Dr. Janeja is a world-renowned expert in data science and artificial intelligence (AI). As a multidisciplinary researcher, her research spans data science, information technology, geoscience, linguistics, and education. After serving as the department chair of Information Systems from 2019 to 2023, Dr. Janeja is currently leading the College of Engineering and Information Technology as the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development. 

In the last three years, Dr. Janeja was exceptionally productive with one scholarly book on data analytics for cybersecurity, many research articles in prestigious refereed journals, and more than 16.5 million research funding from NSF. Her extramurally funded research projects address a wide range of national priorities such as data science education, research capacity building for earth and environmental sciences, and climate change. She uses novel data and AI-driven methods to advance research and education in these areas. 

Dr. Janeja’s research is incredibly impactful through her multidisciplinary collaboration. One exemplary project is the NSF HDR Institute for Harnessing the data and model revolution in the polar regions (iHARP), which is funded by one of the most prestigious NSF awards. As the director of iHARP, Dr. Janeja leads a team of more than 80 faculty, scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and students from 9 institutions, industry, and government agencies to address the most pressing challenges in the Polar region. What sets Dr. Jenaja apart from her peers is her ability to bridge information technology and social sciences to make big societal impacts. In NSF-funded deepfake discernment project, Dr. Jenaja collaborates with linguists to advance the detection of audio deepfakes. Her work exemplifies the need to address the issues of ethics and responsibility in data science and AI. It will greatly improve the effectiveness of deepfake discernment to enhance cybersecurity, prevent financial fraud, and inform legal practice.

Congratulations again, Vandana! We are so proud of you! 

(Photo: Vandana and the iHARP team)

LHFA and AAAFSC are co-organizing "UMBC Immigrant Recognition Day" again this year with student groups on campus (HLSU, SACNAS, etc.). The event is already scheduled for May 1st. 

The last time we had this event in 2019, we focused on celebrating and coming together as a community to recognize the contributions immigrants make every day to UMBC. This year, we are thinking of something similar, but we also want to do "multiple" events, such as panels (students and faculty), roundtables, but also music, readings, and dances (UMBC's new Latin Dance Group is participating), as our previous celebrations.

Pictures from the 2019 event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TD6CKv8BM8ZvT7to6

If you are interested in joining the planning committee for this year, please email Thania at: munoz@umbc.edu.  We need two more members!

UMBC College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is the recipient of a $750,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation for a “Global Asias Initiative” (PI: Dean Moffitt; Co-PI Tamara Bhalla). This project will bring a post-doc into the Asian Studies Program as well as host a series of workshops, lectures, and events over the next two and a half years centered on this framework for studying Asia by bringing traditional Asian Studies, Asian American Studies, and diaspora studies into conversation.

The opening workshop will explore the concept of Global Asias and consider how what we do at UMBC already might fit into that paradigm. Please join us for the whole day or parts of it, if you are able.

Workshop Schedule: 

Welcome and Morning Session with Dr. Theodore Gonzalves,  "What makes an object APA vs Global vs Asian?" (11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)

Interactive Lunch: Shaping Global Asias at UMBC (12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.)

UMBC Faculty Panel: Why Global Asias? (2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.)

Reception (3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Please r.s.v.p here. 

If you are attending, please sign up here by Monday 2/12 so we have the most accurate count for catering.  Thank you!

Dear Colleagues,

 

Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely break. I’m writing to you in my role as the peer facilitator for the Faculty Mentoring Programs, sponsored by the Provost’s office. 

******

Faculty Mentoring Programs Updates:

I am delighted to share that we are offering a new virtual mentoring mini-workshop series this spring for junior faculty and others. This was suggested by Tania Lizarazo, Associate Professor in MLLI, speaking on behalf of faculty who would like to participate but are unable to do so in-person. The first virtual workshop is Friday, February 2, from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Our featured speaker is Felipe Filomeno, Associate Director for the Center for Social Science Scholarship and Associate Professor in Political Science. Felipe’s talk is entitled, “Aligning Your Professional Goals with Your Core Values.” Registration information for this workshop and the other workshops can be found here.

We also now have a new Faculty Mentoring Lending Library with books of interest to faculty on the topics of leadership, microaggressions, empathy, belonging and community within higher education amongst other topics. The books in our curated lending library are available to all faculty. Please contact Orianne Smith (osmith@umbc.edu) if you are interested in checking out one of these books. And let us know too if there is a book you have found useful that we should include here!

Finally, below are some testimonials from faculty in the current cohorts:

New Faculty: “This exceeded my expectations! The presentation provided really good food for thought, it was so nice to meet other colleagues in similar situations. The materials were all very helpful.”

 

Recently Promoted: “It was great talking through the values and connecting to ideas, and I like the cohort mode.”

 

Leadership: “I enjoyed the opportunity to hear from my colleagues across campus. Learning from people from different sized departments and departments in other colleges gave me new ideas and a better appreciation for the things that are working well. I left with a mix of new strategies and gratitude.”

 

These workshops and the speakers have been amazing! Please do consider joining us!

Orianne Smith

Special Assistant to the Provost for Special Faculty Initiatives

Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, English

Affiliate Associate Professor, Gender, Women’s + Sexuality Studies

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Given the increasing federal funding to support research, training and infrastructure at institutions that serve significant % of undergraduate minority students, it is imperative that we acknowledge UMBC's status as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) in our proposals. We are a minority serving institution AND we are AANAPISI! 

For more information: