UMBC Honors College Celebrates its 20th Anniversary

For two decades, the UMBC Honors College has motivated students both academically and personally – and continues to do so. It has awarded over 1,000 Certificates of Honors to graduates, provided students the chance to study and travel abroad and promoted numerous service learning opportunities and internships as formal components of its curriculum.

In its 20th year on campus, the Honors College has grown in member diversity and is in line with the diversity of the UMBC campus, something that is unusual compared to other national schools. The current membership is 68 percent Caucasian, 32 percent minority, while the campus is 63 and 37, respectively. This diverse community has reached its largest enrollment since it began funding in 1989.

“The Honors College has consistently provided students with exposure to ideas and concepts beyond their fields of expertise; the opportunity to develop exceptional writing, thinking and speaking skills; and the chance to be members of an ever more diverse and energetic academic community,” said Honors College Director Anna Shields.

That academic community, which boasts a 3.66 average GPA, has grown from 81 students in its first cohort to 433 students today. As the program has grown in numbers, it has become more selective, challenging and diverse.

“Good test scores and grades are not enough,” said Shields. “We seek well-rounded, intellectually curious students who show great interest in learning and leadership, no matter what their area of specialization may be.”

Honors College students are engaged in the honors curriculum throughout their time at UMBC through honors seminars, study abroad opportunities and service projects. Through seminars, students are able to participate in day trips to museums and historical landmarks. Students and faculty are also involved in co-curricular activities that include trips to the theatre, symphony and opera. Students also have the option of staying in the Honors College Living-Learning Community (LLC), which was recently recognized in a national study of LLCs and housed in Susquehanna Hall.

When it comes to staffing such a large and diverse group, faculty and staff play a vital role. Faculty fellows at the Honors College are selected through an application process. Once appointed, fellows teach one seminar per year for a two-year term.

“Seminars are an essential aspect of the honors curriculum, giving students and faculty a small-class setting in which to work together closely,” said Shields. “The seminars provide faculty with the chance to explore new topics and experiment with innovative teaching methods.”

The current Honors College staff includes Shields, Simon Stacey, associate director and affiliate assistant professor of political science; Maureen McCormick, program coordinator; Margaret Major, program management specialist; and Lisa Bolton, administrative assistant. The first cohort of faculty fellows (select faculty chosen to teach in the College) began teaching the Honors Seminars in fall 2008.

When looking to the future, Shields has many goals.

“We plan to increase the number of faculty fellows who teach seminars in the Honors College and to increase the variety of disciplines those courses cover,” she said. “We would like to increase our student research and study abroad awards in future years as well by growing our UMBC Foundation Fund and our Jay Freyman Scholarship Fund.”

Shields also hopes to expand the Honors College Living-Learning Community and attract more transfer students.

A special reception will be held Saturday, October 25, 3-5 p.m., in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery in honor of the program’s anniversary. To RSVP to this event, click here. 

For more information on the Honors College, go to www.umbc.edu/honors.

(10/24/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Alumni Musicians Reunite at UMBC

New Music. Experimental. Avant-garde. Contemporary.

Their music has been described in many ways, and in November Jeff Arnal ’97, John Dierker ’88, Will Redman ’98, Jonathan Vincent ’97 and former student Marc Miller, will combine their efforts as a cohesive group for the first time. The event, which promises to raise questions and welcome new discoveries, mirrors how the five musicians met � at UMBC, through music.

“This particular group has never performed together before as a quintet, but we have worked together in other capacities,” said Redman, percussionist and organizer of the event. “Even though we all work in the avant-garde or experimental realm, we have very different approaches to what we do.”

Brooklyn resident Arnal, a new father, is a percussionist who accompanies modern dance classes and teaches private lessons. Dierker, a first wave reedman, has been influencing the Baltimore music scene for more than 20 years with his improvisational, versatile style. Miller, former member of the Baltimore band Oxes, now plays with Dierker and Redman in Microkingdom, and is known for his use of a telecaster, Fender tube amp and volume pedal. Redman, also a new dad, not only plays in Microkingdom but is also a composer and teacher at Towson University and recently completed a massive graphic score, Book. Vincent, who runs a music teaching business in Washington, DC, has written an apocalyptic noise rock opera and two vaudeville musicals based on works by Jean Genet and Gore Vidal.

