To enrich your Summer Session experience, we offer faculty-led special events and activities that will take you beyond the classroom and help you immerse yourself in Baltimore’s unique history, art, politics, neighborhoods and culture. These events are specifically planned for students enrolled in UMBC’s Special Programs courses.

• Thursday, June 15: Get to Know West Baltimore with Eli Pousson & Kate Drabinski 
  Join Summer Session faculty members Eli Pousson and Kate Drabinski for a walking tour of West Baltimore and get to know UMBC’s newest neighborhood. Topics will include the industrial history of West Baltimore, processes of urban renewal and displacement, and recent efforts to change the neighborhood through tourism, education, and other forms of investment. What makes West Baltimore “West Baltimore,” and whose voices shaped and continue to shape its past, present, and future? The tour will leave from the Lion Building at 6:00pm and return by 7:45pm.
• Monday, June 26: Tour Baltimore’s Food Markets with Kate Drabinski. 
  Baltimore boasts one of the oldest public markets in the country—Lexington Market, open since 1782—and a variety of markets, both public and private, all over the city. Join Kate Drabinski for an introduction to Baltimore’s food markets. This tour will start from the Lion Building and visit Hollins Market and then pop over to Lexington Market before heading up to Mount Vernon to visit one of the city’s newest private market. Topics will include food justice in Baltimore, public versus private developments, and the role of markets in the future of city neighborhoods. The tour will leave from the Lion Building at 1pm and return by 4:00pm.
• Friday, July 14: Behind the Scenes at Camden Yards with Kate Drabinski. 
  Camden Yards is best known to today’s Baltimoreans as the home of the Baltimore Orioles, but it has a colorful history that long predates our home team. Before hitting the game join Kate Drabinski for a tour of Camden Yards and the surrounding neighborhoods. Topics will include the role of the B&O Railroad in building Baltimore, the Pratt Street Riots and Baltimore’s role in the Civil War, and the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a signature moment in the growth of the country’s labor movement. We will meet on the campus shuttle at 5:00pm, or at Pratt & Penn at 5:30 and will be at the gates and ready for the first pitch against the Chicago Cubs at 7:05pm. Tickets will be available through the Student Events Board (SEB). Check back for more details.