The Pride Center and WGEC are hosting a book club on Monday, April 27th from 1-2:30pm in the Women's, Gender, & Equity Center (Commons 004) to discuss Mean by Myriam Gurba. Through gritty, confident humor, this true crime style, coming of age memoir explores Myriam's experiences of sexual violence in a small town as a queer, mixed-race Chicana. Hard copies are available in the WGEC and Pride Centers, and an e-version is available through the AOK Library. Come by the WGEC to discuss the book and grab a treat while you're here. RSVP required for book loan.

The WGEC is open to all individuals regardless of their sex, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.
 
UMBC is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors. If you have difficulties accessing any of the materials on our site or any of our events or discussions, please contact us so that we can provide an alternative format and/or remedy any accessibility challenges. For questions or for accessibility requests, contact us at womenscenter@umbc.edu.

Repost from the Center for Social Justice Dialogue 

Position Overview:

Position Type: Internship, Stipend, Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student

Handshake ID: Job #10935546

Hiring Manager: Wendy Low

Term: Academic Year 2026-2027 

Year Stipend: $1500 ($750/semester) 

Estimated Start Date: August 2026 

Application Deadline: For priority, apply by April 26. Applications welcome until position filled. 

Internship Description:

Do you always find yourself talking about social justice? Are you the friend in your group who's always adding “nuance” to the conversation? Then we’re looking for you! Social Justice Dialogue Facilitation Fellows work for the Center for Social Justice Dialogue and are supervised by professional staff within the Center. 

The main role of this internship is to support the work of the Center for Social Justice Dialogue (CSJD) in cultivating a campus community where everyone feels empowered and equipped to engage in difficult dialogue across differences of identity, background, and lived experience. Built on a foundation of Intergroup Theory and other social justice education frameworks, interns will co-create and deliver workshops on topics of identity, social justice, and dialogue to student populations. Further, students will support projects including MediaBytes, Your Story Belongs Here, InterACT, FYS: Race, Social Justice, and Dialogue, and other departmental programs. They may also support collaborative dialogue programs in partnership with other departments on campus (e.g. The Women’s Center, Center for Democracy and Civic Life, Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging, etc). Facilitators are expected to work a maximum of ten hours a week which includes weekly staff meetings to engage in deep learning, prepare for workshops, and continue developing student-focused programming. Interns engage in ongoing training, reviewing key activities, facilitation skills, and foundational introductions to various social justice concepts. Interns must be available for these training sessions as well as program retreats.

Upon the completion of more advanced training (including Restorative Practices) and a full year of participation, students will have the opportunity to apply to a “senior internship” position to facilitate higher stakes dialogues.

General Responsibilities:

• Develop, facilitate, and promote peer-led workshops on topics related to identity, social justice, and dialogue to student populations 

• Engage in ongoing learning and development connected to dialogue and facilitation

• Co-create the continued foundation for IDEAL and InterACT programs, as well as contribute ideas and content for workshop curriculum 

• Support CSJD programming through attendance, marketing/promotion, co-facilitating activities within larger dialogues and workshops, etc.

• Meet with the primary supervisor and attend regular student staff meetings (dependent on student availability)

• Serve as departmental “student liaison,” gathering information about current student “hot topics” and  needs and wants connected to dialogue 

• Serve as an ambassador for IDEAL and InterACT programs, as well as CSJD more broadly 

• Follow all area regulations within the Code of Conduct (this is provided during the staff onboarding process)

• Fulfill all other duties and responsibilities as appropriate and assigned (including, but not limited to occasional  oral / written reflections, time tracking, etc.)

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be a full-time, matriculating undergraduate or graduate student at UMBC;

• Must have and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 (semesterly checks will be conducted);

• Must be able to commit to a minimum of Spring Semester for at least 10 hours per week; oppurtunity to renew

  • Interns are strongly encouraged to enroll and fulfill all the requirements PRAC098 offered through the Career Center each semester, but especially for their first full semester of the internship program. Learn more about PRAC here.

