The First Heterotopic Junction Graduate Conference in Language, Literature and Culture (HJC-1), which will take place on Saturday 13 April 2019, is now calling for abstracts. This conference is open to all graduate students globally (including advanced undergraduates who are progressing to postgraduate studies) to submit research in the areas of linguistics, literature and culture.

Call for Papers | Women & Language

Editor: Leland G. Spencer, PhD | Miami University

Women & Language, an international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal publishes original scholarly articles and creative work covering all aspects of communication, language, and gender. Contributions to Women & Language may be empirical, rhetorical-critical, interpretive, theoretical, or artistic. All appropriate research methodologies are welcome. 

Affiliated with the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender, the journal espouses an explicitly feminist positionality, though articles need not necessarily engage or advance feminist theory to be appropriate fits for the journal, and articles that critically examine feminisms are welcome. Other potential topics include but are not limited to studies of human communication in dyads, families, groups, organizations, and social movements; analyses of public address, media texts, literature, activism, and other cultural phenomena; the role of gender in verbal and nonverbal communication,

intercultural exchanges, listening, relationship building, and public advocacy; linguistic analysis; and many others. The journal operates from a nuanced and expansive understanding of gender, so contributions about sexuality, gender identity, and the complexity and limitations of gender as a concept are especially appropriate. Contributions that center intersectional perspectives are particularly encouraged, as are those that explore gender and language from non-Western or global perspectives. Articles published in Women & Language need not come from a communication perspective, but should reflect thoughtful engagement with language and/or communication processes or theory. 

Submissions are welcome from scholars, students, activists, and practitioners at any stage of their careers. All submissions undergo rigorous peer review in a mentorship-centered process committed to developing excellent scholarship.

To submit, email Leland G. Spencer at editorwomenandlanguage@gmail.com.   

• All submissions to Women & Language should be electronically submitted in a Word file. 
• Articles should be prepared in standard American written English.
• Preferred length for scholarly research and theory manuscripts is 6,000-10,000 words including endnotes and references; a 150-word abstract and 4-5 keywords should accompany submissions. Creative submissions may be shorter.
• Preferred font is Times New Roman; following these guidelines will help in the retention of formatting.
• Any accompanying graphic needs to be at least 500kb file size with a resolution of at least 150 pixels per inch. 
• Authors are responsible for securing permission to reprint images, lengthy quotations, and other copyrighted material.
• Prepare materials with no author identification on the manuscript itself, including in the Word metadata; otherwise, submissions should adhere to the sixth edition of the American Psychological Association (APA)  Publication Manual. Please note that APA style requires DOI numbers for all digital references.

Articles for general issues are accepted on a rolling basis, with initial decisions typically issued in about 3 months.

TRAVEL TO THE UK WITH THE UMBC ANCIENT STUDIES DEPARTMENT IN MARCH 2019

The UMBC Ancient Studies Department will conduct its 53rd annual study tour in the UK, March 15-23, 2019. The cost of the tour is $3000, and it will include all international and domestic air and land travel, twin-share accommodation for eight nights at three-star hotels, eight buffet breakfasts, three group dinners, one group lunch, and entrance to all archaeological sites, museums, and events on the itinerary. Single rooms are available at an additional $576 per person. ANCS majors and minors, UMBC students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the community are invited to join us. The trip can be taken as part of a three-credit course taught by Dr. Melissa Bailey Kutner and Prof. Tim Phin in the Winter 2019 term (ANCS 301). Scholarships to help pay for the costs of the trip are available to Ancient Studies majors who enroll in the course; one scholarship is available to pay the costs of the course. Places are limited, so reserve yours today! This is a wonderful opportunity to see archaeological sites and museums in the UK. If you are interested in joining us, please submit your registration form to Domonique Pitts (dpitts@umbc.edu). An initial deposit of $500.00 is due when your application is submitted.

