By: Alexandra Hulett
Photo Credit: Adedamilola Olateru-Olagbegi
What year are you in at UMBC?
This is my last year as a college student. I will graduate next year, so I'm a senior now.
Have you spent all four years at UMBC or did you transfer here?
I was a transfer student, but my community college messed up my college credit, so I spent four years here. I had to retake a few classes, and then I changed my major.
Which was your first major?
Surprisingly, I started out as a Chemistry major.
Can you tell me what appealed to you about MCS? Why did you decide to make the switch?
I am already passionate about editing and photography. I thought, "Well, that's a medium." I'm interested in the social discussion we constantly have on social media. We've continuously created platforms for people to express their opinions. So, it seemed like a natural fit. Now that I'm a media major. I am aware of things we've learned in class, like parasocial relationships.
Looking back, I was heavily into K-pop as a kid. It wasn't until later that I realized I was creating a parasocial relationship with the groups I liked. It's interesting for me to learn about parasocial relationships now that I'm a media major. Seeing people do what I once did and still do is fascinating. That's one of the perks, I guess. Overall, I like how MCS classes tend to have open discussions because it's a media class, so you can talk about current events. Also, I love hearing my classmates' differing opinions.
What classes are you taking this semester?
This semester, I am taking two MCS courses: the senior capstone MCS 499, and the Making Visual Culture MCS 377. I'm also taking three more courses, West African history, American History Music, and Social Entrepreneurship. And then I'm also taking MCS 404, Internship.
What's your favorite class this semester?
My favorite class is MCS 499, the senior capstone course. It's a lot of work prepping and writing our final research papers, but I love the open-minded atmosphere and the discussions we’ve had in class. I love the way Professor Lovigilo carries it. He doesn't try to shut your opinions down. He's very supportive overall as a professor.
Yeah. I sense that Professor Loviglio values our opinions even if he doesn't necessarily agree with them.
Exactly. He just tries to understand where you are coming from with your opinions.
Who inspires and motivates you most when you think of your educational pursuits?
It's my mother. Honestly, I don't think I would have lasted this long in college without her. Several times I wanted to drop out, but I was just like, "You know what? No, she's worked too hard for me. I got to push forward with this." I'm not only doing this for me. I'm doing this for my mom.
Are you first-gen?
Yes.
Same. I definitely know the deal.
My mom's an African mother, so she's always told me, "I need you to be in something involving science, medicine, something that's going to make you a lot of money." And I'm like, "I don't have the brains for that, sweetie. I'm sorry." Thankfully, she understood and supported me wanting to change my major.
But it's scary. We try to make it work, and when I considered switching my major from Information Systems, I was freaking out. I called my mom, and told her, "I don't know if I will be able to do this." She said, "Alex, just do whatever makes you happy." I was like, "Oh, okay." I felt like I needed permission to pursue what I really wanted in that moment.
My mom said the same thing. And it's very contradicting to what she's spent my entire life telling me that I had to do. I was completely thrown off to say the least.
What are your plans after graduation?
I would like to get my master's degree, but I’m still deciding on that.
What career goals have you set for yourself?
I plan to explore my options. I’m more focusing on gaining more experience right now.
Well, speaking of your experience, you said that you're in an internship now.
Currently, I'm the Social Media Manager for UMBC Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture in the Fine Arts building.
Is there anything you have learned from this internship?
The best lesson I've learned is from one of the gallery artists, Alita Devan. While putting up her exhibition, I had the opportunity to work with her. One of the things I learned from her was her art process. In the past year, I've had trouble getting motivated to create art. I learned that she sketches all the time, takes little ideas, any concept that she has, puts it down, and builds on it as time goes on. The best way to approach the project is in pieces rather than one big project.
What has been the highlight of your time at UMBC?
The highlight so far was last semester with my old roommate. She's such a sweet person. She likes to plan little parties and stuff like that. So, we had a Black girl cottage core-themed picnic. I met a whole bunch of Black girls, and we were talking about our Blackness, what it means to us, and how we, as Black women, are navigating the world. I really enjoyed that day.
