Inclusive excellence has long been a cultural touchstone at UMBC. Before now, we haven't had a definition or any other shared language to describe what we mean. This is your chance to inform our definition. Leaders in the Division of Institutional Equity have drafted a framework for inclusive excellence, and we want your input! 

The framework aims to articulate our community's shared commitments in a way that can communicate our values, guide action, inspire new collaboration, and support the development and implementation of UMBC's next strategic plan.

Join The Centers for Social Justice Dialogue and Democracy and Civic Life for UMBC Talks, which are 90-minute, co-facilitated dialogues designed to support your engagement with the framework. Each UMBC Talk will be the same, so please sign up for the one that best suits your schedule. We hope to see you there. Come and leave your mark on this important moment in UMBC's history. 

Spring Semester Open Forums

Friday, April 10, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m., UC 312 -Foregrounding faculty and staff experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., UC 312 - Open to everyone. Conversations will be held in mixed groups.

Friday, April 24, 10:00 a.m. - noon, UC 312 -Foregrounding graduate student experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Friday, April 24, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., UC 312 -Foregrounding undergraduate student experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Tuesday, April 28, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Virtual - Open to everyone. Conversations will be held in mixed groups.

Stay tuned for potential additional dates! Download the attached flyer to post or share. Please RSVP by indicating that you are attending on the specific event page, linked above. 

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UMBC Talks is a collaborative initiative that aims to enhance the sense of community, vibrancy, and well-being at UMBC through guided community conversations that reestablish our commitment to inclusive excellence and foster a sense of pride for what it truly
means to be a UMBC Retriever. Using this framework offers a dialogic process for gathering community input on shared values.

If you have any questions about this feedback process, please feel free to reach out to Drs. Ciara Christian and David Hoffman at culture@umbc.edu.

These events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Inclusive excellence has long been a cultural touchstone at UMBC. Before now, we haven't had a definition or any other shared language to describe what we mean. This is your chance to inform our definition. Leaders in the Division of Institutional Equity have drafted a framework for inclusive excellence, and we want your input! 

The framework aims to articulate our community's shared commitments in a way that can communicate our values, guide action, inspire new collaboration, and support the development and implementation of UMBC's next strategic plan.

Join The Centers for Social Justice Dialogue and Democracy and Civic Life for UMBC Talks, which are 90-minute, co-facilitated dialogues designed to support your engagement with the framework. Each UMBC Talk will be the same, so please sign up for the one that best suits your schedule. We hope to see you there. Come and leave your mark on this important moment in UMBC's history. 

Spring Semester Open Forums

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., UC 312 - Open to everyone. Conversations will be held in mixed groups.

Friday, April 24, 10:00 a.m. - noon, UC 312 -Foregrounding graduate student experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Friday, April 24, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., UC 312 -Foregrounding undergraduate student experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Tuesday, April 28, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Virtual - Open to everyone. Conversations will be held in mixed groups.

Stay tuned for potential additional dates! Download the attached flyer to post or share. Please RSVP by indicating that you are attending on the specific event page, linked above. 

--

UMBC Talks is a collaborative initiative that aims to enhance the sense of community, vibrancy, and well-being at UMBC through guided community conversations that reestablish our commitment to inclusive excellence and foster a sense of pride for what it truly
means to be a UMBC Retriever. Using this framework offers a dialogic process for gathering community input on shared values.

If you have any questions about this feedback process, please feel free to reach out to Drs. Ciara Christian and David Hoffman at culture@umbc.edu.

These events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Happy Monday! Take a look at the events that will take place at The Mosaic Center this week: 

Monday, 4/13/2026 | Unidos 2:30-3:30 PM 

Wednesday, 4/15/2026 | Donuts & Dialogue 12 -1  PM 

We hope to see you at our upcoming events and sponsorships! Questions regarding Mosaic programming can be sent to our email: themosaic@umbc.edu. 

The Mosaic Center and all events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Free copies of the 2026 edition of the UMBC Review will be available at the table on the RAC track, 1st floor during URCAD: April 22 in the RAC!