Linking the musicians’ connections to one another is as hard as explaining their music in one word. But one thing that brought them together was music at UMBC.

Vincent made connections with Arnal and Mike Cerri, former studio director and professor, and began experimenting. There other members of the November quintet became acquainted.

“Arnal somehow convinced Cerri to let us use an entire room in the music department. We collected recording equipment, old car parts and a broken electric piano in the room with two baby grand pianos tuned a quarter tone apart,” Vincent said.

“I slept in there, learned music I never thought I could play but eventually did, and we practiced there for many times a week with the mysterious saxophone player named John Dierker, whom we discovered playing late at night in a locked room on the third floor.”

When it comes to learning about the experimental sound perfected in that lone studio, one name was continuously mentioned.

“I think we’d all agree that studying with Professor Stuart Saunders Smith was a significant formative experience in all our musical lives,” Redman said. “I can only speak for myself when I say that Smith had an incredibly profound influence on the direction that my musical career took.”

“I played a cassette tape of my music for him, and he looked at me with an expression that suggested a mandate for an instant reappraisal of my whole world view. I literally felt alive again,” said Vincent.

Of his experience with Smith, Arnal said his world was “turned upside down” and everything “started to look and sound different.” He said Smith played a large role in his interest in improvisation and experimental music.

Smith had equal praise for this group of former students, stating it was their “strong personalities” that aided in their success.

“I encourage each student to let composition emerge from their unique self, unfeathered by commercial culture. And each of them did that,” Smith said. “Ninety-eight percent of making art is hard work, and all of these composers work hard. They always have. I’m very proud of them.”

Presented by the UMBC Department of Music’s TNT series, this performance will be Thursday, November 6, at 8 p.m., in the Fine Arts Recital Hall. To purchase tickets, order online through MissonTix or call 410-752-8959. Tickets will also be available at the door.

(10/29/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Uncovering the History of the Gwynns Falls Trail

Click here to view stops along the trail with commentary by Ed Orser.

Baltimore’s well-known and diverse neighborhoods are linked by a lesser-known urban trail that is described by W. Edward Orser, UMBC professor of American studies, in his new book, The Gwynns Falls: Baltimore Greenway to the Chesapeake Bay. Orser’s book uncovers the environmental and human record of this 15-mile urban landscape that binds the city’s Westside, a path Orser refers to as “Baltimore’s string of pearls.”

The trail follows the Gwynns Falls for most of its route, linking roughly 2,000 acres from the hills of the city’s northwest border at the end of Interstate 70 to waterside gateways at the Inner Harbor and Middle Branch. Along the way, the area’s history is evident at sites once occupied by flourishing mills and in the tracks and viaducts of still-active rail lines, among the earliest in America.

The trail connects 30 Baltimore neighborhoods, from the city’s most affluent to some now experiencing economic stress. The Gwynns Falls also explains the role of race in shaping the heritage and social character of these neighborhoods along the Gwynns Falls.

“Indelibly marking the experience of residents of those communities, past and present, is the history of race relations�traditions of racial segregation and discrimination, as well as the ongoing struggle for equality and opportunity,” Orser writes in the book’s preface.

A member of the UMBC faculty since 1969, Orser’s community studies projects have provided American studies students with important research and fieldwork experiences investigating the social and cultural aspects of Baltimore-area communities, including the Gwynns Falls. A recent example includes students in the current senior American Studies Honors Program, who recently read the book, then accompanied Orser on a field trip to sites along the trail.

“In follow-up essays, the students�Katelyn Chiarello ‘09, Susan Kane ‘09, Samantha McGarity ‘08 and Alex Hyland ‘09 – wrote about how the history of the area could be interpreted to school or public groups, especially highlighting such topics as Native American and African American heritage, environmental history and social activism,” said Orser.

Orser conducted research for the 30 informational panels that have been placed along the trail by the Gwynns Falls Trails Council under a grant from the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways program.

The Gwynns Falls amplifies Orser’s research beyond what could be conveyed on the panels.

“The book covers the distinctive rowhouse communities of southwest Baltimore, the streetcars that once passed through to Catonsville and Woodlawn, the three members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who grew up playing on westside sandlots and the decades of community opposition to the proposed east-west expressway through critical sections of parks now used by the trail,” said Orser.

Click play to view stops along the trail with commentary by Ed Orser.

