Dr. Rwany Ribaja has joined the department as one of UMBC's 2013-2015 Postdoctoral Fellows for Faculty Diversity.  

He completed his Doctoral Dissertation, “¡Animales! Civility, Disorder, and Constructions of Identity in Argentine Soccer” at George Mason University and will be working under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Musgrove, Assistant Professor of History.

Associate Prof. Michelle Scott is the recipient of a 2013-2014 Smithsonian Institution Senior Fellowship at the National Museum of American History to study the social functions and race relation implications of black vaudeville entertainment and the Theater Owners Booking Association theater circuit in 1920s and 30s America. 

Dean John Jeffries retired at the end of June after forty years of service to UMBC. In recognition of his profound impact on UMBC, we are delighted to announce the establishment of the John Jeffries International Fellowship.

The Fellowship fund honors John’s commitment to building a strong and distinctive undergraduate curriculum and to educating students to become informed and engaged global citizens.  The Fellowship will provide faculty with resources to create, or redesign, and teach a course in their fields in order to add or enhance an explicit international or transnational focus. Our expectation is that the resulting courses will be taught regularly and will broaden the intellectual scope of the curriculum in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

In a matter of weeks, current and former Department Chairs, Program Directors, and Associate Deans in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences have contributed more than $25,000 to endow the John Jeffries Fellowship. Since then, others have contributed towards the goal of $200,000, which will enable the campus to support two Jeffries Fellows each year.

If you are interested in making a gift to the John Jeffries International Fellowship Program or have any questions, please contact Marjoleine Kars, Jason Loviglio, or Carole McCann.

Dr. Constantine Vaporis, Professor of History and Director of the Asian Studies Program, has been chosen as the UMBC 2013-2016 Presidential Research Professor.