Our Year of Transformation

David Hoffman is UMBC’s assistant director of student life for civic agency.

A year ago, BreakingGround was an idea among hopeful members of the UMBC community who were eager to deepen UMBC’s culture of democratic engagement and make more visible the tremendous work already underway across campus.

In the months since BreakingGround’s launch in August 2012, our conversations around this idea have become powerful vehicles for action: innovative courses, projects, programs and individual contributions aimed at solving problems and strengthening communities. And all of this activity has attracted considerable attention, including a front-page story in the Baltimore Sun and a salute from Commencement speaker Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President of Syracuse University. Dr. Cantor reminded our graduating seniors that, through their time at UMBC, they’ve already gained experience as agents of positive social change.

Here is a look back at the most popular stories on the BreakingGround website this year. I’m proud of all of this good work, and eager to see it expand in the year ahead.

1. UMBC Engineering Students Foster Development of Clean Water in Kenya

2. Voting and the Election Night Extravaganza

3. Who Are the Poor?

4. Who is Sondheim?

5. Transforming the Here and Now

6. Our Own Take Back the Night

Contact the author, David Hoffman, at dhoffman@umbc.edu.

Beyond Formal Politics: Scholarship as Civic Engagement

Denise Meringolo is an associate professor of history and director of public history at UMBC.

Recently I clicked on a link titled, “Civic Engagement in the Digital Age,” and found myself reading the latest in a series of reports produced by the Pew Research Center as part of its Internet and American Life Project. Project researchers have been tracking the expansion of what they term “civic engagement” in social media. The most recent report notes a significant increase in the number of Americans using social media to promote a political issue, encourage voting, communicate with an elected official, or address a political problem (from 3% of adults in 2008 to 12-17% in 2012).

The study encompasses both passive forms of engagement (following a political figure or liking a page dedicated to a particular cause or issue) and active forms of engagement (posting links to political stories). But Pew’s understanding of “civic engagement” does not appear to extend beyond engagement with formal politics. In fact the term “political engagement” often appears as a synonym for “civic engagement” in Project reports.

I think of civic engagement more expansively. As a public historian, I practice history as a form of public service. Like the vast majority of my colleagues, I work collaboratively with various organizations and individuals for whom a more nuanced understanding of the past can have immediate, practical applications for establishing a viable community identity, understanding the roots of a pressing problem, or adding a sense of authenticity to a neighborhood or landscape. In my field, we use the term “civic engagement” to describe the value of collaborative, community-based historical work. This expansive perspective also permeates UMBC’s BreakingGround initiative, which recognizes that community engagement might transcend formal politics and that research from a variety of fields and disciplines can have immediate, practical applications.

As I read the Pew report, I wondered: How many of the 39% of American adults who use social media have “liked” a particular museum? How many have posted information about a local arts event? How many have encouraged the members of their network to read a new work of fiction? Arguably, actions like these can shape a sense of shared identity and community.

As engaged scholars, then, it seems we must more actively and critically define what it is we hope to accomplish by putting our work in service to the community. What behaviors do we imagine when we use the term “civic engagement?”

Contact the author, Denise Meringolo, at ddm@umbc.edu.

First Year Council Addresses Weekend Dining Options

Violet Haya, Bentley Corbett, Laura Hoelzer, Saniya Chaudhry, Tahlia Tavai, Sandy Nguyen, Emily Bernstein, Steven Nguyen, Imani Spence, Sara Kim, Michelle Seu, Amanda Quinn, Eva Benvenga, Poulomi Banerjee, Sohha Ariannejad, Anthony Nguyen, Elizabeth Sines, Hayden Marshall, Ari Zaya and Molly Nicholson are members of UMBC’s 2012-2013 First Year Council.

We are the UMBC First Year Council (FYC), a diverse group of freshmen and transfer students who are trying to make positive change on campus for everyone. We were nominated for our problem-solving skills and campus involvement by various campus organization leaders. This year, we met once a week discuss how we could improve campus life from the perspective of new students. Here are our reflections on the year:

We explored a variety of issues that affect student life, and noticed dissatisfaction with campus dining options available to students on the weekend. We worked closely with Chartwells and UMBC administrators over the past few months in order to improve the dining experience of the UMBC community. After weeks of brainstorming and consideration, the Council has come up with the following option: opening a small food vendor in the Commons during the weekend in addition to the big food vendor that is already open, and rotating among vendors on a schedule.

If you are a current student at UMBC we want to hear your thoughts on weekend dining options. Please complete our survey by Sunday, May 19th.

