“I was a stand-up comic in San Francisco in the early 1980s, and once got bumped off the stage by an unexpected appearance by the late Robin Williams at the height of his fame! So, I bring a humorous and absurdist point of view to the contradictions that are sometime inherent in American culture, especially our often over the top popular culture.”

– Professor Michael Hummel

I’ve been teaching 22 years, the last 16 at UMBC. I have an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.

I love teaching at UMBC. The students are a special group—hard-working, committed, well-rounded and diverse. This may sound corny, but I also think UMBC students are among the nicest students I’ve ever worked with. They are respectful of each other and of their professors and really work well together. It’s always fun to listen in on my student’s group discussions.

From Stand-Up Comedy to the Classroom

As I already mentioned, I was a stand-up comic in the early 1980s, so I bring a humorous and absurdist point of view to my lessons. However, I also encourage students to take these issues seriously and try to make connections between media and contemporary, real-life issues.

I find my students are also very witty and have many interesting stories to share that illustrate key issues we are discussing. They are often aware of new media trends before I am, so I think we learn from each other. There are almost too many funny moments to recount, but I also find that when we talk about our personal experiences of what it means to live in America, the honesty and self-awareness of students can be really powerful.

Getting Personal

My other interests include news media, ethnicity and gender in media, and ethnography. I am also a singer-songwriter, so I’m also a creative artist and bring that lens to my analysis of popular culture. I respect the creative process even as I analyze it. I’m not a media critic who hates media.

I also have two young daughters who keep me up on the latest media trends, whether it’s harassing me to finally get an iPhone, making me take them to the latest animated movie, or getting me to watch a cutting edge show like Steven Universe (I’m at 95 episodes and counting). As with my students, we learn from each other!

AMST: Life Skills that Go Beyond the Classroom

I think AMST can make those in science, math, and technology add an ethical dimension to their thinking. My students come away from my classes with a number of important life skills – critical thinking, self-awareness, organizational skills, ability to make connections across disciplines. If you are going into education, psychology, marketing, law, journalism, business, game design, or really any field, the ability to see connections between and among supposedly separate concepts (like gender and ethnicity and consumerism) will make you a better teacher, therapist, lawyer, marketer, salesman, etc.

No one is just their ethnicity or just their gender or just their age or job, and cultural studies gives us a way to allow people to express their own point of view about the complexity of American life.

Winter Session 2018

During the regular semester, people are juggling so much—work, internships, family, AND a full schedule (not to mention the many student athletes who have their own special workloads and pressures). I find students do better work in winter, when they have less to distract them. Plus, we are meeting longer and more often; the ideas are easier to retain when you get such concentrated reinforcement. There’s also a nice camaraderie that builds up when you work together so much for a short time.

This winter, I am teaching AMST 100 – Introduction to American Studies. It’s a fun course that deals with a lot of different ways American culture can be analyzed. If you want to have a good overview of various flashpoints of American culture—personal identity, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, globalization, social class, popular culture, news media, sports, etc.—AMST 100 is the place where you can learn about many of these hot button topics and the various ways they’ve been analyzed and if you like one of them, you can then find other courses in AMST that focus particularly on one aspect or another.

The Office of Summer/Winter Programs offers full and partial scholarships to UMBC degree-seeking students who have a high GPA and are close to graduating. Financial need (based on student’s FAFSA information) is also considered.

• Full scholarships cover tuition for one winter session course (up to 4 credits).
• Partial scholarships cover half of the tuition for one winter session course.

Applying is easy – no essay or letters of recommendation are required!  All you need to do is submit your application before the Friday, December 1 deadline.  Visit umbc.edu/winter/ for more information.

Apply for a Scholarship

 
Scholarships are competitively awarded, so meeting the minimum qualifications does not guarantee a scholarship.  The Scholarship Review Committee will meet in early December, and award notifications will be emailed to all applicants no later than Friday, December 8.  

Is Financial Aid Available?

 
Loans and/or grants may be available for eligible UMBC students who are making satisfactory academic progress (SAP).  Students are encouraged to contact their financial aid counselor to discuss winter financial aid eligibility. 

Visit financialaid.umbc.edu and click “Special Programs” or call 410-455-2387 for more information.

To what extent do you shape your own destiny, and how much is down to fate?

How do you know that your experience of consciousness is the same as other people’s experience of consciousness?

What makes you, you?

PHIL 100 – Introduction to Philosophy explores these questions (and more!) with an introduction to fundamental philosophical concepts and methods. Discuss intriguing topics such as the existence and nature of God, the relationship between mind and body, personal identity, the relationship between free will and determinism, moral responsibility, the nature and possibility of knowledge, causality and the nature of reality.

Offered as a 4-week Hybrid Course during Winter Session 2018, PHIL 100 emphasizes the formulation and evaluation of philosophical arguments, and may draw upon historical as well as contemporary readings.  PHIL 100 also fulfills an Arts & Humanities GEP. 

