News and Updates about UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Farah Helal ’24, global studies and political science, is the newly appointed 2022 University System of Maryland (USM) student regent. “Student representatives provide educators and policymakers with the perspective needed to ensure the student voice is valued and understood throughout the decision-making process,” she says. Continue Reading UMBC’s Farah Helal, longtime student advocate, is named USM student regent
U.S. News announced its 2023 Best Graduate School rankings today, including outstanding UMBC graduate programs across all three colleges. Top fields where UMBC excels range from computer science and several types of engineering to psychology and statistics. Among UMBC’s 14 Best Graduate School rankings for 2023 are seven top-100 programs. Continue Reading U.S. News names UMBC graduate programs among the nation’s best
“The campus is delighted by the appointment of Dr. Moffitt as dean—in many ways, she represents the best of UMBC,” shares President Freeman Hrabowski. “Most importantly, she will be a strong voice for the arts, humanities, and social sciences, both on and off campus.” Continue Reading Kimberly R. Moffitt named dean of UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Articles on The Conversation offer context to current events, explain natural phenomena, introduce new research in an accessible way, and more. “The Conversation helps us contribute to our public service mission as a public university,” says Vice President for Research Karl Steiner. “This milestone underscores the importance of academic researchers actively participating in the public discourse of complex issues.” Continue Reading Ten million reads: UMBC researchers hit milestone in sharing knowledge through The Conversation
The largest gift in the history of UMBC—a $21 million donation from the Sherman Family Foundation—will dramatically expand the reach and impact of the university’s K-12 and early childhood education work. The transformational gift will provide funding to launch the Betsy & George Sherman Center as a national model to advance excellence in urban schools. Continue Reading $21M Sherman Family Foundation gift supports UMBC’s bold commitment to PreK-12 research, teaching, and learning
Baltimore-based tech company Fearless and a team of UMBC alumni led the development of the the Searchable Museum to complement the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition. The Fearless and NMAAHC teams worked together to reimagine this exhibit specifically for online audiences. Continue Reading Meet the UMBC alumni who built the Smithsonian’s Searchable Museum, expanding online access to African American history and culture
“Our work shows that most areas depicted as ‘untouched,’ ‘wild,’ and ‘natural’ are actually areas with long histories of human inhabitation and use,” Ellis previously shared with UMBC News. They might be interpreted like this, he suggests, because in these areas, “societies used their landscapes in ways that sustained most of their native biodiversity and even increased their biodiversity, productivity, and resilience.” Continue Reading Smithsonian features Erle Ellis’s research on how humans have shaped ecology over millennia as a top discovery of 2021
While we can’t wait to see what memories we will make in 2022, let’s first take a look back at the milestones, breakthroughs, and student stories that shaped our UMBC community in 2021. Continue Reading UMBC’s Top 12 Stories of 2021
Filmmaker Jules Rosskam, assistant professor in the Department of Visual Arts at UMBC, was awarded a prestigious Creative Capital Award in 2021 to support production of his new feature film, Desire Lines. Continue Reading Jules Rosskam’s Desire Lines awarded a 2021 Creative Capital prize
The end of the semester brings a lot to celebrate—the conclusion of finals, a well-deserved break on the horizon, and the addition of new graduates to the UMBC alumni community. Over the course of two days and three ceremonies, UMBC celebrated the accomplishments of the Class of 2021, as well as 2020 graduates who were unable to celebrate in person before due to COVID. Continue Reading Graduating Retrievers are ready to leave their mark on the world
Tahir Hemphill is a creative technologist, multimedia artist, and design researcher who uses a hip-hop framework to develop new ways for people to engage with data and culture. Hemphill is one of two Postdoctoral Fellows for Faculty Diversity to join UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences this fall. Continue Reading Tahir Hemphill merges hip-hop, computing, and cultural analysis as UMBC’s first postdoctoral fellow in the visual arts
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has named Fernando Tormos-Aponte, assistant professor of public policy and political science, an Early Career Faculty Innovator–one of 12 across the nation. He will partner with NCAR scientists to examine energy inequality in the wake of disasters, incorporating measures of social vulnerability. Continue Reading UMBC’s Fernando Tormos-Aponte is named an Early Career Faculty Innovator for research on energy inequality
