Christopher Corbett, English, penned an article for Baltimore Style in which he explored the nuances of “naughty or nice” in the Christmas song “Santa Claus in Coming to Town.”
In the article, Corbett examines the lyrics of the song and makes a connection to George Orwell’s 1984. He states, “‘Santa Claus is Coming (Or Comin’) to Town’ is certainly a Santa for a dystopia—an Orwell or Huxley Santa. A Santa for ‘1984’ or ‘Brave New World.'”
Click here to read “Naughty or Nice” in Baltimore Style.
Erin Appel ’00, political science, Erin O’Keefe ’10 M.P.P, public policy, and Angela Scott ’99, interdisciplinary studies, are among the 2014 Leading Women Winners. Leading Women honors women age 40 or younger for their career accomplishments. They were chosen for their professional experience, community involvement and a commitment to inspiring change.
Appel is a senior government relations associate for Capitol Strategies LLC and a court appointed special advocate who mentors a 17 year old boy in a residential treatment facility. O’Keefe is the director of the York Road Initiative, which addresses economic, physical and human needs along the Yong Road cooridor. Scott is an attorney and advisor for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Serices and was elected to the Maryland State Democratic Central Committee in 2010.
Click here to read more about the Leading Women winners.
In a recent National Journal article on a potential bid for the White House by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Public Policy Professor and Chair Donald Norris was interviewed for the story and discussed how O’Malley’s relationship with the Clintons could affect the 2016 campaign.
“The Clintons and he are close,” said Norris. “He endorsed her the first time. I don’t know he could run against her without burning a lot of bridges he just doesn’t want to burn.”
Norris was also interviewed for a Baltimore Sun article about the future of the Republican Party in Maryland. “They’ve gone through this ‘pull to the right and then re-center’ dance before,” Norris said. “The tea party right and the fringe Republicans could continue what they’ve done: eating their young, going after each other in primaries to make the party even more conservative and, in turn, more marginal in the rest of the state.”
Political Science Professor and Chair Thomas Schaller has been in the news recently analyzing the future of the Democratic Party in the South. In a Bloomberg Politics article examining how Democrats will rebuild after the recent midterm elections, Schaller discussed what could be next for party.
“The irony for me is that even I would say, at this point, there’s no place to go but up for the Democrats,” Schaller said. “There’ve been five federal cycles, and in every single count there’re fewer Democratic officials from the South in almost all of those elections.”
“Look at the Republicans,” Schaller added. “At one point they had three of 53 house seats in New York and New England. They got to near zero. And they’ve clawed back in Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. If Democrats have a landslide cycle, that might mean three new senators from the entire South. That would mean they doubled their Southern numbers in the Senate!”
Schaller was also mentioned in a Daily Beast article which discussed a similar topic, and his most recent column in the Baltimore Sun builds off of what he discussed in his first book Whistling Past Dixie in the context of the most recent midterm elections. To read full versions of the three articles, click below:
Can Democrats Ever Compete for the Deep South? Should They Even Bother? (Bloomberg)
Dems, It’s Time to Dump Dixie (Daily Beast)
Nowhere to go but up for Southern Democrats (Baltimore Sun column)
On December 10, New York Observer published an article on the “Second Gilded Age” in New York City, in which it describes recent increases in spending among the wealthiest New Yorkers. Research by Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short is extensively quoted in the article. The full excerpt is below:
“In the collection of essays, Geographies of the Super-Rich, published last year, John Rennie Short, a professor of public policy at the University Maryland Baltimore County, refers to this period as the ‘Second Gilded Age.’ Mr. Short estimates that 103,000 people worldwide have a net worth in excess of $30 million, and this upper, upper class owns about 40 percent of global assets. The holdings of the 66 New Yorkers on the most recent Forbes 400 list (led by David Koch with $42.9 billion) adds up to an astounding $390.67 billion dollars—more than the gross domestic product of Thailand, a nation with 67 million people.
Mr. Short detects similarities between the two eras. Striking inequality was seen as evidence of Social Darwinism. And it is again, he suggests. ‘Wealth is justified not simply as a result of luck or connections,’ he writes, ‘but as a ‘natural’ phenomenon and hence immune to political change and social debate.’
He also notices contrasts. It was de rigueur for elites in the late 19th century to live a life of leisure, but today’s captains of industry flaunt their industriousness. ‘The hardworking rich replace the idle rich,’ as Mr. Short puts it.”
To read the full article titled “Gilded Age 2.0: New York’s Richest CEOs, Artists, and Pro Athletes,” click here.