(10/30/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Alumni Musicians Reunite at UMBC

New Music. Experimental. Avant-garde. Contemporary.

Their music has been described in many ways, and in November Jeff Arnal ‘97, John Dierker ‘88, Will Redman ’98, Jonathan Vincent ’97 and Marc Miller, former student, will combine their efforts as a cohesive group for the first time. The event, which promises to raise questions and welcome new discoveries, mirrors how the five musicians met – at UMBC, through music.

“This particular group has never performed together before as a quintet, but we have worked together in other capacities,” said Redman, percussionist and organizer of the event. “Even though we all work in the avant-garde or experimental realm, we have very different approaches to what we do.”

Brooklyn resident Arnal, a new father, is a percussionist who accompanies modern dance classes and teaches private lessons. Dierker, a first wave reedman, has been influencing the Baltimore music scene for more than 20 years with his improvisational, versatile style. Miller, former member of the Baltimore band Oxes, now plays with Dierker and Redman in Microkingdom, and is known for his use of a telecaster, Fender tube amp and volume pedal. Redman, also a new dad, not only plays in Microkingdom but is also a composer and teacher at Towson University and recently completed a massive graphic score, Book. Vincent, who runs a music teaching business in Washington, DC, has written an apocalyptic noise rock opera and two vaudeville musicals based on works by Jean Genet and Gore Vidal.

Linking the musicians’ connections to one another is as hard as explaining their music in one word. But one thing that brought them together was music at UMBC.

Vincent made connections with Arnal and Mike Cerri, former studio director and professor, and began experimenting. There other members of the November quintet became acquainted.

“Arnal somehow convinced Cerri to let us use an entire room in the music department. We collected recording equipment, old car parts and a broken electric piano in the room with two baby grand pianos tuned a quarter tone apart,” Vincent said.

“I slept in there, learned music I never thought I could play but eventually did, and we practiced there for many times a week with the mysterious saxophone player named John Dierker, whom we discovered playing late at night in a locked room on the third floor.”

When it comes to learning about the experimental sound perfected in that lone studio, one name was continuously mentioned.

“I think we’d all agree that studying with Professor Stuart Saunders Smith was a significant formative experience in all our musical lives,” Redman said. “I can only speak for myself when I say that Smith had an incredibly profound influence on the direction that my musical career took.”

“I played a cassette tape of my music for him, and he looked at me with an expression that suggested a mandate for an instant reappraisal of my whole world view. I literally felt alive again,” said Vincent.

Of his experience with Smith, Arnal said his world was “turned upside down” and everything “started to look and sound different.” He said Smith played a large role in his interest in improvisation and experimental music.

Smith had equal praise for this group of former students, stating it was their “strong personalities” that aided in their success. He tried to help them by encouraging them to pursue new avenues.

“I encourage each student to let composition emerge from their unique self, unfeathered by commercial culture. And each of them did that,” Smith said. “Ninety-eight percent of making art is hard work, and all of these composers work hard. They always have. I’m very proud of them.”

Presented by the UMBC Department of Music’s TNT series, this performance will be Thursday, November 6, at 8 p.m., in the Fine Arts Recital Hall. To purchase tickets, order online through MissonTix or call 410-752-8959. Tickets will also be available at the door.

(10/30/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Using Innovation and Design to Advance Patient Care

Designing for social change is something Distinguished Professor David Yager works toward as director and founder of the Innovation and Design Laboratory (IDL) and as executive director of the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC). Now that Yager is the recipient of the University System of Maryland’s (USM) 2008 Wilson H. Elkins Professorship, he is one step closer.

Working with the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI) and Erickson School, Yager and the IDL team are constructing solutions to address the complex challenges in pediatric medicine. Under Yager’s leadership, the team at IDL develops a wide array of solutions to improve safety, patient care, communications and family well being. Yager believes that bringing the design process into the healthcare setting can positively influence not only the individual patient experience but the overall quality of medical care. An artist, designer, and innovator, Yager continuously researches and oversees prototype design and the production of new technologies and processes to simplify and make more efficient and more effective the healthcare process and delivery to improve patient health outcomes.

“For years the mantra has been, how will technology challenge older adults?” he said. “My mantra is how technology can be a source of stimulation, such as stimulation of the brain or a tool to help exercise the aging body.”