The UMBC Review is a peer-reviewed publication, completely directed by UMBC undergraduate students. All of the articles published in the UMBC Review go through a rigorous peer review process. The Review is indebted to the anonymous off-campus faculty reviewers who volunteer their time to assure the high quality of our publication. We are proud to produce the publication in print format. The Review offers a rewarding opportunity to get your undergraduate research published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Submit your paper by August 17, 2026: umbcreview@umbc.edu

2026 Editors:
Parvata Kirthivasan
Senior CAHSS Editor

Phoenix Bryant
Senior STEM editor

Diane Esteban
Junior CAHSS editor

Yonu Akanji
Junior STEM Editor

Sonia Pivovarov
Student Designer

Ian Anson
Faculty Advisor

Laura Schraven
Staff Advisor

Table of Contents

01 Veronica Goonan
In Democracy We Trust? How Strong Leadership, Partisan Distrust, and Confidence in Elections Influence Political Satisfaction Among Rural Americans

02 Corey Bryce
Maryland State Bill 83, Public Health – Overdose and Infectious Disease Prevention Services Program: Critical Analysis and Advocacy Efforts

03 Lilli Malone
The Salem Witch Trials: How the Hunt for Witches Led to Disaster

04 Siskind Oshry
Edogawa, Nakahara, and Dazai:  The Influence of Western Literature on Japanese Authors in the Early 20th Century 

05 Rishika Bandi
Breathable Shake Flasks for Improved Cancer Cell Culture

06 Beryl Fuamazeh
Evaluating the Relationship Between Frequency of Family Visits and Happiness Levels Among Older Adult Residents in Retirement Homes

07 Amal S. Aulakh
Human-Centered Design for Science Education: UX Insights from Synthetic Biology Wiki Interfaces

08 Ramsha Chaudhary
Assessing the Effect of Language Barriers on the Perception of Care Received by Spanish-speaking Patients in Baltimore, MD

09 Maia Turman Cooke
Resilient Hearts: Theoretical Portrayals of Lauryn Hill’s Self Love & Resistance Against Intimate Consequences

Apply to be a student editor for the next edition by emailing: umbcreview@umbc.edu

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC
URCAD.umbc.edu

Dear UMBC Community,

Inclusive excellence is at the heart of UMBC’s identity. We are strengthening this commitment by introducing a framework that helps form a shared definition to guide our work.

The Division of Institutional Equity team has developed a draft framework for inclusive excellence, building on ideas shared by our campus community through the series UMBC Talks in 2024 and 2025. The framework is intended to articulate our shared commitments, communicate our values, guide action, inspire collaboration, and support the development and implementation of UMBC’s next strategic plan.

This spring, we are inviting the entire campus community to participate in dialogue sessions to help continue to shape the framework. These conversations are an opportunity to share your experiences, reflect on your values, and provide feedback to strengthen this work.

UMBC Talks dialogues are 90-minute, facilitated conversations led by Ciara Christian, M.A. ’18, Ph.D. ’22, director of the Center for Social Justice Dialogue, and David Hoffman, Ph.D. ’13, director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life.

The following UMBC Talks dialogue sessions are currently scheduled:

Friday, April 10, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m., UC 312 - Focused on faculty and staff experiences but open to all. Participants will have opportunities to connect with others who share similar UMBC affiliations. RSVP here.

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., UC 312 - Open to all. Conversations will take place in mixed groups. RSVP here.

Friday, April 24, 10 a.m. – noon, UC 312 - Focused on graduate student experiences, but open to all. Participants will have opportunities to connect with others who share similar UMBC affiliations. RSVP here.

Friday, April 24, 2 – 4 p.m., UC 312 - Focused on undergraduate student experiences but open to all. Participants will have opportunities to connect with others who share similar UMBC affiliations. RSVP here.

Tuesday, April 28, 3 – 5 p.m., Virtual - Open to all. Conversations will take place in mixed groups. RSVP here.

Each session will follow the same format, so you can choose the time that works best for you. We encourage you to participate and share your perspective as we shape this important work together.

