Exploring Stories of Political Activism and Ideological Perpetuation in Black Religious Institutions
Joshua Gray
Mentors: Ann Sofie Clemmensen, Dance; Liz Patton, Media and Communication Studies
The presence of political debate and activism at dining tables, conference rooms, and other traditionally apolitical spaces has burgeoned in recent history. The Black church has been one of these politically transformed spaces that have been impactful in promoting movements around political ideologies. The Black body is political, and so are all cultural and religious practices from that experience. This research uses ethnographic and choreographic practices to explore themes of embodied Blackness, relational power, and institutionally-bound socio-political obligations. This research considers the question: how do congregants within Black Religious Institutions identify with their role in the political landscape that has led to change in diplomacy, legislation, awareness and transparency, civic engagement, and rights expansion — even on a microscale. Through collecting and interpreting oral histories within Black Religious Institutions, these stories and interactions informed a new contemporary choreographic work and an inquiry into choreographic methodologies foregrounding Africanist movement expression and values.
This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Bilingualism and Cultural Identity in the Latinx Community
Mentors: Tania Lizarazo, Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; Renee Lambert-Bretiere, Modern Language, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, UMBC
Abstract:
Latinx cultural identity is constantly under pressure to be one feature at home and within the community, but to be something else outside. One difficulty faced by Latinx individuals when embracing bilingualism as their cultural identity is the stigmatization and stereotyping of being gangbangers, minimum wage workers, and hypersexualized femme fatale as part of their Latinx authenticity. Commonly, the Latinx cultural identity is generalized as only one culture. Many Latinxs have to constantly prove their English competency at school or at their workplace, living in fear and with anxiety to be replaced by their monolingual or bilingual peers that have no accent and sound more American. There is a misconception supporting the idea that learning more than one language affects developmental milestones in children. Therefore, some educators will suggest to Latinx families avoiding teaching their children their native language because this will affect their acquisition of standard English and ultimately affect their school performance. Translanguaging when speaking both languages is preferred by Latinxs because they identify their bilingualism as one repertory that uses either language depending on the need. This study may be relevant for the inclusion of bilingual individuals not only within UMBC but also in a globalized world.
This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs
Congratulations, Viridiana!
Name: Marvin Onwukwe
Internship, Co-op, or Research Site: UMBC USM LSAMP
Position Title: Undergraduate Researcher
Major or Program: Biological Sciences
Current Class Level: Junior
Work Term: Spring 2022
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.
My responsibilities include learning laboratory procedures and getting myself up to speed with the other undergraduate researchers in the lab by undergoing training. I'd like to get onto my own project and intellectually contribute to the findings. I take part in chores, meetings, technique training and data collection. I collect flies from food vials carefully and put them to sleep with carbon dioxide and inspect them under the microscope. I need to discover their gender and safely collect the correctly designated flies from labeled fly lines so that they can be treated with the experimental variable and gage the results through their homogenized sample.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I heard about the vacancy through a recent UMBC graduate and I had formally applied via USM LSAMP.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
Learning from experienced undergraduate peers
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
I believe I made an impact by contributing to a greater whole. The lab is reputable, the grand scheme/goals of the research contribute to solving some of today's most relevant medical qualms of which I would be fortunate to make contributions to in the smallest part.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
Now is the best time. Don't wait, you'll be happy you took the opportunity to grow.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / working with the Career Center.
I feel more engaged with people who could be valuable resources. It gave me more confidence in pursuing the daunting initial steps I needed to take to find out my passions. I held so much initial fear towards the future as many do but I now feel more capable of assertive action that would put me in the right direction.
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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Monday!
DUIT is seeking Software or Computer Science majors, who LOVE coding. The project will involve writing software instances and scripts plus testing the written code using a technology called Sonarqube.
Davis Unlimited Information Technologies, Inc. (DUIT), a woman-owned, minority-owned small business information technology consulting company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is seeking the best and brightest part-time college interns to join our winning team.
To apply, search up DUIT on UMBCworks! Best of luck!
]]>Good evening, UMBC Community!
Because of rain, tomorrow's event (Friday, May 6th) will relocate indoors to UMBC's Apartment Community Center. At 1:30pm, Kate Drabinski (GWST) kicks off the Opening Ceremonies. There will be contests, fun, & food. Planner Hager Younes will lead the Luminaria Ceremony @3:30pm, at which you can hear an impactful story from Kara Seidel '18 and current PhD student in the Language, Literacy, & Culture Program. Stop by and join us!
Interested in volunteering? Go to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJsYiUNrr3Wpz_Rsqdmr9GLH2Q_qErgTZUgz7CbBnbE/edit?usp=sharing
Our UMBC campus goal is $5,000. We are ONLY $800 away! Help us get there! Learn more and donate at relayforlife.org/umbc
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