Yager credits his Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC) as the underpinning of his interest. CADVC’s 20-year mission of exploring the social and cultural issues that are directly linked to visual culture has earned the Center great success. The IDL tackles similar social issues, keeping the future in mind.

“Design will be one of the most important disciplines in the next 20 years,” he said. “In business, design is a critical success factor in differentiating companies and products in a competitive marketplace. Design can contribute to solutions that directly address social problems. Design impacts business that positively affects our global market and economy. Design thinking helps you consider more deeply and more broadly the many dimensions of the global questions that must be addressed.”

The principle IDL partner alongside Yager is George Dover, M.D., the pediatrician-in-chief and given professor of Pediatrics at JHMI. Dr. Dover finds the collaboration mutually beneficial.

“The collaboration with David Yager and the UMBC graduate students has opened up a whole new area of innovation and problem solving in the Children’s Center,” Dover said. “Our rounds have a completely new dimension, which has led to some real advances in communication, in patient care and in the area of design.”

And now that Yager has received the USM Elkins Professorship, he feels even more progressive advancements will be made.

 “This support will give us the opportunity to hire students, purchase more equipment, tools and software, and our discoveries will be realized sooner with this award.”

Yager’s artwork can be viewed as part of the Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition 2008 from Thursday, October 30, to Saturday, December 13. The event was organized by the CADVC and features work from UMBC’s visual arts faculty and staff including the areas of film, video, animation, photography, graphic design, print media, installation and performance.

The Elkins Professorship honors those with a record of achievement in a particular discipline, evidence of achievement beyond one’s discipline, a demonstrated desire to lead students and the ability to pursue opportunities beyond the USM level. For more information on the USM Wilson H. Elkins Professorship, go to http://www.usmd.edu/usm/academicaffairs/elkins.html.  

To learn more about the Innovation and Design Laboratory, go to http://idl.umbc.edu/.

(10/15/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC Incubator Firm Wins an Innovator of the Year Award

Watch an interview with Frank Turano of Plant Sensory Systems.

At Plant Sensory Systems, a husband-and-wife startup technology firm located at the bwtech@UMBC Incubator and Accelerator, the market for green technology is growing almost as fast as the genetically-modified plants in their lab.

According to Chief Research Officer and Co-founder Frank Turano, the company is focused on two booming markets for plant-based technology: biofuels and agriculture. “We move genes into plants that increase their ability to grow,” said Turano.

Since starting the company in 2007, Frank and Kathleen Turano have received grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. Their latest honor is a Maryland Daily Record’s Innovator of the Year award. This puts them in the running for Top Innovator of the Year, which will be presented Wednesday, October 15.

“We’re very excited about the nomination,” said Frank Turano. “It’s nice to see our work get some recognition and validation.”

The Innovator of the Year award honors “people with vision” and those “with the ability to see a need and fill it.” The Turanos recognized an environmental need and decided to use their technology to increase the nitrogen efficiency of plants, which helps save farmers money while reducing the environmentally harmful runoff. This also helps the global green picture, since nitrogen-based fertilizer production has a heavy carbon footprint.

 “One of the major costs for farmers to increase productivity is nitrogen-based fertilizer,” said Turano. “Unfortunately, about 50 percent of that nitrogen runs off into rivers and streams, which is a problem for the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways.”

Another Plant Sensory Systems research project is working to increase the production of plant seed oil, an important component of biodiesel and other alternative fuels. Their lab is full of racks of Arabidopsis plants, a species related to cabbage and mustard which are valued by researchers since they go from seed to flower in just five to six weeks.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Turano was an associate professor of biology and genetics at The George Washington University and prior to that worked for 10 years as a plant molecular biologist and geneticist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kathleen Turano was formerly a professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The Turanos are excited to be at UMBC. “We chose bwtech@UMBC because of its track record for launching successful businesses and its interactive environment. We have been very pleased with our choice. We receive excellent support from the staff and ongoing critical advice regarding how to grow our business,” said Kathleen Turano.

To learn more about Plant Sensory Systems, click the play button below.

Recent Alumnus Earns Fulbright Scholarship

During his study abroad, former Humanities Scholar Jack Mullee ‘08 rode the Argentina subway like every other passenger. So, how did that lead him to a Fulbright Scholarship?

