Happy December! Before campus dives into finals and the holidays, Education Abroad at UMBC would like to share some exciting new updates and projects with our campus community.

 We’ve Moved!

Our office has a new suite, we are located on the 3^rd floor of the Administration building. We can be found in Admin 301 (to the right side of Student Business Services).

 New Program – Dawg Days Abroad

Education Abroad is excited to announce our first ever faculty-led program for newly admitted students! This program, set in Bristol and London, United Kingdom will help incoming UMBC students get a head start on their degrees by offering two course options, both fulfilling GEPs. Stay tuned for updates!

 New Staff – Rose Malone

This September, we welcomed Rose Malone to join our team as an Education Abroad Advisor. Rose joins us from University of Maryland, College Park where she worked with faculty-led programs from outreach and marketing to student advising and application management. Please help us in welcoming Rose to our UMBC campus and culture!

As a reminder, our Education Abroad Staff are:

Caylie Middleton (formerly Zidwick) - Associate Director of Education Abroad

Rachel McCloud – Education Abroad Advisor

Rose Malone – Education Abroad Advisor

Ways to contact us:

·         Email: sao@umbc.edu *Preferred method of contact

·         Website: https://studyabroad.umbc.edu/

·         Location: 301 Administration building

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter, we hope you found it useful. Our office is always looking to get involved with our campus partners, so please reach out if you would like us to attend an event, help with orientation or collaborate on a project.

After searching the course catalog and finding the perfect Winter Session 2019 class, you try to register only to find that you’re blocked. Sound familiar? It can be a frustrating situation, but the good news is that there is probably a simple explanation.

There are certain situations that may cause you to be initially blocked from winter registration, including:

If you have not completed the necessary prerequisite requirements

If you receive a registration error indicating that you do not have the appropriate prerequisites to enroll in a course, submit a prerequisite override request. A prerequisite override does NOT guarantee enrollment in the course.

If you already applied for fall graduation

If you have already applied for graduation, you will be blocked from registering for any course during Winter Session 2018.  In order to take a winter session course, you need to contact the Registrar’s Office and ask that they term activate you for Winter Session 2019.

If you are registering for courses that have overlapping meeting patterns

You are not permitted to register for courses that meet at the same time or overlap in meeting patterns. However, if the overlap is minimal you may be permitted to register for courses that share a time conflict. Complete a time conflict form, obtain signatures from BOTH instructors, and submit the completed for to the Registrar’s Office before the end of the schedule adjustment period.

If you are registering for a course for a third (and final) time

You may not register for the same course more than two times. However, you can petition the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) for a third and final attempt of a course taken at UMBC or another institution.

If you are trying to register for more than 4.5 credits

Due to winter session’s compressed format (four weeks) enrollment is limited to a maximum of 4.5 credits. However, highly motivated and academically strong students can request permission to enroll in more than the designated winter course load limit. Download an Enroll for Excess Credit form and consult with your academic advisor.

If you are a visiting student and attempt to enroll in courses with prerequisite requirements

Visiting students who attempt to enroll in a course with prerequisite requirements will initially be BLOCKED from registering as UMBC’s online registration system cannot automatically verify prerequisites from another institution. You will need to submit a prerequisite override request.

What if I have a hold on my account? How do I remove it?

For specific information regarding your hold, contact the appropriate department:

Administrative Holds: Registrar’s Office
Financial Holds: Student Business Services
Health Services Holds: Health Services

Still unable to register?

If you are still unable to register for your course, contact the Office of Summer & Winter Programs.

Due to winter session’s compressed format (four weeks) enrollment is limited to a maximum of 4.5 credits. However, highly motivated and academically strong students can request permission to enroll in more than the designated winter course load limit.

Strong candidates for approval will answer YES to the following questions: 

1. Do I have a GPA of 3.5 or above?
2. Do I have a proven track record of taking 18+ credits during the semester while maintaining a high GPA?
3. Have I clearly stated my reason for requesting Excess Credits?
4. Has my advisor provided recommendations/comments in the appropriate section?
5. Have I satisfied any Incompletes from the previous semester?
6. If I am allowed to take these Excess Credits, will it enable me to complete all requirements for my degree this semester?

To Request Permission:

1. Download an Enroll for Excess Credit form.
2. Consult with your academic advisor and have them sign your form.
3. Email the completed/signed form to the Office of Academic and Pre-Professional Advising at arc@umbc.edu

Please allow at least one week for review. Decisions are sent to the email provided on your request. If your request is approved, your maximum credit limit will be increased in the registration system and you will be instructed to add the overload course(s).

Enroll for Excess Credit Form

Are You A Visiting Student?

UMBC welcomes students from other colleges and universities who want to earn transferable credits during winter session. Visiting student must also submit an Enroll for Excess Credit Form if you plan to take more than 4.5 credits.. However, you must first be admitted to UMBC as a visiting student before you can register for classes. The deadline to apply for Winter Session 2019 is December 19, 2018.

Once you have been accepted, create your myUMBC account, using your UMBC campus ID number. This is where you will be able to enroll in classes.

If the 2016 election wasn’t enough to peak your interest, consider these:

• Russia is the largest country in the world.
• It has more natural gas than any other country on Earth.
• It has one of the greatest militaries in the world.
• It is a case study in the failure of democratization.
• Its leaders view the West as a great threat to Russia’s 21st century revival.

POLI 475 is a FULLY ONLINE course designed to introduce students to Russian politics and, in the process, provide a detailed case study of independence and democratization processes that play out across the world. The first part of this course is a historical exploration of the making of modern Russia, beginning with the communist revolution and culminating with the rise of President Vladimir Putin. Students then look at formative elements of the Putin years, after which we explore several aspects of contemporary Russian politics. These include: ethnicity and nationalism, political development, economic reform and post-independence foreign policy construction. This course integrates broad theoretical issues in the study of political science - especially with respect to independence and the democratic transition - with important "facts" and approaches necessary to make sense of Russia today.

The readings review the social and historical context of political life in Russia, tracing the country's development from the early 20th century to the present.

“One of the pleasures of movies is creating a world . . . it gives you a license to do certain things.” 

– Coen Brothers

For more than thirty years, Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted provocative and humorous films that take on the complicated and serious themes of postmodernism (and post-postmodernism). AMST 322: Coen Brothers: Genre & Irony pays particular attention to the Coen Brothers’ use of genre, specifically: film noir, screwball comedy, and westerns.The Coen Brothers’ strategy will be examined through screenings of their films in the context of their genres, and ideas of irony and post-ironic culture.

The Minnesotan brothers “create” an audience that is both ironically distanced and emotionally connected. The Coen Brothers’ strategies will be examined in this course through screenings of their films and through scholarly analyses of their films in relation to the context of their use of genres and literary sources. The concepts of irony and post-ironic culture are a filter we will use to understand the films.

Blood Simple, Fargo, Burn After Reading, and of course The Big Lebowski, are just a few of the films students study.

Get to know the Instructor:

Professor Greg Metcalf is a man of many talents, with experience in everything from radio, comedy programming and modeling. Growing up Professor Metcalf spent time in Taiwan, Hong Kong & Minnesota. Professor Metcalf earned his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Bowling Green, and his PhD in Art and Culture from University of Maryland, College Park, successfully paying his way through college as a cartoonist. Metcalf has taught film both at Johns Hopkins, NYU and has even lectured at the Smithsonian. Aside from his hand modeling experience in the past, he also makes ritual art carved from wood directly collected and exhibited internationally.  Professor Metcalf still knows how to talk Minnesotan so if you want to learn from that angle, something will be arranged.