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).

“If you hate politics, politics will hate you back. It will exclude you.”

- Dr. Sunil Dasgupta

Life Lessons in Political Science

 
I try to create a structure in my classroom that allows students to acquire critical learning skills that they can carry with them long after my class ends. A lot of the specifics about the courses I teach will change in the future, and many students will go on to do things unrelated to politics, but if they can develop their learning skills, they will have them for the rest of their lives. To do this, I incentivize reading comprehension of complex materials.

Making an Impact

 
The most exciting part of teaching is seeing when students really get it—when they’re making the connections within and outside the readings that I have been driving them toward.

I also love hearing from alumni who write to me to report on their successes and how my teaching contributed to them. Mostly, my former students tell me about three skills that have stayed with them: reading comprehension, writing, and perseverance. These are not specific to international relations or to political science, but they’re central to college education.

One of my favorite stories is about my former student Ed Cornell, who started a food truck in Washington, D.C. (if you see Milk Cult DC, say hi to Ed, and buy his ice cream and coffee). Ed wrote to tell me how my international relations courses prepared him to start his business. Nothing could have made me happier.

Why Politics?

 
Most people love to hate politics. I like to tell students, “If you hate politics, politics will hate you back. It will exclude you.” We don’t have the option of opting out of politics because it is omnipresent. We may not like how politics is played, but sitting out is a political position itself, and the cost of that position is paid by the person who chooses to sit it out.

It’s Not Rocket Science…

 
Politics is hard—harder than rocket science in my view. There won’t be any rocket science without taxation or appropriation of money that politics enables. International relations is doubly fascinating because there is no world government that can decide matters for everyone on earth. With our strong belief in self-determination and sovereignty, governance without a government is perhaps the biggest political puzzle of all.

Winter Session 2018

 
I teach POLI 280 – International Relations as a series of empirical puzzles in international relations: “Why do democracies not fight each other?” “Can states deter terrorists?” “Does the rise of the rest of the world mean an end of American hegemony?” “Why do some states fail but others do not?” “Why do some international organizations work but others do not?”

This approach is unique and different. The intro to International Relations course is generally taught from a school-of-thought perspective, such as Realism vs. Liberalism vs. Constructivism, which can be hard to understand. My course is also fully online, which means that the learning objectives, materials, and pedagogy must match the asymmetric learning environment that is the basis on online teaching.

“Students should consider taking POLI 280 in Winter 2018 with me because they will learn how to read complex material and to present that material in a one-pager. This is the basic working tool of the policy analyst/professional.”

Tuition remission is available during Winter Session 2018 for eligible UMBC faculty and staff, as well as their spouses and dependents. As an additional benefit, mandatory fees associated with course registration (i.e., the winter session fee and auxiliary facilities fee) will be remitted for UMBC faculty/staff taking courses at UMBC.

If you’ve always wanted to take a class for personal interest or professional growth, winter session is a great time to learn something new. If you have college-aged children home on break this winter, they can attend UMBC’s Winter Session 2018 and earn valuable transfer credits. In-person, hybrid and online classes are available. Students who attend other colleges/universities must first apply to UMBC as a visiting student before enrolling.

See umbc.edu/winter for more information.

Learn more about UMBC’s tuition remission benefits for employees, spouses and dependents. The deadline to submit an application for winter session tuition remission is December 15, 2017.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

– Colin Kaepernick

 
Since the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback first refused to stand for the national anthem, dozens of current NFL players (as well as sympathetic athletes from Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and even one German soccer team) have joined in to protest racial oppression and inequality in the United States.

Although these protests have been extensively covered by the media, racial inequality is just one of many social problems facing our country today.

SOCY 201 – Social Problems in American Society provides a timely opportunity to explore, examine, and discuss such relevant topics as Racial Inequality, Crime, Poverty, Social Class, Education, and Health Care.

Why does hunger and poverty persist despite the nation’s wealth?

How does social class and race impact access to education?

Should the Affordable Care Act be “repealed and replaced”? Is universal coverage a realistic option?

Share your opinions, gain a better understanding, and learn key components to help mitigate these problems.

SOCY 201 is 4-week, fully online course offered during Winter Session 2018. It requires reliable internet access and the ability to self-manage independent learning assignments according to deadlines. In place of classroom activities, online work may include independent mastery assignments, discussion boards, videos with quizzes, writing assignments, and other active learning experiences.

“That rug really tied the room together.”
– Jeffrey Lebowski aka “The Dude”

 
If you don’t get that reference, it may be a sign that you should take JDST 390 – Topics in Judaic Studies: Coen Brothers: Genre & Irony.

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). While the Brothers are not religious, many of their stories and their characters are shaped by the Coen Brothers’ Jewish heritage, so it’s not surprising that elements of Jewish literature and Yiddish humor are sprinkled throughout their films. JDST 390 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. Blood Simple, Fargo, Burn After Reading, and of course The Big Lebowski, are just a few of the films students study.