“I’m a people watcher,” Mullee said. “I spent hours watching groups of salesmen, wondering what their stories were and how these people acted in unison to create a culture.”

During the five months he was in Argentina, Mullee, who graduated with degrees in American studies and sociology, watched for patterns related to the informal economy on the subway. Searching for answers, he tried to connect with the people. He befriended a magician, bought tissues from a middle-aged woman and read political manifestos scribbled on walls. He rode the subway for hours, interviewing natives. But no one seemed to know who these people were.

“No one could offer me a definitive statement on who they were or what they were doing,” Mullee said. “Salespeople and performers were the most reliably present and yet most invisible group on the subway.”

And now his unanswered questions are taking him back toward Argentina. Mullee will return to Argentina in February 2009 on a Fulbright Scholarship and embark on a nine-month exploration. Through ethnographic interviews with salespeople working on the subways, he’ll examine Buenos Aires’ informal economy in hopes of understanding how this network operates and why.  

But a Fulbright was on his mind before his study abroad. Using advice from Asynith Palmer ’06, another Humanities Scholar, Mullee started working on his application before he left for Argentina, and his onsite research helped solidify his idea. He cites connections like these, along with individual attention, as some of the greatest benefits of the Humanities Scholars Program.

 “Being part of the program was a great experience,” he said. “Everyone is so nice and interested in you. It really affords you a sense of confidence.”

Mullee said he was inspired by the Humanities Scholars Program from the beginning of his freshman year at UMBC. Regular meetings held by the program and Study Abroad office helped prepare him not only for his trip to Argentina but the Fulbright application process. A year before his trip, he sat down with Study Abroad Assistant Director Brian Souders to discuss what university he would attend. Souders helped Mullee find the perfect fit not only academically but individually.

“I try to help students like Jack find an environment that meets not only their academic needs but personal interests,” Souders said. “During one of our meetings, I found that Jack was a big backpacker. To me that opened up Chile and Argentina as they both have easy access to the outdoors and cultures rich in natural beauty.”

Mullee also met with UMBC’s Fulbright Scholarship Committee who helped critique his personal statement, proposal and resume. The committee also held professional interviews with candidates to prepare them for the official Fulbright Committee Interview.  

Mullee is one of more than 1,450 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2008-09 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. When he returns from Argentina in November 2009, he hopes to continue his studies and work toward a Ph.D. in either anthropology or sociology.

To learn more about the Humanities Scholars Program, go to http://www.umbc.edu/dreshercenter/scholars_program.html.  To learn more about UMBC’s study abroad opportunities, go to http://www.umbc.edu/ies/studyabroad.html.

(9/22/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Research Students Experience �Real World� at Summer Fellowship

Ten UMBC students attended the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s 2008 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (NIST-SURF) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, making UMBC the second best-represented school at this year’s program.

The 12-week program, which accepts about 100 students each year, is geared toward students interested in science or engineering. Students spend their summers working with top researchers in one of the world’s leading research organizations, surrounded by their peers. Their ages range from freshmen just finishing their first year to recent graduates.

“Students are able to interact with 130 other engineers from throughout the country both in a personal and professional way,” said Teresa Viancour, associate vice provost for undergraduate education.

NIST-SURF allows students to see the possibilities of a potential career in science or engineering by providing real-world research opportunities, Viancour said. Students engage in research by working with mentors in specific labs and presenting their projects at a Colloquium at the end of the summer.

“It was real research I was doing, and it will be used as real research,” said sophomore computer science major Nadezhda Serova. “I was working in the real world on a smaller scale.”

Most UMBC students who attended the program said they’d apply again, just for experience in a different field.

With help from the Office of Undergraduate Education, students are not alone in the NIST-SURF application process. Services include editing and proofreading personal essays, helping build resumes and submitting applications for the students. The Office also hopes to work with the Writing Lab and possibly the Career Services Center in the future. Since the Office of Undergraduate Education has become involved with the process, the number of accepted students has gone from one to ten in three years. And numbers are expected to grow.

“There is a lot of research on the UMBC campus but not enough for everyone,” Viancour said. “Students may not be able to do it all in 12 weeks at the program, but they can see the possibilities and where a career in science or engineering could take them.”

For more information or to learn about other opportunities available through the Office of Undergraduate Education, visit www.umbc.edu/undergrad_ed/research/.

