What research experiences have you had? I'm fortunate to have worked on more than one major research project during my time at UMBC. This most recent project examines English nuns during the decades surrounding the dissolution of the monasteries during the English Reformation (1530s), and the ways they responded to the end of their way of life. 

Who is your mentor for your project? Dr. Amy Froide, History. She is my departmental thesis advisor and has been an excellent source of support, encouragement, and advice.

Do you get course credit for this work? How much time do you put into it? This project is my honors thesis for my History degree. It is supported by a UMBC Undergraduate Research Award and will be presented at URCAD 2021. I spend about an hour on it each day, though sometimes I spend several hours on it in one day.

What was the hardest part about your research? Working during COVID was very difficult. Many of the resources I would otherwise use were closed due to the pandemic, including spaces to write without interruption. The inability to access archives and other materials in person made this work challenging! I would have loved the opportunity to visit museums and research libraries to examine primary sources directly, but COVID made that impossible.

What was the most unexpected thing? I knew that some communities of women fled into exile on the European continent, but I was surprised and delighted to find that women from one of these communities in exile, the Carmelites in Hoogstraten (in modern-day Belgium), established the first Carmelite community in America when they arrived at Port Tobacco, Maryland, near the end of the eighteenth century. Their community is still active today and their house is just north of Towson! 

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? UMBC has a wonderfully supportive community of faculty to help you with your research. Don't be shy about contacting a professor who shares your interests - they are usually happy and delighted to help you get started and to offer tips and feedback along the way as your project snowballs and picks up momentum. 

What are your career goals? I plan to obtain a master's degree and, eventually, a Ph.D. so that I can pursue a career in academia. 

What else are you involved in on campus? I am a member of the campus chapters of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Alpha Theta, and Omicron Delta Kappa. I'm also a student leader of the History Student Council. 

Applications are now open for Undergraduate Research Awards (URA).  

Application deadline: May 3, 2021

Monday, 3/15 - Closed

Tuesday, 3/16 - Closed

Wednesday, 3/17

Ask a Librarian: 10am-12pm 

Virtual Study Room: 12-5pm

Thursday, 3/18

Ask a Librarian: 10am-12pm

Virtual Study Room: 12-5pm

Friday, 3/19

Join us for an info session about how to use the VoiceThread (VT) platform to upload presentations. You can create your presentation in powerpoint, but use VT to upload slides, audio, and video for visitors to experience. You can also use VT to answer questions that visitors can leave in your VT during the week of URCAD, April 19-25. Come with questions!

- Welcome Week Leaders (Woolies)

- IHU/TRS Peer Facilitators

- Academic Peer Advocates

These positions vary slightly in nature and structure, but all share the core value of supporting new students to make their UMBC career begin in the best way possible.

For more information, and to apply to one or more of these positions, please go to tinyurl.com/successteam2021. If you have questions, contact successteam@umbc.edu and a staff member will be in touch with you!

Special Collections has recently re-published a digital exhibit on American photographer, John G. Bullock (1854-1939). A colleague of Alfred Stieglitz, this is a must see exhibit for photography enthusiasts and lovers alike. To visit go to the following web address and use the navigation tips at the bottom of the page: https://umbcphotography.omeka.net/exhibits/show/bullock

John Griscom Bullock (1854-1939) was an American photographer who shows us a great example of pictorialism, or the focus on composition of a photograph rather than reality itself. His work often looks to have a soft focus or a romanticized filter over reality.

The digital exhibit on Bullock focuses on three main themes: rural life, portraits of friends and family, and landscapes. It may be easy to assume that Bullock merely captured what was going on around him, but in actuality he staged a number of his photographs, making it difficult for us as a 21st century viewer to perceive his reality.

Harper's Ferry from Hill above the Church May 8, 1894, P84-01-078

As a photographer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Bullock, like the majority of other photographers, used gelatin dry plate negatives as the format of his photographs. Essentially, Bullock purchased glass plates coated in a gelatin emulsion-- George Eastman's Kodak Company made these plates widely available by this time. These glass plates allowed Bullock to take photos out in the field unencumbered by a dark room set-up and other developing tools. Instead, Bullock could expose the glass plate to his image, say a herd of cattle, and then develop it later. The gelatin later holds the image on the surface of that glass plate.

Bullock's work spanned four decades. It highlights his own children, his family and friends, and his grandchildren later on in his life. His work offers us a hint at life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Northeast United States.

3 Children at Table with Tea Set, P84-01-433

The entire collection, which contains 1,154 images, is available in UMBC Special Collections at the Albin O. Kuhn (AOK) Library.  A full digital collection is forthcoming.

This online exhibit was originally curated by Special Collections student assistant Sarah Klimek in Spring 2015; Special Collections graduate assistant Jessica Riley adapted and migrated the exhibit to a new platform in Spring 2021. This post was written by Jessica; thank you, Jessica!

Join us for the annual showcase of student research and creative work! URCAD online will be April 19-25, 2021.

Questions? aprilh@umbc.edu

Present your research or creative work at URCAD XXV Online. Wear pants when preparing your VoiceThread presentation. We can see you.