We are so exited to meet next year’s First Year Council. Information on how to join FYC will be available at Involvement Fest on September 4, 2013!

The First Year Council is supported through Student Life by a peer advisor (Sam Spehr for 2012-2013) and staff advisors. Contact FYC through staff advisors Virginia Byrne at vbyrne@umbc.edu or Sara Leidner at sleidner@umbc.edu.

This Week: Mill Stories — Refreshments (and Laughter) Guaranteed!

Collector of Stories

Jennie Williams ’14, American Studies, is a UMBC resident assistant, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar and Undergraduate Research Award Scholar.

I enrolled in American Studies 422: Preserving Places Making Spaces in Baltimore last fall because I was interested in taking part in a class where I could get involved in meaningful and original research. Dr. Nicole King, who was both the instructor and my academic advisor, encouraged me to take the class in order to broaden my technical skills. But I was also attracted by the course’s orientation to social action. With the Mapping Baybrook project, we were not just going to be collecting data, we would be making a civic contribution in partnership with Baybrook residents.

Baybrook is the conjunction of Curtis Bay and Brooklyn of south Baltimore. It was once rich with immigrant culture and thriving family businesses, but is now mostly overcome by invasive industry among the surviving residential areas. The goal of our class has been to collect the memories of community members, helping to preserve the community through their stories. For our individual projects, my classmates and I decided to choose businesses along the main streets of the community to investigate their history and impact through oral history interviews.

Blood and Fire: Looking Forward from the Catonsville Nine

Theodore S. Gonzalves is associate professor and chair of UMBC’s Department of American Studies.

Forty-five years ago, a couple of miles from the UMBC campus, nine activists seeking to change a culture and end a war put their futures on the line and took a stand. As I described in a WYPR radio interview earlier this week, their action involved using blood and fire—symbols with deep cultural and historical resonance—to destroy Vietnam War draft records. By the late 1960s, the scope of politics was widening: activists who had learned hard lessons about nonviolent direct actions at home in the South wondered if their nation could act nonviolently abroad in places like Latin America and Southeast Asia. In 1967, the Baltimore Four “anointed” draft files from a downtown office by pouring blood directly onto them. In 1968, the Catonsville Nine broke into the local selective service office, and burned nearly 400 documents with home-made napalm in a parking lot. The protestors waited peacefully for police from the Wilkens precinct (at the edge of UMBC’s campus) to arrive and arrest them. Their action stirred passions, dialogue, and action across the U.S.

As we think about how to live BreakingGround values by applying our passions and creativity to shape our world together, let us reflect on these powerful local examples of culturally disruptive thinking and action. Throughout the semester, I’ve taught an American studies course (funded through a BreakingGround grant) where students focus on the local spaces and personal experiences involved in the civil disobedience and trial of the Catonsville Nine. Students, in collaboration with community activists, have explored the historical significance of those actions as well as how we think about social protest, civic duty, and citizenship today.

The project culminates this Friday, May 10th, with an exciting event open to UMBC and the greater Baltimore community. The UMBC Social Sciences Forum and Department of American Studies will present a panel of scholars, activists, and two members of the Catonsville Nine, speaking in the Proscenium Theater (Performing Arts and Humanities Building). The event will begin with a reception (2:30 p.m.), followed by a film screening with director Q&A (3:00 p.m.), and panel discussion (4:30 p.m.). I hope to see you there.

Contact the author, Theodore S. Gonzalves, at theo@umbc.edu.

Michele Wolff Receives Mathias Award for Outstanding State Service

Diane Lee is UMBC’s Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education.

Michele Wolff

Congratulations to UMBC Shriver Center director Michele Wolff, who will be honored today for her years of contributions to UMBC and the state of Maryland. At its annual Innovations in Government Conference and Public Service Awards Luncheon, the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Maryland chapter will present Michele with its Charles Mathias, Jr., Award for Outstanding State Service.