Learn more about the UMBC students who attended the 2008 NIST-SURF.

(9/18/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Research Student Bios

Izath Aguilar

Academic Standing:
Senior
Major:
Biochemical Engineering
NIST Laboratory:
Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Talk Title:
“Molecular Electronic Devices”

Derek Fertig

Academic Standing:
Junior
Major:
Physics
NIST Laboratory:
Physics
Talk Title:
“Water Calorimetry and Heat Transport”

Brandi Jackson

Academic Standing:
1st year Graduate Student
Major:
Mechanical Engineering
NIST Laboratory:
Building and Fire Research
Talk Title:
“Characterization of Local Mechanical Properties in Epoxy Nanocomposites”

Jeong-O Jeong

Academic Standing:
Senior
Major:
Engineering
NIST Laboratory:
Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Talk Title:
“Development of Software Tools for Extracting Model Parameters of SiC Power Diodes”

Andrew �Avi� Schuldenfrei

Academic Standing:
Junior
Major:
Biological Sciences
NIST Laboratory:
Chemical Science and Technology
Talk Title:
“Observations of the Oxidation of Pentacene Thin Films in Air by Photoluminescence Spectroscopy”

Nadezhda Serova

Academic Standing:
Sophomore
Major:
Computer Science
NIST Laboratory:
Materials Science and Engineering
Talk Title:
“Non-Linear Polymer Film Thickness Gradients Through Flow Coating”

Kimberly Shurupoff

Academic Standing:
Senior
Major:
Mathematics & Psychology
NIST Laboratory:
Building and Fire Research
Talk Title:
“Large Building Evacuation”

Christopher Simms

Academic Standing:
1st year Graduate Student
Major:
Chemistry
NIST Laboratory:
Chemical Science and Technology
Talk Title:
“Fundamental Interaction Mechanisms of Engineered Nanomaterials with DNA”

Julian Spiegler

Academic Standing:
1st year Graduate Student
Major:
Mechanical Engineering
NIST Laboratory:
Building and Fire Research
Talk Title:
“An Energy Model of the IAQVG Test House”

Malcolm Taylor

Academic Standing:
Senior
Major:
Engineering
NIST Laboratory:
Information Technology
Talk Title:
“Parallel Covering Array Generation: The Future of Combinatorial Testing”

(9/18/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

New Media Studio Captures Leadership Award for Digital Storytelling Efforts

UMBC’s New Media Studio has won a Centers of Excellence Award from the New Media Consortium (NMC), the highest honor bestowed by the NMC. Given annually, the Studio received the award for “leadership in capturing and disseminating digital stories across the institution.” Studio Director Bill Shewbridge, Video Producer Paul Iwancio and Multimedia Designer Aaron Weidele accepted the award at NMC’s 2008 Summer Conference at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.

“We are very honored,” Shewbridge said. “We look at the NMC as our peers. We go there for inspiration and to forge collaborations.”

This year, UMBC joined the Rochester Institute of Technology as 2008 recipients. Modeled after the MacArthur “Genius Grants,” the Centers of Excellence Award involves an anonymous nomination process with no predefined categories of awards.

Although the award process is secretive, Shewbridge noted the Studio was specifically cited for its work with the Charlestown Digital Story Project workshop, an effort that paired UMBC students and staff with residents from the Charlestown Retirement Community. Funded by Retirement Living TV, the Charlestown Project won the Telly Award in 2007 and has produced more than 30 digital stories from personal photos, artifacts and memories. In fact, some stories may air on Retirement Living TV in the future.

“The process has become as rewarding as the outcome,” Shewbridge said. “It’s intergenerational, and real bonds are formed. It’s a personal experience being communicated.”

Some UMBC students who worked specifically with the Charlestown project went on to work at the Maryland Film Office, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and non-profit associations throughout the area, Shewbridge said.

In addition to its work with students, the Studio hopes to host more workshops for faculty and staff, similar to the “Train the Trainer” workshop in Summer 2008. This workshop was hosted in partnership with the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California, and held just a few days before the Studio won the Centers of Excellence award.

The Studio will also host a booth at Homecoming 2008 for all attendees.

“We’re going to have a story booth where participants can make their own digital stories,” Shewbridge said.

To learn more about the video projects produced by the New Media Studio, go to www.umbc.edu/studio/.

(9/12/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