• Must be committed to being a positive role model and demonstrate leadership skills;

• Must demonstrate ability to interact and communicate mindfully in person and online with diverse students, staff, faculty, and other campus community members;

• Must be flexible with schedules depending on relevant programs, events and/or student professional development opportunities; 

• Must have flexibility to work evening and weekend hours on occasion;  

• Must attend all training sessions

• • Please hold the following dates for upcoming programs:
    • Training is likely to occur for 2-3 days August 10-14, 2026. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience with designing/implementing and facilitating programs

• Demonstrated experience with myUMBC, Gmail, Google Drive, Canva, Instagram, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and/or Illustrator 

• Demonstrated basic knowledge in any of the following areas: the relationship between identity, power, privilege and oppression, intersectionality, social justice-related theories, intergroup dialogue (e.g. Critical Race Theory, Feminist/Womanist Theory, Queer Theory, Social Identity Theory)

• Demonstrated leadership skills and experience through student organization leadership, civic engagement and/or activism

• Have summer and winter availability; and

• Have verbal, spoken, and/or written multilingual skills

This internship is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

To apply, find the position on Handshake with the ID: 10935546

The Women's, Gender, & Equity Center will be closed tomorrow, Friday, 4/10, and next Friday, 4/17. 

Staff will be available virtually throughout this time. If you have any questions or concerns, please email womenscenter@umbc.edu.

The WGEC is open to all individuals regardless of their sex, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.
 
UMBC is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors. If you have difficulties accessing any of the materials on our site or any of our events or discussions, please contact us so that we can provide an alternative format and/or remedy any accessibility challenges. For questions or for accessibility requests, contact us at womenscenter@umbc.edu.

We are pleased to congratulate the undergraduate students admitted to the Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering at UMBC for the Fall 2026 term.

Watch a welcome message from Dr. Marten, CBEE Chair, by clicking the image below.

Special Exhibit, RAC Track, 1st Floor- all day

Missionary Position: Power and Cultural Mediation Through the Lens of 16th Century Missionaries and Postwar Sex Workers

Isabel Kendall

Mentor: Julie Oakes, Honors College, History, Asian Studies

What does it mean to be a cultural and linguistic mediator between two nations? How does a colonial power imbalance impact this relationship? This multi-disciplinary creative project seeks to start a conversation about these questions. In this project, I explore how language is shaped by asymmetrical power dynamics and how cultural contact zones create opportunities for linguistic creativity amid significant power imbalances. I analyze two extremely different historical moments to explore how dominated groups have enacted agency throughout history, despite differences in culture or profession. The two case studies are as follows: 16th-century missionary Fray Bernardino de Sahagún’s creation of the Florentine Codex with Nahua scribes, and panpan women, a postwar phenomenon in American-occupied Japan, and their sex-work transactions with U.S. servicemen. This visual project plunges the viewer into the perspective of an intercultural communicator, informed by my research into these two case studies. The intention is for the audience to leave the exhibit with more questions to ask than answers. Further, one should leave with a greater understanding of the crucial and often misunderstood role of the linguistic interlocutor as well as its ubiquity in our past and present.

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award (URA) from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Investigating the Effects of Electronic Cigarette Vapor Exposure on the Olfactory System and Neuroinflammation in Mice

Silvi Shah

Mentors: Weihong Lin, Biological Sciences; Tatsuya Ogura, Department of Biological Sciences

RAC 050 | 2:55 – 3:10 p.m.