The tour begins with a three-night stay at Royal National Hotel in Russell Square, followed by one night in Southampton, one night in Bath, and two nights at Premier Inn Quayside in Newcastle, before spending the final night at Royal National in London. The stay in London includes visits to the Museum of London, the Mithraeum, Billingsgate House and Bath, the British Museum, and an evening performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theatre. We then head for Southampton, visiting Celleva Atrebatum, Avebury Stone Circle, Keillor Museum, and Stonehenge on the way. The following day we travel to Fishbourne Roman Palace and Museum and Maiden Castle before stopping in Bath for the night. The next morning we visit the Roman Baths and Museum before flying from Bristol to Newcastle. From Newcastle, we visit Vindolanda, Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall, and Housesteads. The following day we fly to London to enjoy a free day, leaving London for Baltimore the next day.

Registration can be found here

Visit our website for all required forms

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.

Center for Social Science Scholarship/CAHSS Summer Faculty Research Fellowship

The application for the 2019 Center for Social Science Scholarship/CAHSS Summer Faculty Research Fellowship with expanded eligibility criteria is now available.

To download the application, visit our website.

Deadline: Friday, February 15, 2019. 

A drop-in info session will be held Monday, December 17, 
from Noon-2pm in the Public Policy Building, room 451.

We are now accepting applications for the Center for Social Science Scholarship/CAHSS Summer Faculty Research Fellowship (SFRF). The purpose of this fellowship is to support significant social science research in CAHSS, resulting in a submittable product by December 2019.

Applications are welcome from any tenured or tenure-track faculty doing social science research in any CAHSS department. Fellows will receive a $6,000 stipend during the summer of 2019.

By December 2019, each Fellow is expected to complete an external grant or fellowship proposal OR an article, policy paper, book, or book chapter. Fellows who are preparing an external grant or fellowship proposal agree to work with MIPAR for pre-award and post-grant management assistance.

Funds for this fellowship are provided by the Center for Social Science Scholarship, the UMBC College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) and the Vice President for Research.

SAHAP students:

Please join the faculty and staff in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration and Policy department as we celebrate our Fall 2018 graduates!  

Wednesday, December 12th
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Public Policy Atrium

ALL SAHAP students are encouraged to attend.

Refreshments will be provided!  

UMBC has a long tradition of honoring and promoting thoughtful analysis of diverse scholarship and continues this focus through the annual W. E. B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the event, created by UMBC’s Africana studies department to honor the depth and range of applied scholarship for which Du Bois was known. Each year, the department invites a distinguished scholar or activist to share their work, to mark progress towards dismantling inequalities and to identify the work that remains on the path toward achieving full equality for people of African descent.

This year, Dorothy E. Roberts, professor of law and sociology and Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania, will serve as the distinguished speaker. Her lecture will take place on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. She will critically examine collaborations between biological and social scientists involved in sequencing the human genome and linking social outcomes to genetic traits. Her talk will propose “a more just way for social and biological scientists to study race and racism.”

In addition to providing a space to learn about and discuss Roberts’s research, the lecture will also offer an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of Du Bois “as a preeminent and influential intellectual, scholar, public figure, writer, and ardent Pan-African activist” through the lens of contemporary research about race and racism, says Gloria Chuku, professor and chair of Africana studies.

W.E.B. Du Bois was a sociologist, historian, and social activist, and the first African American person to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University. His scholarship (including The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study) is foundational to today’s research on the health, economic, and social impacts of racism.

In addition to scientific scholarship Du Bois, became famous for writing The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903, which became a foundational text of American literature and history of sociology, including poetry, autobiographical essays, historical articles, and memoir. Du Bois also founded the Niagara Movement and was among the founders of the NAACP. He was adamant about the importance of education to provide access and freedom for African Americans, other people of African descent, and women.

UMBC’s annual W.E.B. Du Bois lecture series “provides an important platform for intellectual dialogue on crucial aspects of African American experiences and those of peoples of African descent,” says Chuku. “It offers us an opportunity to draw inspiration from Du Bois’s scholarship and activism.”

Banner image: W. E. B. Du Bois. Photo from creative commons.