Last question: what advice would you give someone choosing to pursue MCS as a major?
First, I would say be prepared to write a lot of papers. The second is to keep your mind open when it comes to many things and pay attention to things happening worldwide. What are the issues happening around the world? Having a healthy amount of curiosity would help you a lot. It gives you room to understand things that might be talked about in class. You can't be stuck in one way of thinking. Being in this major requires you to be open-minded and open to differing opinions and discussions.
By: Sophia Possidente
Photo Credit: Sophia Possidente
Theo Reinert is a senior at UMBC and the current president of the Media and Communication Studies Counsel of Majors, also known as MCSCOM. I spoke to Theo about his goals for the club, as well as his personal experience as an MCS major. We also discussed his independent research project, favorite classes, and experience interning for the podcast Kaleid.
Q: What inspired you to study Media and Communication?
A: I came to UMBC as an English and Philosophy double major, and I just wasn’t feeling it after a while. I realized that I wanted to go more towards other forms of humanities, and I loved the communication aspects of English and Philosophy. I gave MCS a try, and it really stuck with me.
Q: What is MCSCOM? What are your future plans as president?
A: MCSCOM is the council of majors for Media and Communication Studies. We’re a club that’s meant to support the students in the major. We’re here in order to connect students, get them more involved on campus, and develop their own professional growth. In the past we hosted a panel of students who completed internships, where they were able to talk about the experiences they had. We also had an event where MCS faculty watched a movie and commented on it; as people who study media, they were able to give a lot of insight into how they thought things were represented, which was really interesting. In the future, we also hope to have events with alumni, events to connect students for creative projects, essentially anything to get people involved. It’s hard for a lot of commuters and freshmen to make connections on campus, so I definitely want MCSCOM to be one place where they can do that.
Q: Tell us about your senior research project on toys and gender. What inspired this topic, and why is it important to study childhood objects?
A: Starting last semester, I knew I wanted to do independent research, but I wasn’t sure on what. I talked to my research advisor Dr. Loviglio about some things I was interested in, and I realized something that came up a lot was media targeted towards children. As a child, I was always oversaturated with media – whether it was on TV, what I played with, or what my parents interacted with – and they were all things that shaped who I am today. One of these things was toys, something we don’t really think about in regards to how we were shaped growing up. One thing I really remember from my childhood is how toys shaped my perception of gender. I wanted to do research into how toys today reflect the landscape of gender and these ideologies, because recently we’ve been more open to non-binary identities, yet you still see a lot of toys that are gendered. What is the difference between what we’re seeing in political discourse and what’s actually going on the production of toys?
Q: What has your research process been?
I’m going to do a semiotic analysis, which is looking at the symbols in toys, or how they’re visually coded. A lot of research looks at words or how things are phrased, but you don’t really see the actual act of playing with the toy or what the toys are coded as culturally. Whether it’s pink for girls and blue for boys, or even the actual structure of the toys, there are questions to ask about how meaning takes different shapes and forms.
I’ll also be looking at affordances, which are the kinds of possibilities a toy can offer. For example, a toy on wheels can afford pushing and pulling. Hair on a doll affords being able to style hair, but not motion like toy vehicles. It gives you different opportunities to play. By analyzing what kinds of toys Wal-Mart is selling as a mass producer of consumer objects, I get to see a reflection of how we view gender.
Q: What are some of the most interesting things you’ve learned from the project so far?
Something interesting is that a lot of girls' toys are immobile; they’re not meant to move. In contrast, a lot of boys' toys are geared more towards motion: Nerf guns, scooters, ATVs, Hot Wheels, scooters… things that actually move. If you look at the language that each of the toys use, a lot of the toys for boys refer to being fast, being powerful, being ferocious. And you realize that a lot of the language used for girls’ toys is based on looks; it looks cute, it looks fun… things along the lines of attractiveness. It teaches certain things about how a child should think of themselves. If a boy reads more radical language – things that are very status-quo shaking – how does that teach a boy to take risks versus a girl? What does that mean for a girl? How can she instantiate her own will when valuing looks is constantly reinforced? It’s a lot of little things like that that you don’t really think about until you’re playing with a doll and think: “why can’t I do x, y, and z? Why don’t producers want me to do x, y, and z?”.