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) usage is a public health concern due to exposure to nicotine and other harmful substances, despite being marketed as attractive, flavored alternatives to traditional cigarettes. During vaping exposure, nicotine, flavorant metabolites, and heavy metals can interact with the olfactory system, impairing the sense of smell and disrupting brain signaling. Previous research in mice shows that e-cigarette vapor exposure disrupts olfactory bulb function, though the effects of nicotine, flavorants, and heavy metals remain unknown. This study investigates how vaping disrupts the rodent olfactory system by altering the morphology of the glomerular layer and its neuroinflammatory responses in the olfactory bulb. We hypothesize that increasing chemical components in e-cigarette vapor exacerbates neuroinflammation and olfactory disruption. Each group, containing nine to ten mice, was exposed to e-cigarette compounds (propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, e-liquid containing flavorants and nicotine, with or without heavy metals) or air for eight weeks. Post-exposure, olfactory bulb tissue was analyzed via immunohistochemistry using antibodies against VGluT2, TH, OMP, and GFAP, to determine morphological changes to olfactory glomeruli and inflammation in the olfactory bulb. We are collecting data to explore how exposure to these components, particularly flavorants and heavy metals, may contribute to neuroinflammatory and olfactory dysfunction.

Support for this research was provided by the National Institute of Health grants (T32GM066706) and (T32GM158458). Silvi Shah was supported in part by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) grant (52008090) to the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

RAC Arena, 2 – 3 p.m., Poster #62

“Hypocrisy in Faculty Use”: Student-Driven Recommendations for AI Policy in a Design Classroom

Kaoru Seki, Manisha Vijay
Mentor: Yasmine Kotturi, Human-Centered Computing

Generative AI is reshaping education, yet most classroom policies are written without students and focus on penalizing misuse. This top-down approach sidelines those most affected—students—who have little say in governing their everyday learning, resulting in confusion and fear about acceptable use. We examine how participatory, student-led AI policy design can address this disconnect. We position students as lead users—early adopters of generative AI—and report on a three-part participatory workshop series in HCC629 (Fundamentals of Human-Centered Computing) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Two student co-researchers, without faculty present, facilitated workshops where eight participants surfaced candid AI uses and co-developed ten policy recommendations, later visualized in a zine. Two additional students who declined workshops due to AI skepticism contributed via follow-up interviews. Findings highlight the need for safe spaces to discuss unfiltered AI practices and suggest that student-authored policies can clarify expectations and support more purposeful AI use.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Reposting from fhe Dresher Center for Humanities. Sign up here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/dreshercenter/events/149521 

Part of our Spring 2026 Humanities Forum

Romanticism Bewitched: Witchcraft, Revolution and the Female Demonic

Orianne Smith, Professor, English, UMBC 

The Romantic-era witch was a remarkably flexible symbol of political and social disorder. The recent seventeenth-century witch hunts had already revealed deep anxieties about the subversive potential of women, and the witches who stalk the pages of Gothic poetry and prose or glare menacingly from works of art by Henry Fuseli and William Blake embody revolutionary anger and the possibility of radical social transformation. Despite the fears surrounding such figures, however, the Romantic period also saw witchcraft open up in conceptually new ways, enabling writers and artists to envision alternative means of interacting in the world that were not predicated on the subordination of women and other marginalized groups. Here, Orianne Smith embarks on an interdisciplinary reimagining of witchcraft, women's writing, religion, and social reform, providing original insights on the history of witchcraft and its influence on public discourse, literature and art.

This public forum is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Co-sponsored by the Department of English.

11:30am-12:00pm LIVE in the RAC!

Come for the performance and stay for the keynote. Lunch will be served.

The Dana Idnay Band is an Alternative Rock band playing selections from Sparrow, their recent EP. Featuring Dana Idnay (Biology Pre-Pharmacy), Gabriel Schauf, (Music Technology) Nik Redcay (Music Technology), Logan Williams (Music Technology)

Mentor: Felipe Garibaldi, UMBC Affiliate Artist

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Reposted from the Baltimore Banner: Coal pollutes the air in Curtis Bay.
Researchers found it in the harbor, too. | By: Adam Willis

__________________________________________________________________________________________

South Baltimore residents have long called for the closure of an export terminal that
loads tens of millions of tons of coal each year near their homes. A 2021 explosion at
the site blanketed the Curtis Bay neighborhood in dark dust, and advocates have
documented how winds routinely blow coal off the terminal’s piles and into the
community.