Sincerely,

Tanyka M. Barber
Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer

Hadestown Theoretical Costume Design

Presenter: Timothy Clark
Mentor: Becca Janney, Theatre

Come see the costumes in person!

Special Exhibit, 9 a.m. – Noon, RAC Upper Track, First Floor

A common challenge presented to theatre designers is reimagining a show with iconic design choices that appear inseparable from the text. I explored originality and bold choices with a theoretical costume design of Hadestown, a musical by Anais Mitchell. Hadestown is a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice which focuses on class inequity. My interpretation of the show takes place in 1950s America; a time where 20 to 30 percent of the population was living in poverty despite the economic boom for upper class citizens and the Third Industrial Revolution. I have gone through the design process as if it were a real production and created a packet that could be handed over to a costume shop to be realized. This includes preliminary research, an action plot, a piece list, sketches, finalized renderings with fabric swatches, and a costume for Eurydice. Mediums used include research collages, spreadsheets, graphite, watercolor, and fabric. My work represents the importance of originality in theatre design and production. It is imperative for a designer to think outside of the box when working on a show, such as Hadestown, that already has artistic choices that loom in the audience’s expectations for the show.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Do Muslim Women Need Saving? A Case Study of Iran’s Veiling Policies

Presenter: Tanzila Malik
Mentor: Nehal Elmeligy, Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies

Location:  12:15-12:30pm | RAC 230

Using Iran as a case study, this project shows how Western narratives about “saving” Muslim women often obscure struggles over power, identity, and state control rather than reflect women’s lived realities. Focusing on the period between the unveiling policies of Reza Shah Pahlavi’s modernization campaign and the mandatory veiling as a symbol of resistance to Westernization following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, this study investigates how both secular modernization efforts and Islamist movements used women’s dress as a political tool to promote competing political and ideological agendas. Using historical and content analysis of state policies, political rhetoric, and protest movements, this project explores how the hijab in Iran shifted from being prohibited to mandated. Early findings suggest that across these changes, the hijab was less of a purely religious practice and more of a flexible political symbol used to legitimize authority and regulate women’s roles in society. This historical case study is shockingly relevant as public debates about Muslim women’s freedom continue to influence global policy and media narratives, making it important to understand how these narratives are historically constructed.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Hello Everyone!

West African food has been stocked! Come get it while supplies last.

Another shipment will be coming in late April, early May.

Visualizing Natural Disaster Inequality in America

Presenter: Taylor Watson

Mentor: Dena Aufseeser, Geography and Environmental Systems

Location: URCAD Film Festival: 9:45-10:00am, RAC 130- Fitness Studio B

*Popcorn will be served during the film festival.

In America, weather-related disasters have increased in frequency in the last decade, with forty seven percent of billion-dollar disasters (since 1980) taking place from 2015- 2025 (NCEI.NAAO.GOV). The frequency of disasters has led to a sense of inevitability and indifference, placing certain vulnerable communities at even more risk. In an effort to challenge indifference, this presentation visualizes the social inequalities of disaster. Utilizing animation, this project highlights the disastrous nature of weather phenomena on vulnerable populations, expressing the instances of increased poverty, displacement, and the uprooting of entire communities. This project’s research highlights disaster inequality in America, while simultaneously bringing awareness to the subject. Using the individual experiences of vulnerable adults who’ve experienced these inequalities, this project connects true stories, numerical data, and artistic expression to evaluate the concepts of vulnerability, equity, and how they relate to the current social outlook on “natural” disasters.

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Assistantship Support (URAS) Award from the UMBC Office of the Vice President for Research.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Graduate Student Appreciation Week is coming to a close, and this is your moment to take it all in. The late nights, the stress, the wins, the growth — it all led here.

Get a ticket to Grad Prom & Awards and come celebrate yourself and the people who made this journey what it was. Whether that’s your friends, classmates, or the ones who kept you going behind the scenes — this night is for all of you. 🎓

No pressure, no expectations — just good music, good food, and a space to actually enjoy the moment together.

🗓️ Friday, April 10
⏰ 5–8 PM
📍 UC Ballroom

You made it this far. Take the night to celebrate that