The UMBC Ancient Studies Department will conduct its 51^st annual study tour in Spain March 17-26, 2017. The price of $3,400.00 (based on a group of 30) includes all air and land travel, twin-share accommodation for eight nights at four-star hotels, eight buffet breakfasts, three dinners, two lunches, and entrance to all archaeological sites and museums on the itinerary. Single rooms are available at an additional cost. 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 a three-credit course in the Winter 2017 term (ANCS 301; winter semester tuition applies). Scholarships are available to Ancient Studies majors taking the course for credit. Places are limited, so reserve yours today! An initial deposit of $350.00 is due with your registration.

The tour begins with four nights in Barcelona. We will visit the City Museum of Barcelona, the Roman Walls and Carrer del Pardis (four columns from a temple of Augustus), the Plaça Vila de Madrid (Roman Necropolis) and the fabulous Picasso Museum. After a free day (all museums and sites are closed on Monday), we will make a day trip to nearby Tarragona to explore the remains of the city’s Roman infrastructure and to tour the museum. The following day we hit the road for Zaragoza (ancient Caesaraugusta), where we will visit the Museum of the Forum of Caesaraugusta and the Museum of the Public Baths. The next day we travel to Madrid for a tour of the incomparable National Archaeological Museum of Spain. Then we travel to the colonial town of Mérida (ancient Merita Augusta) to explore the Moorish palace and fortification Alcazaba before ending the day at the Mérida National Museum of Roman Art. The final day of the trip is devoted to a thorough exploration of Mérida, which became the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, and has a wealth of Roman remains.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see Spain in the off season in fine spring weather. Drop off your registration form and deposit with Domonique Pitts at dpitts@umbc.edu or at 410-455-6265 (5-6265 from campus).

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum and the University of Maryland Baltimore County are pleased to welcome Dr. Iyelli Ichile as a post-doctoral fellow and instructor, respectively. At the museum, Dr. Ichile will perform research on Maryland African American history and culture to support the permanent collection. At UMBC, she will be an instructor in the Department of Africana Studies. The post-doctoral fellowship is made possible by a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Ichile holds a PhD in African Diaspora History from Howard University and a Master’s degree in African American Studies from Columbia University. Though, her education began in her mother’s house. Her research and teaching revolves around the themes of spirituality, liberation movements, music, folklore and gender among African people globally.

Beyond academia, Ichile is a community culture worker, a certified Kemetic Yoga practitioner, and a mother.

A new college access mentoring program for refugees in Baltimore has demonstrated tremendous success in its first year, with all of the graduating seniors in the program accepted into college.

College JUMP (Journey Upward Mentoring Program) started last year through the Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) Refugee Youth Project (RYP) in partnership with The Shriver Center at UMBC. RYP operates a series of programs that work with refugee youth in Baltimore City and County.

Christina Smith ’15, global studies, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar and Honors College member, serves as the coordinator for the program as UMBC’s Maryland-DC Campus Compact (MDCCC) AmeriCorps VISTA. She says the goal is to work with 11th and 12th grade refugee students to provide a near-peer college access mentoring program.

College JUMP has three areas of focus: college exploration, applying to college, and college preparation. Each refugee student in the program is paired with an undergraduate college student who works closely with them to provide resources and assistance throughout the college application process. College JUMP has a team of four undergraduate students who serve as mentor leaders.

“We want to make sure students start that first day of college feeling prepared for success,” explains Smith.

Francine Mukobwajana graduated from Western High School earlier this year and is starting at UMBC in the fall as a biochemistry major. She participated in the program last year and was mentored by Asma Qaiyumi ’17, biology and psychology.

“UMBC was my first choice,” shares Mukobwajana. “Asma helped me a lot. I moved here in 2014, so everything was new to me, but I really appreciated working with Asma.”

Mukobwajana says Qaiyumi helped her by identifying scholarships, senior year activities, and navigating the college application process. Part of College JUMP also included a campus visit to UMBC.

“A big part of the preparation is seeing a campus and seeing students going to class, events, and leading tours,” says Qaiyumi. “All of that is important for students like Francine to know.”

The origins of College JUMP are traced back to when Jodi Kelber-Kaye, associate director of the Honors College, received a BreakingGround grant to partner with community organizations for her race, poverty, and gender in Baltimore seminar. In 2013, her class worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to create a proposal for encouraging refugee families to remain residents of Baltimore City past their initial resettlement period. After the director of the IRC asked about creating a college mentoring program for refugee youth, her 2014 seminar students partnered with Brittany DeNovellis at RYP to design such a program.

Eloise Grose, Shriver Center program coordinator for service-learning, partnered with Kelber-Kaye and others on campus to get the College JUMP funded and started through a MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA grant.

DeNovellis, RYP volunteer specialist, was instrumental in the creation and implementation of the project and worked closely with Grose to create the grant proposal to receive funding and also serves as a co-supervisor for the program. Kursten Pickup, RYP coordinator, also assisted in the grant writing process.

Three years later, College JUMP was a tremendous success in its first year and has provided opportunities for refugees to continue their education and remain in the Baltimore region.

“If you think about what a refugee family endures, they leave their home country for reasons that are traumatizing for them, and are eventually relocated to the U.S.,” says Kelber-Kaye. “So it’s important for UMBC students to provide welcoming and supportive environments for refugee youth and families as they navigate this complicated aspect of US culture.”

Building off of incredible results this year including a 100 percent college acceptance rate and FAFSA completion rate, Christina Smith says there are plans to expand the number of students served and add more activities to the program for next year. Thirteen students completed a full year of programming, and an additional 31 students attended events and workshops focused on college access.

“UMBC values diversity among students and open mindedness and acceptance of a wide range of cultures and backgrounds,” says Smith. “The refugee community in Baltimore can be such an asset not just to the university but to the city and the state of Maryland.”

Any UMBC student who is interested in serving as a mentor for the program should contact Christina Smith atcsmith24@umbc.edu.

For more information about service-learning at UMBC, contact The Shriver Center.

For more information about the Refugee Youth Project, visitwww.refugeeyouthproject.org.

Image: Photo by Brittany DeNovellis. A group of mentors, students, and a Chesapeake Hall resident pose at the College JUMP kickoff event. 

This story, by Max Cole, originally appeared here.