Becoming Agents of Change

The first graduating class of Gender and Women’s Studies majors has gained critical skills and leadership experience essential to the 21st century.

“Our program helps prepare students – both men and women – for a world that has to understand gender in all of its strengths and complexities,” said Anne Brodsky, director of Gender and Women’s Studies and associate professor of psychology. “In addition, our classes stress that gender is just one important identity and that ethnicity, race, class, sexual orientation and disability are all critical elements as well.”

The Gender and Women’s Studies program is interdisciplinary, with affiliate faculty and staff from across the University, and emphasizes skills in critical thinking and writing. In addition to their academic endeavors, students get involved in a vast range of activities such as Women Involved in Leadership and Learning, the Student Government Association, the Women’s Center, Freedom Alliance and the Women’s Collective, among others. Students also participate in internships with a variety of organizations, such as the International Rescue Committee, and have an opportunity to study abroad to explore issues of gender and culture throughout the world.

Formerly known as women’s studies, the program also offers a minor, as well as undergraduate and post-baccalaureate certificates. “Gender and women’s studies has been a popular program at UMBC for 25 years,” said Brodsky. “We have students who have gone on to a variety of fields, including law, health, social service, public policy, activism and media.”

Jodi Kelber-Kaye, Gender and Women’s Studies faculty member and director of WILL, said, “The students in our first class have been committed to the program throughout their time at UMBC — some even delayed graduating so that they could obtain the major. They are intelligent and articulate on issues of structure and equality, and I know they will continue to be leaders in the field.”

All of the students in the first Gender and Women’s Studies cohort are interested in pursuing graduate degrees now or in the future. Nardos Bellete, for example, will attend Loyola College of Maryland’s Master’s in Clinical Counseling program. Erin Fox will continue to work in the legal advocacy department at the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County, while Tavia Wright is an assistant and project manager in the honors program at the Community College of Baltimore County. Kate Furek and Martine Richards hope to obtain positions with non-profit organizations.

Bellette said, “The Gender and Women’s Studies program taught me to know and analyze the world around me and its inequalities, know those inequalities are changeable and find ways to make things better. The faculty see promise in students and turn them into agents of change, and this is what I hope to be as a therapist to individuals in need.”

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

First Class Graduates from Unique Media and Communication Studies Program

As communication becomes increasingly digital, interactive and pervasive, knowledge of new media technology is essential. The first graduates of the Media and Communication Studies program have received a strong foundation not only in new media, but in critical media literacy and intercultural communication.

“Our program is unique in that it doesn’t just prepare students for a job in media and communication fields,” said Jason Loviglio, director of Media and Communication Studies and associate professor of American studies. “The program is grounded in the liberal arts tradition, with a strong emphasis on written and oral communication skills. Students learn to critically decode the media, communicate across lines of cultural differences and be comfortable with using new media technologies.”

Media and Communication Studies students have taken advantage of opportunities to gain experience both on and off campus. David Etzel is the co-winner of UMBC’s first-ever ProveIt competition, which provides up to $50,000 to the student(s) who come up with the best idea to improve campus life. Etzel’s project, Green Space, will be a public outdoor space next to the Fine Arts Building where members of the UMBC community can gather, rest and study. Etzel also was a marketing intern in the Office of Student Life, and is planning a career in internet communication or television broadcasting.

Last summer, Scott Gajewski was an editorial intern at Smart CEO, where he gained experience in both administrative and editorial work for a humanities-focused business magazine. Gajewski also works at Absolute Quality in Hunt Valley, Maryland, where he tests games for cell phones. He hopes to continue his career in the video gaming industry.

Jazzmon Morgan worked in the Office of Residential Life at UMBC and completed a marketing and sales internship with University Directories. She plans a career in public relations and wants to attend graduate school.

Kacie Smith interned with the Maryland Film Festival and is applying to master’s programs in film studies. She received an Undergraduate Research Award to study  representations of women in Swiss media, and presented her work at Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day. Her study was published in the 2008 UMBC Review: Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works. Smith also is applying for a Fulbright Scholarship to continue her studies abroad.

Smith said, “The Media and Communications Studies program has not only introduced me to theoretical concepts of media, but has provided me with the opportunity to learn applied skills as well. I also was placed in an internship with the Maryland Film Festival, which was an extremely fulfilling experience because I got to witness almost every stage of festival planning.”

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Meyerhoff Scholar Receives Goldwater Scholarship

Meyerhoff Scholar Carla Valenzuela, a sophomore with a 4.0 GPA, is one of 321 students receiving 2008 Goldwater Scholarships, considered the most prestigious U.S. award for undergraduates in mathematics, science and engineering.

The Goldwater Scholarship program honors outstanding students committed to pursuing careers as research scientists. The Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,035 students.   

Valenzuela, a biological sciences major, hopes to obtain a MD/Ph.D. in neuroscience and conduct research on the potential of stem cells to serve as therapeutic tools for neurodegenerative disorders. She became interested in the field as a sophomore in high school, when she had the opportunity to work in a neuroscience laboratory.