Q: You also interned for the podcast Kaleid – what was that like?
A: I did my internship with the Imaging Research Center last fall, and each of the interns were tasked with taking one media artifact that was personal to us and discussing how it affected certain aspects of our lives. For my episode, I talked about how media – specifically television – shaped my ideas of gender, sexuality, and race. It was a very enlightening experience; I got to talk with Dr. Bond at the University of San Diego about how media affects queer identities. He brought up something interesting called symbolic annihilation, which is the idea that the absence of a representation in television is actually incredibly hurtful because it essentially means that you don’t exist. I think that that insight – and just the whole idea of the academic structuring and terminology around representation – is really enlightening for someone who didn’t have representation growing up and who continues to struggle with that. Being able to connect research with mass audiences is something Kaleid tries to do, and something that I think is a really great mission for them to continue doing.
Q: What is your favorite MCS class?
A: My favorite MCS class is MCS 333. That class made me realize how much I love theory, specifically the ideologies behind things and the invisible structuring that guides our lives. It made me realize that that’s what I want to study in the future. I’m kind of a nerd for theory, and it really clicked with me how a lot of the problems we experience are invisible and more culturally based. MCS 333 helps you realize the different kinds of power relations that exist in your society, whether you can physically see them or not.
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See attached flyer for more info
Email Dr. Lauren Hamilton Edwards for more information
]]>Applications are now being accepted for the Center for Social Science Scholarship Summer Fellowship. The purpose of this fellowship is to support significant social science research by tenure-track or tenured faculty in the UMBC College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, resulting in a submittable product by December 2023. Up to three fellows will receive a $6,000 award during the summer of 2023.
By December 2023, each Fellow agrees to complete a submittable product, which can include an external grant or fellowship proposal, journal article, policy paper, book manuscript, or book chapter; upon completion, Fellows shall provide a copy of this submitted product to the Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship. Fellows who are preparing an external proposal are expected to work with CS3's research administration staff for pre- and post-award assistance.
Interested faculty should complete and submit an application consisting of this downloadable 2-page cover sheet and proposal that adheres to the specified guidelines. The deadline for applications is FEBRUARY 15, 2023.
Applications will be reviewed and ranked by members of the Center for Social Science Scholarship Advisory Board, according to the following criteria:
For more information, interested faculty may contact Christine Mallinson, Director, or Felipe Filomeno, Associate Director.
Funds for this fellowship are provided by the Center for Social Science Scholarship, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS), and the UMBC Vice President for Research.
]]>The Women's Center lounge and office will be closed during Fall Break. Those dates are Monday, November 21st through Friday, November 25th.
We will resume our normal hours starting Monday, November 28th.
For any parents who need the lactation room during this time, please contact the Women's Center at womenscenter@umbc.edu or call us at 410-455-2714 to make arrangements prior to Fall break beginning.
Have a great Fall Break, UMBC!
The Department of Economics is hosting Maggie Jones, Assistant Professor of Economics at Emory University, on Friday, December 2, 2022 for two events:
The Determinants and Impacts of Historical Treaty-Making in Canada on Indigenous Peoples
Public Policy Building, Room 367
12-1pm - lecture
Lunch will be provided.
Competition and Discrimination in Public Accommodations: Evidence from the Green Books
Public Policy Building, Room 367
6pm - dinner ($10/free for graduate students)
7-8:30 pm - seminar
Please RSVP to Johnnie Fries (jfries2@umbc.edu) by Monday, November 28th for the evening dinner and seminar.
Click on the links below for event flyers with further details.