In November, Piotr Gwiazda, Associate Professor of English, participated in the 23rd Ars Cameralis Festival in Katowice, one of Poland’s most prestigious arts and literary festivals. On November 15, he gave a reading from his poetry in Polish translation at Kinoteatr Rialto. On November 17, he presented a lecture “Dreams of a Common Language: On Contemporary U.S. Poetry” at the English Language Institute of the University of Silesia in Sosnowiec.
In a video interview (interview in Polish), Gwiazda described his critical and creative projects. He also commented on the Ars Cameralis Festival.
The Journal of American History (JAH) produces a monthly podcast interview with an author of a JAH article or author of a book on a historical topic. Anne Rubin, an associate professor of history and author of Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman’s March and American Memory (UNC Press 2014), was the guest on JAH’s November podcast. She was interviewed about her book and discussed how she first became interested in researching Sherman’s March in graduate school.
“The endurance of it is the power of Sherman’s March as a metaphor,” Rubin said. “In the South, people feel it very viscerally obviously in Georgia and the Carolinas. But elsewhere it has come to be this symbol of devastation, and destruction, and fire.”
Rubin’s book analyzes stories and myths about Sherman’s March, one of the most symbolically potent events of the Civil War, as a lens for examining how Americans’ ways of thinking about the Civil War have changed over time. She analyzes stories from travel accounts, memoirs, literature, films, and newspapers to highlight the metaphorical importance of Sherman’s March in American memory.
To listen to the complete podcast interview conducted by JAH editor Edward Linenthal, click here.
The UMBC mens soccer teams splendid run to the Final Four of college soccer may have ended in the national semifinals with a hard-fought 1-0 loss to the University of Virginia, but it created memories that will live on in the annals of Retrievers athletics.
Senior forward Kay Banjos amazing back heel goal against Vermont in the America East conference semifinal a goal that went viral on the Internet. Redshirt freshman midfielder Gregg Haucks wonder goal that sealed the championship victory. A gritty penalty kick victory over Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The coolly-taken goal by junior midfielder Malcolm Harris that sealed a historic tournament win over College Park. Senior midfielder Mamadou Kansayes conversion of a crucial spot kick to sink the University of Louisville and the amazing one-handed save by sophomore goalie Billy Heavner that preserved the victory. Banjos penalty kick that defeated Creighton to earn the Retrievers a trip to the Final Four. And above all a sterling Retrievers defense led by senior defender Oumar Ballo that did not surrender a single goal in open play during the entire run to Cary, North Carolina and the College Cup semifinal.
The Retrievers loss to the University of Virginia doesnt dim the teams historic achievements. UMBCs Road Warriors travelled to four different stadiums and won four straight games against nationally-ranked opponents to earn their place in college soccers Final Four.
And just as important is that the UMBC mens soccer squad excelled in the classroom as well as on the field. The teams players embody a vision shared by the university and its athletics department for UMBCs student-athletes to be winners in all aspects of college life.
This week, the NCAA released statistics on the academic achievements of the four teams who have reached the Final Four of mens soccer. UMBC and UCLA both topped the group with graduation success rates (GSR) of 88 percent, and the Retrievers edged the Bruins by 2 points (963 to 961) in academic progress rate (APR) which measures student-athletes eligibility and retention.
In an interview with UMBC Magazine, UMBC athletics director Tim Hall said: My own beliefs about intercollegiate athletics and academics are congruent with the leadership of the university. I believe that success in athletics and success in academics are not mutually exclusive. You can be successful and balanced in both.
Its a vision thats paying off with a UMBC squad that is now in the NCAA championship game.
For instance, in addition to being one of the catalysts on UMBCs amazing postseason run, Heavner was presented on Thursday night with The Elite 89 an award founded by the NCAA and presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.
Heavner maintains a 4.0 GPA as a major in financial economics, and achievement that also earned him this seasons inaugural America East Elite 18 award, which recognizes student-athletes competing in conference championship matches who possess high academic and athletic achievements.
The UMBC men’s and women’s soccer teams also earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Awards for the 2013-14 academic year for posting cumulative team grade point averages of 3.0 or better. UMBC was one of only 188 schools that had both men’s and women’s programs recognized in the NSCAA awards.
