spend two years working on a different project, under a different professor, each semester. That means that while the Jewish museum of Maryland was celebrating the grand opening of the exhibition on October 23, the IRC fellows were already well into developing a game for their next project.

But while the students have moved on, the “Chosen Food” exhibit will run through September 30, 2012. Kassman said that the museum also plans to feature the materials the fellows collected on its website over the coming months, and the exhibition will travel to other locations after it finishes its Baltimore run.

“I think they realize that they have really rich research materials here, as rich as the material culture that’s in the exhibition,” said Nohe.

(11/18/11)

Luke 7:18-23 (NIV)

Jesus and John the Baptist

18 John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

Reflection:

We find John the Baptist, like many others, questioning who this Jesus really is. What was His true identity - basically, are you who you say you are, the Messiah? Where do we find Jesus, and what is He doing? Once again, we see Jesus among the “poor” - the sick, the disabled, the lepers, the blind, the widows, the orphans - the ones that lack the resources to provide for their basic needs. It is among this group of people that we see Jesus in the midst of revealing who He really is: “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”

Responding to the Transmission:

Who do you say Jesus is? As we seek to follow in the footsteps of our Lord, may we rejoice that we are worshipping the true Messiah. May there be no doubt in our hearts and minds that we are living for Him. Let us rejoice together that it is in Him – who He is - that we are enabled to proclaim this good news.

If you’re driving through nighttime Baltimore in the next few weeks, don’t forget to look up. Every day, from sunset to sunrise through mid-December, the iconic 100-year old Bromo Seltzer Tower’s four clock faces will be lit up with animations created by Kelley Bell ’06, MFA, who also teaches at UMBC.

From the Baltimore Sun:

“I love the idea of people interacting with my work,” Bell says.

“One of the things that’s very problematic for me with most animation is that it takes place inside a frame. You sit in a chair and look at it. My art is about finding ways to get out of that box. People can immerse themselves in the artwork, share a physical space with it.”

Read the full story in the Baltimore Sun and watch a video about the project here.