Meki's visit to UMBC, as a guest of the Department of American Studies' Indigenous Heritage: Issues of Ownership and Representation course, will help our campus community to better understand and appreciate the diversity and dynamic qualities of indigenous cultures, including indigenous identities and everyday practices, the performance of culture, intangible cultural heritage, and issues surrounding cultural appropriation. 

This event will be held on Thursday, December 6, 2018 in the  Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery.

On September 19, 1966, UMBC opened its doors to students for the first day of classes in the institution’s history. Mimi Dietrich ’70, American studies, was among those “pioneer” students, encouraged by faculty and administrators to take advantage of a campus where everything was both new and possible.

“So many of them were inspiring because they were joining us in this new university,” says Dietrich, who has in her decades as an alumna continued to show her passion for UMBC in a variety of ways.

Dietrich will receive the UMBC Alumni Award for Distinguished Service at a ceremony on October 4.

The pioneering spirit has continued to carry Dietrich to pursue her passion in quilting. After teaching middle school and pre-school for 6 years, Dietrich shifted her focus to teach needlework and quilting. For 50 years, Dietrich has traveled across the United States to teach at guilds, festivals, state conferences, cruises, and an American studies course at UMBC. Dietrich was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 2015 and was named Professional Quilt Teacher of the Year by the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals in 2013. The author of 17 books and countless publications, Dietrich now teaches a year-long class focused on Baltimore Album Quilts. A founding member of The Village Quilters in Catonsville and the Baltimore Applique Society, Dietrich is preparing for an exhibit of her quilts in 2019.

Alongside her professional successes, Dietrich hasn’t strayed far from UMBC in the decades following graduation. A founding member of the Fab Four, an alumni group comprised of graduates of UMBC’s first four graduating classes, Dietrich took on a pivotal volunteer role engaging the earliest alumni heading into UMBC’s milestone 25th and 50th anniversaries. During UMBC’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2016, The Fab Four hosted several events, and continues to plan initiatives aimed at connecting UMBC’s early alumni with the university.

Dietrich credits her husband and fellow alumnus Robert “Bob” Dietrich ’70, biological science, for keeping her connected to UMBC, where he worked for 40 years. A former member of UMBC’s Alumni Association Board of Directors, Dietrich was named UMBC Volunteer of the Year in 1997, an honor she shared with husband Bob. Together, they’ve raised two sons, Jon and Ryan, who have grown up to be wonderful dads to their three grandchildren.

– Amy Dalrymple

Aminata Jalloh ’10, American studies, recently published her first children’s book titled The Biggest Little Brother, a story about the complexities of sibling relationships and immigrant families. Here, the first-generation Sierra Leonean-American shares how her time at UMBC shaped her career in teaching and writing for children.

– Allison Cruz ’18

How did your education at UMBC impact your career in teaching and now writing children’s books?

I was always interested in the experiences of first and second generation Americans, so attending UMBC and majoring in American studies was a natural fit. It was an interdisciplinary area of study which allowed me the scope to go both deep and wide on issues of how race, ethnicity, national origin, and class intersect.

I also opted to add an Africana studies minor to further explore the construction of racial identity by and for people of African descent, and how both shapes their experiences. My studies at UMBC gave me the theoretical framework and the language to articulate the unique experiences many people from black immigrant background have.

The Biggest Little Brother is loosely based on your own childhood experiences as a first-generation Sierra Leonean-American. In what ways is this book based on your experiences and in what ways is it a story you created?

I was the first in my family to be born in the United States. When my parents moved to the U.S.  – my father came first and later my mother came – they were unable to bring my sister. Unfortunately, family separation is more common than it should be in immigrant communities. It was through this lens that I wrote The Biggest Little Brother, through this experience of adjusting to a new family member moving in, and the complexities it brings. I also wanted to normalize family structures like my own.

Why did you choose children as your audience for this story? Have you always had a passion to write for children?

After graduating from UMBC, I began my career in education as a classroom teacher for kindergarten to 3rd grade in Washington, D.C.! Many of my students were first- and second-generation Americans from Central America and East and West Africa. I loved teaching reading and wanted to supplement the core curricular materials with stories that not only reflected their own experiences but also provided opportunities to learn about other cultures.

However, there was an absence in children’s literature with immigrant themes, particularly in stories with African lead characters. I struggled to find children’s stories that captured the unique complexities of immigrant families in a way that was authentic, relatable, and enjoyable to read. This absence inspired me to write The Biggest Little Brother because I believe that every child has the right to see themselves in the books they read.

What do you want your child audience to learn from your book, and what lessons should they come away with?

Children’s literature has the remarkable ability to reinforce and change narratives. I hope with The Biggest Little Brother children will see that every family is unique and special and that we are more alike than we are different.

What goals do you have for the future? Would you like to write more children’s books?

Yes, I would love to continue the story of Sowa and his family! Also, I want to continue promoting children’s literature with dynamic African lead characters! I curated a list of really great titles on my website www.readersinspired.com and I post related content on Instagram via www.instagram.com/readersinspired.

Nicole King, associate professor and chair of American studies, received the Presidential Teaching Faculty Award in recognition of her community-engaged pedagogy. King focuses on helping students develop a deeper understanding of Baltimore and its residents, whether studying gentrification or local environmental concerns. “It is especially wonderful to be honored for my work teaching at UMBC because UMBC has exceptional students,” she said.

King shared two core lessons from doing public humanities work, lessons she works to share with students: “showing up matters” and “listening is essential to learning.” To fulfill UMBC’s mission, she argued, “We must bring more voices into conversations at our public university today and we must better listen to one another because that is truly what teaching and learning are about.”

“It’s Just A Jump To The Right: How The Tea Party Has Affected Conservative Discourse.”

In this study, a cultural and linguistic approach was used to analyze the effect that speeches by members of the right-wing Tea Party Caucus have had on conservative political discourse. The rhetoric of these politicians after their ascendance in the 2010 congressional elections was compared to the rhetoric used by John McCain, the Republican nominee in 2008, and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in 2016, to understand their effect on conservative discourse. This shift in discourse was studied using speech analysis to code for instances of negative discourse and establish a comparison between the election years while also noting rhetorical shifts among mainstream conservative politicians.

How did you find out about McNair? When did you join?

Vanessa Flora-Nakoski has joined McDaniel College as the new writing center director. In this role, she manages the day-to-day operations of the writing center and oversees McDaniel students who serve as peer tutors. She also teaches as a lecturer in the English department.

Previously, Flora-Nakoski worked for the Writing, Reading, and Language Center at Montgomery College, where she recruited, trained, coached, supervised and evaluated tutors. She was also a writing coach and tutor at the University of Maryland, University College, a tutor in the composition and literature center at Howard Community College, and a teaching assistant in the UMBC honors program. She has also taught composition and rhetoric at Montgomery College, Stevenson University, Howard Community College and the University of Iowa. She also serves on the executive board of the Maryland College Learning Center Association.

A resident of Sykesville, she earned both a bachelor's degree from UMBC and a master's degree from the University of Iowa in American studies. She completed graduate certificates in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from UMBC and strategic management from the Harvard Extension School.

• "Note to Self," a short film by Dennis Williams '14, American studies, will be screened at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles.
  Columbia native's short film to be screened at major festival (The Baltimore Sun)