This winter, stay on track to graduate on time (or early) and move one step closer to starting your career.

Start planning now and pick up the Schedule of Classes from the Office of Summer & Winter Programs table in the Breezeway on October 20th, 11:30am-1pm!

For more information, visit http://www.umbc.edu/winter/.

“We all come from different backgrounds and bring different perspectives to the classroom—we have so much to learn from listening to how we all approach a topic differently.”

– Dr. Kathryn Kein

Lilly Tomlin, Phyllis Diller and Gilda Radner

My research and writing focus largely on the relationship between comedy and feminism. While conventional wisdom of second wave feminism believes that feminists aren’t funny and can’t take a joke, I subvert that assumption by studying the work of Lilly Tomlin, Phyllis Diller, Gilda Radner and others. While writing about comedy isn’t always as funny as one would hope, my dog seems to enjoy most of my jokes.

Looking at the World in a Different Way

My teaching style emphasizes class discussion and interaction. Explaining our perspective, listening to those of others, and figuring out where we stand is often how we learn the most. In Gender & Women’s Studies, we’re asking you to try a new way of looking at the world, which can be very difficult. But students find that it opens up so many ideas they hadn’t considered, and that is really fun to be a part of.

GWST:  Something for ALL Majors! 

One of the most important things my students gain in GWST courses is a lens through which to look at the world that applies to other academic disciplines and to our everyday lives. A STEM major might not think GWST relates to his or her academic field, for example, but students consistently find that the analytical tools we develop can make them more well-rounded and informed engineers, scientists, doctors, etc. And while we might take a class about Gender and Sitcoms for a fun elective, learning how to cast an analytical eye on the culture we consume every day helps us to be more critical viewers and to be more cognizant of the ideas put forth in media we consume every day.

Winter Session 2018

I am teaching GWST 323 – Gender and Sitcoms. What’s so unique about this course is that it takes something we think of as trivial, like a TV sitcom—fun, maybe, but not an important thing to study in school—and takes it seriously as a part of our culture that influences how we see and interact with the world. We get to watch 30 Rock for homework, but we’ll also pair it with a text about the show’s exploration of discourses of feminism in popular culture. We can debate if we think Liz Lemon’s feminism is the same as that of Tina Fey.

“In winter courses you are giving a topic your undivided attention. You can learn a lot about a subject when you have the luxury of devoting so much of your intellectual energy to it.”

A $5,000 grant is available for CIEE's Open Campus Program. CIEE’s Global Institutes are located in six major international cities. Each Global Institute offers a number of courses across five academic disciplines, offered in six week blocks.  This Open Campus Academic Model allows you to study in one location for a full semester, or create a custom, comparable study abroad experience that takes you to up to three international cities in CIEE’s Global Quad.

For more information check out the link below! 

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.