This summer, Valenzuela will travel to Tokyo, Japan for a research internship at the Nutrition Metabolism, Metabolic Disorders Department at the Tsukuba Research Institute, Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. She currently conducts research in the laboratory of Margaret M. McCarthy at the University Of Maryland School of Medicine, where she studies the effect of estradiol on glial cell genesis and function in the development of the hippocampus. She has been a member of Temple University’s Physician Scientist Training Program since her sophomore year in high school, which enabled her to participate in internships across the nation, including Temple University’s Center for Stem Cell Technology, the National Institutes of Health and Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. this summer. She also has interned at Wyeth Pharmaceutical Company.

Valenzuela also is a National Science Foundation S-STEM Scholar and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society and the National Society for Collegiate Scholars.

“I feel so honored to have received the Goldwater Scholarship,” said Valenzuela. “It really motivates me to continue working hard towards getting my M.D./Ph.D. in neuroscience and someday becoming a leader in my field.”

(5/14/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

The Project

The Charlestown Digital Story Project teams UMBC students with residents of Charlestown Retirement Community to create digital stories. Drawn from the life experiences of the residents, the stories combine narration, animation, photos and music in short movies to be shared with others. Residents work closely with student partners, acting as author and creative director of their individual story. Each student brings their own style and talents to the project, helping to create some unique examples of intergenerational storytelling.

Over thirty stories have been produced to date. In 2007, the project was recognized with a Bronze Telly Award.

The project is organized by the New Media Studio with funding from Retirement Living TV.

View a short feature on the project.

The Stories

Filming the “Plight of the Puffins”

Puffins: the flighted, more stylish-looking cousins of the penguin. To the island nation of Iceland, they are as culturally significant as blue crabs are to Maryland. Now a Fulbright-funded documentary film made by Maria Frostic of UMBC’s Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology (GEST) Center, to be broadcast nationally by PBS on July 23, may help spotlight how climate change could impact the unique birdsí future.

Shot on location in Iceland’s Westman Islands, a shorter version of Frostic’s 13-minute documentary “Plight of the Puffins” will air on PBS’s “Wild Chronicles” series on July 23. The full film will routinely screen at the Project Puffin Visitor Center in Maine, and will be submitted to several science and wildlife-themed film festivals.

Originally from Richmond, Va., Frostic arrived at the GEST Center last year after receiving a master’s degree in natural history filmmaking from Montana State University. An earth science film producer at GEST, Frostic makes short, research-oriented videos for the Web. It’s another extension of her many interests and unusual career path.

An avid outdoorswoman, she did her undergraduate studies in biology, English language and literature, and environmental science at the University of Virginia. A two-time alumna of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Frostic spent a semester backpacking the Grand Canyon, winter camping in Yellowstone, caving in Big Horn National Forest and later joined a NOLS sea kayaking expedition in Baja, Mexico.

Her experience with NOLS sparked a lifelong interest in biology and ecology. Frostic has also worked as a teacher, park ranger, newspaper reporter and researcher.

“I look back at my career and it all makes perfect sense, even though it seemed disjointed at the time,” said Frostic. “I always had a foot in both the arts and the sciences, and when I found science filmmaking, it enabled me to combine my many interests: research, writing, travel and ultimately communicating science in a creative way.”

In July 2007, Frostic loaded up her high-def film equipment and journeyed to Iceland, known for its otherworldly landscapes and harsh winters. Icelanders have a close historical and cultural tie to puffins. Long ago, smoked puffin was relied upon as a winter survival staple. But today puffins are more like the Icelandic official mascot, their images displayed on street signs, murals, shot glasses and sweaters.

Frostic’s film shoot coincided with the launch of a research study by noted Icelandic biologist Erpur Hansen on how climate change may be impacting the puffinís food source. Puffins rely on a tiny fish known as the sand eel or sand lance, and the abundance of this fish in Icelandic seas have made the Westman Islands the largest breeding ground for Atlantic puffins in the world.

In recent years the fish have became scarce, and puffin reproduction is plummeting. “Islanders have seen puffin parents try to feed their young (known as pufflings) with larger fish like herring, but they were too large for the juveniles to swallow. Many pufflings have starved to death,” said Frostic.

A recent analysis of the 2007 field data revealed that climate change is being felt in many global ocean ecosystems. “Some of the effects are obvious, and others are more complex and harder to understand,” Frostic said. “What I’m gathering is that every part of the marine ecosystem is affected, starting with phytoplankton and working through the food chain to larger organisms.”

Frostic hopes that “Plight of the Puffins” will hold equal appeal to environmental activists and film lovers. She’s submitting her work to several film festivals while exploring potential tie-ins with Barbara’s Bakery, Inc. — which donates a percentage of profits from its Puffins brand cereal to conservation groups and other charities — and the National Audubon Society’s Project Puffin. She also is interested in teaching a course on science filmmaking at UMBC.

“This project has been like a dream come true,” Frostic said. “Film is a powerful tool for heightening awareness on issues like this, and for inspiring viewers to take action to protect their home planet.”

5/12/08

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