State regulators in recent years have begun to acknowledge the prevalence of coal
dust in Curtis Bay’s air, but a new report suggests the fossil fuel has contaminated
nearby waters, too.

The report, conducted by a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University and
the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, found coal and toxic metals in
sediment drawn from the harbor surrounding the site, which is owned and operated
by the railroad giant CSX.

The study, which has not been peer reviewed, didn’t examine whether this coal came
from the CSX piers or when it entered the water. Researchers said more work is
needed to determine the origins of the coal and hazardous metals.

A CSX spokesperson declined to comment. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company
has pushed back on claims that it’s to blame for the dark dust coating Curtis Bay, a
working-class neighborhood surrounded by other industrial sites, and pointed to
mitigations it has installed — like sprayers to dampen coal dust and fence-line
monitors to measure escaped particles.

CSX also fought a new regulation, imposed by the Maryland Department of the
Environment last year, that would force the company to build a huge windscreen
around its premises to stop coal from blowing into the community.

The new study, which examines sediment samples taken from six sites near the CSX
terminal in March of last year, found almost no life in the sediment, just tiny worms
and a single small clam — a sign that the waters don’t support underwater life, said
Maya Gomes, an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Planetary
Systems.

One of the researcher’s samples, however, contained visible coal particles, while all
of their samples contained metals often associated with coal at levels higher than
federal environmental standards.

To Upal Ghosh, a UMBC environmental engineering professor and author on the new
report, that’s no surprise.

“If we have piles of coal next to the water, some of it will get into the water,” he said.
“The question is: How much, and what’s the impact?”

For now, those questions remain unanswered.

John Scheinman, co-founder of the group Coal Kills Baltimore, which secured
funding for the new report, hopes to see the Maryland Department of the
Environment investigate the contamination source. He doesn’t expect the
windscreen will be enough to shield the community and nearby waters.

“When there is virtually no life, except a few little worms, it’s not exactly
representative of a healthy coastal community,” said Scheinman, who also sits on the
attorney general’s environmental advisory council. “So, who is responsible, and
what’s going to be done about it?”

MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said the agency appreciates research into Baltimore’s
environmental challenges and will review the findings.

The concentrations of many metals measured by the research team weren’t unusual
for the Baltimore harbor, which has suffered from generations of industrial and
stormwater pollution, but Ali Meek, an environmental researcher in Baltimore, found
the findings concerning.

Sampled arsenic concentrations exceeded those found elsewhere in the harbor,
reaching nearly four times the highest levels Meek has observed in studies of the
nearby Middle Branch.

Arsenic, a toxin linked to certain cancers, measured 11 times higher than what
researchers would expect to find in nature, said Meek, while lead levels in the Curtis
Bay samples were 18 times higher than the natural state. Both chemicals are found in
coal.

Even so, Curtis Bay is home to dozens of industrial sites, and Ghosh said it’s possible
that metals and even coal contamination could have come from somewhere other
than the sprawling CSX terminal.

The team’s samples are made up of decades of sediment accumulation, and
Baltimore has a long legacy of reliance on coal. The Curtis Bay piers date back to the
1880s, and a century ago coal provided heat for many Baltimore homes.

While Maryland has almost entirely phased out reliance on coal power, exports
through the Port of Baltimore have boomed in recent years. Between CSX’s site and
another terminal across the harbor in the Canton Industrial Area, Baltimore is the
country’s second-largest coal exporter, sending most of the black Appalachian rock
to India.

Recent research has focused largely on coal in the air around Curtis Bay, leaving
environmental advocates with little grasp of CSX’s potential impacts on the harbor,
said Alice Volpitta, a water quality watchdog with the group Blue Water Baltimore.

One reason may be the challenge of investigating waters near the terminal. Volpitta
said Blue Water Baltimore has tried to assess impacts there before, but because of
CSX’s security protocols, they’ve been unable to get close to the site.

The new findings help complete the picture, she said. “This is a really good first
step.”