Much of Michele’s incredible work is done behind the scenes, so I wanted to take a moment to thank her on behalf of UMBC and recognize her tremendous service. To quote from her nomination letter:

For nearly two decades Michele has facilitated student engagement at UMBC focused on the needs and issues of the campus, the state and even the nation. The unifying thread for these programs and for Michele’s work lies in the Shriver Center’s mission: “The Shriver Center at UMBC promotes the integration of civic engagement, teaching, learning and discovery on campus, regionally, and nationally so that each advances the others for the benefit of society.”… Michele has taken on the primary leadership role at UMBC to create an innovative partnership with the Maryland Department of Disabilities to establish SUCCESS (Students United for Campus-Community Engagement for Post-Secondary Success)…. [She] was instrumental in the creation of the Choice Community Service-Learning Fellowship that seeks to strengthen communities through innovative family-focused strategies that connect youth to opportunities for positive choices…. Under her leadership, [the Shriver Center internship and co-op program] has grown by 100%…. [I]t is clear that Michele’s influence and contributions are vast. Michele’s visions and action reflect an ethic of care and thoughtful responsibility — she is a leader, a teacher and a role model for our campus and the broader community.

Contact the author, Diane Lee, at dlee@umbc.edu. Join us in thanking Michele for her years of service with #ThanksMichele or by posting a comment.

Civic Science: Food Justice and an End to Heartbreak

Jessica McNeely and Mollie Sprung are doctoral students in UMBC’s Human Services Psychology program.

UMBC’s Graduate Student Association recently launched a partnership with Pigtown Food for Thought, a community organization in Southwest Baltimore, to work toward food justice and the eradication of “food deserts.” This semester’s activities, supported by a BreakingGround Community Program Grant, have included a kickoff panel discussion, cooking classes for young people in the Pigtown/Washington Village neighborhood, gardening, and workshops. The workshops—active, collaborative sessions involving students and residents—have included a shopping excursion to the grocery store to gather fresh ingredients, preparing a healthy meal, enjoying the fruits of our labors and a fun activity designed to get us thinking about our relationship with food. Graduate students from a variety of disciplines, including Imaging and Digital Arts; Geography and Environmental Systems; Mechanical Engineering; Biology; Psychology; Language, Literacy and Culture; and Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, have participated in the program.  

Jessica reflects

During my training as a psychologist, I have had the honor to work as a research fellow at the National Institutes on Aging on an innovative, community-based epidemiological study called the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. I work mainly on issues pertaining to cardiovascular health disparities. I am driven by the question, “Why are so many people dying from heartbreak?” My research focuses on how poor diet and chronic stress act synergistically to cause hypertension and diabetes.Sadly, people who are living in poverty suffer a greater health burden from hypertension and diabetes.

The concept of food security is commonly defined as including both physical and economic access to food. The issue of food insecurity represents the intersection of both poor diet quality and chronic stress. I strongly believe that if we work together to eliminate food insecurity it would dramatically reduce the morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular disease.

The BreakingGround collaborative project between GSA and Pigtown Food for Thought, provided me with the unique opportunity to transform my academic interests into social action. Because I am passionate about the cause, absolutely love working with children

Seeds of Change and Growth: My UMBC Years

Eric Anthony Grollman ’07, sociology and psychology, is a PhD candidate at Indiana University.  He will begin teaching at the University of Richmond in August.

Recently, I watched Dr. Freeman Hrabowski’s TED talk on the key initiatives needed to help all students to be successful. As usual, I was inspired by his passion, creative vision, and ideas. To share his message, I wrote about his talk in my blog, and reflected a little on my time at UMBC. “Wow,” I thought, “I hadn’t realized just how much UMBC set the stage for my career as a researcher, teacher, and advocate.”

At the start of college, I was an outspoken, know-it-all 18-year-old, struggling as a Meyerhoff Scholar. I was a math major, frustrated by what felt like a disconnect between my passion to make a difference in the world and calculus. I had immediately taken on a leadership position in the Freedom Alliance, the university’s group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. Thanks to some tough love from my parents and the Meyerhoff staff, I decided to “get it together,” which meant leaving the program to pursue a major in sociology. That was probably the hardest, yet best decision I have made in life thus far.

From the Archives: Giving Tradition

Lindsey Loeper ’04, American Studies, is an archivist at UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery.

Ideally the months leading up to a student’s graduation contribute to a sense of accomplishment and momentum in pursuing life goals. Maybe your thoughts turn to your relationship with your university: How has it shaped you, and how did you successfully shape your experience and your campus community?

Maybe those thoughts inspire you to make a financial contribution to your class legacy. Class gifts are a way of making a difference for future generations following in your wake. Often these gifts take the form of a physical artifact, like the Testudo statute at College Park, donated by that university’s Class of 1933.

The first senior project that I can locate in UMBC’s history is from 1970. The class of 1970 is often referred to as the Founding Class, because the graduates were the first group to complete all four years of their degree at UMBC. As in the origin stories of many of our campus traditions, UMBC students decided to forge their own path. During the Spring