Mark your calendars for the Fall 2023 Spotlight! Symposium Series presented by the AOK Library & Gallery! Follow their myUMBC group for details and links to each event.
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Asian Studies is thrilled to welcome all of our new and returning students to campus for Fall 2023! Whether you're just starting here at UMBC or are approaching the completion of your studies, we're excited to see you and look forward to learning alongside you this semester.
Look for this newsletter from us every week, with information about events, special programs, and other news that might be of interest for Asian Studies students.
Join us tomorrow for one of our favorite recent traditions, the Welcome Week Sushi Lunch! We'll be in the Fine Arts Amphitheatre (access through the Fine Arts Recital Hall Lobby) with sushi, snacks, and Asian Studies giveaways. Stop by to say hello to faculty and friends and catch up after the summer break!
The Interact Dialogues Program is a 4-week experience designed for students to learn and practice skills to become inclusive leaders and engaged community members. Interact is a space where students can develop leadership skills and cultivate a deep sense of belonging to the UMBC campus and community. During the program, students will meet in small, peer-facilitated groups for about 90 minutes each week based on their schedules.
Click here for more information about the program; if you're interested in joining the program, you can click here to complete the interest form.
UMBC's Albin O. Kuhn Library is a valuable resource for all of your research needs, with seven floors of material for you to browse and utilize. Aside from the collections, did you know that the library also offers workshops, equipment [laptops, etc] rentals, and study space? Find out more about everything it has to offer on the Library Website!
Of particular note are the Writing Wednesday Workshops, which take place once a month throughout the semester:
Research 101
Wednesday, 9/6 @ 4-5pm Link
Stepping up your research game: Searching strategically
Wednesday, 10/4 @ 4-5pm Link
How to Cite sources for your research and writing
Wednesday, 11/1 @ 4-5pm Link
Finding your flow: Navigating final papers
Wednesday, 12/6 @ 4-5pm Link
Have you been looking for a way to get involved on campus and with Asian Studies? ASCOM - the Asian Studies Council of Majors - is looking for student leaders! In the past, ASCOM has held meetings and events periodically throughout the academic year for fellow students, ranging from craft-making to movie nights and everything in between.
If this sounds like something you'd like to be part of, let us know!
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]]>Earlier this year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced an Outreach and Engagement Initiative for Aspiring PIs with a goal to increase the number of cybersecurity education and workforce development-related proposals submitted to EDU programs by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs), and investigators who are underrepresented in accordance with NSF's priority goals. The activities include webinars, 1-1 and small group mentoring sessions, and engaging non-profit organizations that support black communities in cybersecurity awareness and privacy issues.
In continuation of this effort, NSF is organizing a virtual Aspiring PI Engagement Session on Sept 7th from 9:30 to 12 PM.
Registration is required for interested participants: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EngagePI
The agenda:
Time
Session
9:30 AM
Welcome (NSF)
9:40 AM
Introduction (Participants)
9:55 AM
Overview of NSF Programs of Interest (NSF)
10:15 AM
Break
10:30 AM
Panel Discussion of PIs with Active SFS and SaTC-Edu awards (Moderated by NSF)
11:30 AM
Breakout Rooms for Networking
12:00 PM
Path Forward and Conclusion (NSF)
12:30 PM
Adjourn
Welcome back American Studies students, faculty, alumni, and supporters!
We hope you had an enjoyable and restful summer and a fantastic first week back!
Please join us for a Welcome Week open house on Thursday, Sept. 7 from 12-1pm in Fine Arts 545-B (in the American Studies office suite) to kick off the fall 2023 semester!
Come pick up a (free!) boxed lunch in Fine Arts 545-B.
You can say hi to your professors, and find out more about a degree in American Studies, or learn about our three minors (in Public Humanities, Asian American Studies, or American Studies) and find out about our other exciting programs for this academic year.
Read on for some news and notes from our professors!
We look forward to seeing you there!
Fall News and Notes from the Department of American Studies
After years of service to the department and the university, Dr. Patrice McDermott has stepped down from her position as Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs in the Provost's office. Dr. McDermott will be working in the CAHSS Dean's office to support the Breaking the M.O.L.D. Mellon grant this academic year.
Dr. Tamara Bhalla recently co-authored an essay in Receptionjournal with Dr. Lindsay DiCuirci (English) called "Me Time": Motherhood, Reading, and Myths of Leisure." Dr. Bhalla is the recipient of the Breaking the M.O.L.D Professional Development Award for 2023-2024 and will be using the award to develop her current book project and for leadership development.
This summer, Dr. Casiano participated in the Baltimore Field School 2.0 as a faculty fellow. As part of the field school, he served as a panelist on the session, "Demystifying Bureaucracies: Community-led Preservation, Planning, and Affordable Housing in Baltimore."
Dr. Connor Donnan wrote a chapter in a Native American Reader(2022) which recently won an award from a Catholic book association. Dr. Donnan also published "'No Irish Need Apply' Revisited: Anti-Irish Language in Baltimore's Local Newspapers between 1840 and 1880," New Hibernia Review, vol 27, issue 1, Spring 2023, 73-94.
This summer, Dr. Sarah Fouts submitted her manuscript, Right to Remain: Street Food Vendors and Day Laborers in Post-Katrina New Orleans, which is under contract with UNC Press. This fall Dr. Fouts is working with a team to produce two short documentaries that chronicle the stories of two Mexican restaurateurs, one in New Orleans and one in Baltimore. The project is funded by the Library of Congress and Maryland Folklife Network and will premiere on November 9 at the Creative Alliance.
In January 2023, Dr. Nicole King received the Crystal Eagle Award from the Owners' Counsel of America, a national organization of eminent domain lawyers, along with Sonia Eaddy for their work fighting against the abuse of eminent domain law in Baltimore. She also gave the keynote talk for the university-wide Faculty Development Day at University of Portland in Oregon titled "The City and the Campus: Models for Becoming the University for/with Portland" in May 2023. She wrote the article "Baltimore Traces: Public Humanities, Zines, and the Connecting the Classroom," which will be published in The Routledge Companion to Publicly Engaged Humanities Scholarship. She worked on the 2023 summer intensive as part of the Baltimore Field School 2.0 project with Dr. Sarah Fouts.