We hope to see you!

Please email your questions and comments to promise@umbc.edu, sincerely, PROMISE staff.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Save the date for our annual GSA Awards Ceremony! 

After a national search, the Language, Literacy & Culture Program is very pleased to announce that Dr. Tanya L. Saunders will be joining the program as Associate Professor in Fall 2022. They will fill a niche for research and advising in the area of Black expressive culture across the diaspora.

Dr. Saunders is currently in residence, during the Spring of 2022, as a Mark Claster Mamolen Fellow at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African & American Research, working on their book tentatively entitled Estéticas do Bapho: Queering Black Brazilian Artivism and Politics of Liberation. Saunders is a sociologist and cultural studies scholar who is interested in the ways in which the African Diaspora throughout the Americas uses the arts as a tool for social change, specifically through decolonizing systems of thinking and knowing in the Americas.

As a 2011-2012 Fulbright scholar to Brazil, Saunders began work on their current project about Black Queer Artivism in Brazil. Saunders holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Master of International Development Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. They were also a co-recipient of two Abdias do Nascimento Awards funded by CAPES in Brazil. Dr. Saunders' 2015 book entitled Cuban Underground Hip Hop: Black Thoughts, Black Revolution, Black Modernity was published by the University of Texas Press. The Portuguese version of the book was released a few weeks ago by Editora Editus as Modernidade Negra: hip hop, artivismo e mudança social em Havana. They are also the director of the film project entitled Afro Feminismos em Cuba which is currently streamed on YouTube. They have published and lectured extensively throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and have served on many dissertation committees and taught graduate courses over the last several years.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Saunders to the LLC Doctoral Program!

On April 14, 2022 Ciara Christian of LLC Cohort 21 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy. Her degree will be conferred on May 25, 2022.

Ciara's virtual defense went very smoothly and she gave a powerful presentation of her dissertation research, "Talkin' Shit, Pouring Libations, and Building Community: Exploring Podcasts as a Contemporary Site of Black Feminist Knowledge Production and Activism." 

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Ciara's committee:

Co-Chairs:

   Dr. Brandy Wallace, Sociology, Anthropology & Public Health

   Dr. Kimberly Moffitt, Language, Literacy & Culture and CAHSS

Members:

   Dr. Jason Loviglio, Media & Communication Studies

   Dr. Jasmine Lee, Inclusive Excellence & Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging

   Dr. Tina Harris, Louisiana State University, Manship School of Mass Communication

Please be on the lookout for an e-mail for a link to complete the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) between April 10th and April 30th! Students who complete this will be entered into a drawing, and 200 students will win 10 Retriever Dollars!

Students will also be entered into another drawing for the chance to win

Photo by Manik Roy on Unsplash

The Graduate Student Association is seeking applications for executive council members who will serve throughout the next academic year from June, 2022 to May, 2023. 

The following positions will be elected on May 11th, at 6:00 PM. Candidates must attend the election to be considered. 

Chair of the Graduate Student Success Committee 

Pairs of candidates who whish to be considered as co-chairs or co-executives should fill out one application for the desired position.

All executive council members are expected to have an active role supporting all the work of the GSA including Graduate Senate Meetings, graduate student events and graduate student advocacy. More specific expectations of each role can be found here: https://gsa.umbc.edu/elections/

Stipends are offered for each role.

  

For more information on the structure of the Graduate Senate and what it does, please visit the GSA webpage (gsa.umbc.edu) and familiarize yourself with our governing documents. 

Please fill out the application by May 6th 2022. 

Email gsa@umbc.edu with any questions. 

Know someone else that may fit the bill? Nominate them here.