(Updated 12/12/2014)
In the wake of the release of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report on C.I.A treatment of detainees in secret prisons following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Political Science Associate Professor Jeffrey Davis wrote a letter to the editor in response to the December 10 New York Times article, “Panel Faults C.I.A. Over Brutality and Deceit in Terrorism Interrogations.” The complete text of the published letter is below:
Prosecuting those who commit torture is not optional. Article 7 of the Convention Against Torture, signed by President Reagan in 1988 and approved by the Senate in 1994, requires the United States to prosecute those found within our borders who commit torture. The foundation of our democratic system is one of laws. If we regard those laws — be they the laws prohibiting torture or the laws mandating prosecution — as optional, that foundation is eviscerated. The Senate report released this week paints a clear picture of the depravity that thrives when our basic laws are ignored.
To read Davis’s letter, along with other responses to the New York Times article, click here.
Serial, a spin-off show from NPR’s “This American Life,” is a podcast in which reporter Sarah Koenig reinvestigates the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a Baltimore County high school student. In the series, Koenig, a former Baltimore Sun staff writer, conducts numerous interviews and delves deeply into figuring out what led to the conviction of Adnan Syed, Hae’s ex-boyfriend, for her murder. An article published December 8 in The Guardian looks into why the podcast has drawn so much interest.
Nicole King, an associate professor of American studies, is quoted in the article and comments on the narrative style of the podcast when looking at it in the context of Baltimore.
“People are so caught up with ‘whodunnit’,” she tells [Nicky Woolf, the article’s writer]. “The Hollywood ending.” For people here, she says, there will need to be some sort of a payoff – a denouement – which real life rarely, if ever, provides.
In addition, Steph Ceraso, an assistant professor of English, and Tanya Olson, a lecturer of English, are both referenced in the article as having started to use the podcast as a teaching tool in the classroom.
“The podcast raises all kinds of interesting questions about storytelling, memory, ethics and the research process,” Ceraso said. She discovered that some students in her class knew the families involved in the case and it sparked a heated discussion about ethics and storytelling.
To read the complete article “In Baltimore, Serial’s murder mystery is not just a whodunnit-it’s real life,” click here.
Dale Bittinger, assistant vice-provost for admissions and orientation, visited WYPR’s Midday with Dan Rodricks to discuss the concept of “grit” in education. He was joined by Elaine Tuttle Hansen, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, and Natalia Walker, principal of KIPP Baltimore.
The conversation began with a discussion of grit and how it has become a buzzword in education. Bittinger shared the history of grit at UMBC and how it has been a part of our campus culture since its founding in 1966. Bittinger also described “House of Grit,” UMBC’s new admissions marketing campaign. “The House of Grit campaign really allowed us to focus on the individuality of the students on our campus, but at the same point in time, the community that makes UMBC such a place that it is.”
Bittinger emphasized that intelligence and grit are not mutually exclusive. He gave the example of Billy Heavner, goalie on the men’s soccer team, and how he excels in academics with a 4.0 G.P.A. and also has grit on the soccer field.
Click here to listen to “Grit in Schools” on Midday with Dan Rodricks. Find out more about the “House of Grit” here.
On December 7, the UMBC Russian Club presented an evening of Russian song, cuisine, and fashion to promote cross-cultural understanding and to look beyond recent news headlines of strained diplomacy between the United States and Russia. The event was held in the University Center Ballroom, with support from the Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication (MLLI) department, the Russian Embassy, and the Russian Center for Science and Culture.
The event received news coverage from Russia Beyond the Headlines and Voice of America (article in Russian). Russian instructor Vira Zhdanovych and Elena Volosina ’15, MLLI, brought the event to UMBC to bring awareness to Russian culture and were featured in the news coverage along with MLLI Associate Professor Steven Young.
“I believe that the real culture of a nation, you can’t learn by watching the news or only paying attention to politics, but by talking to real people, eating food, listening to music,” said Volosina, president of the UMBC Russian Club. “From this conversation comes a deeper cultural understanding. This is how you introduce your culture to outsiders.”
In Voice of America, Zhdanovych and Volosina expressed the hope that “they have been able to initiate a new tradition to strengthen the mutual understanding of peoples through culture and beauty(translation).”
Fashion designer Evgenia Luzhina-Salazar headlined the evening and presented a collection of her work. The event featured musical interludes from the UMBC Russian Chorus, the Lada Children’s Theater, singer Victoria Sukhareva and Russian composer and virtuoso guitarist Sergey Kirichenko.
The ballroom was filled with UMBC students, faculty, and staff, as well as many people from off-campus, including representatives from the Russian Embassy and Russian Center for Science and Culture.
To read “Maryland university highlights connection with Russia in cultural evening,” click here. To read the article in Voice of America, click here (article in Russian).
Note: Randianne Leyshon, the author of the Russia Beyond the Headlines article, graduated from UMBC in 2009 with a B.A. in MLLI, magna cum laude.