Staff

FOXWORTH INITIATIVE GRANT RECIPIENTS FOR 2015-16 ANNOUNCED

The following faculty have been selected as 2015-16 Foxworth Faculty. The grant will allow faculty to create and implement courses that utilize the arts and humanities to help contextualize and present pressing societal issues.

This initiative is made possible by the generosity of two college alumni, Domonique and Ashley Foxworth. Domonique, Class of 2004, is a graduate of American Studies and Ashley, ’06, is an English alumna. The Foxworth Initiative is intended to support learning that brings students in contact with their surrounding communities as partners and allies in practices that help transform and bring about social justice. Courses supported by the initiative provide students with skills and critical thinking that support continued community engagement beyond their college career. For more information, visit www.arhu.umd.edu/foxworth.

FOXWORTH FACULTY COHORT:

Faculty Lead: Karen Bradley, School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Course: Essence, Identity, and Empowerment through the Arts: A Project for High Point High School

Social Issues: Adolescent identity, at risk youth

Approach: This course will focus on arts practices that develop habits of mind, heart and body/spirit in 14-25-year-olds. The primary purpose of this course is to train future arts educators for challenged students. These educators will learn to help students at risk of violence and anomie find voice and identity, and develop community through arts practices. UMD students will develop these skills in themselves and apply them to high school students at High Point High School. UMD students will design and lead arts experiences through methods, such as free drawing, acting exercises and slam poetry, while becoming advocates for arts integration in the school community.

Community Benefit: Students at High Point High School face issues of poverty, loss of community and identity, and oftentimes, trauma issues. UMD students will guide them toward access to focus, adaptability, a sense of self, self-efficacy and regulation skills, as well as organization, observation, analysis,, choice-making, predicting and communication skills via performance. In no way will every high school student achieve all of these, but they will be introduced to these concepts and experience practices that can lead to understanding and skill development.

Faculty Lead: Audra Buck-Coleman, Department of Art

Courses: Advanced Graphic Design Principles: Design in Society and Three Dimensional Graphic Design

Social Issues: Adolescent identity, at-risk youth, social protest, structural racism and inequality

Approach: Over the course of two semesters, UMD senior graphic design students will collaborate with students from Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, a public high school in West Baltimore. Together they will leverage their creative skills to respond to the media’s negative and one-dimensional portrayal of the Baltimore students and their community during last year’s uprising. They will produce a series of creative works that promote positive, well-rounded notions of the students’ identities and the Baltimore community and that address the timeless and timely issues of structural racism, identity, unrest and self-agency as they relate to the Baltimore uprising. Their works will be exhibited at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore from April through August 2016, coinciding with the first anniversary of Freddie Gray’s death. The exhibition will include participatory elements to engage audiences and add their insights to these important conversations.

Community Benefit: Through their interactions, the high school students’ personal narratives and opinions will reshape UMD students’ understandings about identity, privilege and representation. The Baltimore students will be empowered on various levels: they will be given an opportunity and a means with which to re-write narratives about themselves and their community; they will understand how to use creative means as productive expression; they will also gain knowledge regarding artistic practices and contemporary technology with hopes that these exposures may positively affect the way in which they imagine their education or professional endeavors beyond high school.

Faculty Lead: Roberta Z. Lavine, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Course: Spanish for Health Professions

Social Issues: Cultural competence shortages in health professions

Approach: This course will allow students to explore the need for Spanish-English cultural and linguistic competency in health-related contexts. Students will partner with the Health Center to focus on outreach for Spanish-speaking dining services workers on campus. In class and in the outreach experience, students will examine and develop their own cultural competency by exploring identities, critically analyzing and solving problems, learning collaboratively and meaningfully interacting with members of other cultures. They will learn with and from the targeted campus community to develop strategies to advance culturally and linguistically appropriate health services on campus.

Community Benefit: The two tangible types of benefits to the clients are gaining health literacy and understanding how to maintain wellness, in culturally appropriate interactions that value and involve the workers themselves. In a respectful and participatory environment, the chances of client follow-through on health interventions are increased. UMD students will be able to explore and analyze their multiple identities and have real-world experiences working with Latino communities.

Faculty Lead: Jason Kuo, Department of Art History and Archaeology

Course: Aging and Creativity: Older Artists in Our Community

Social Issues: Ageism

Approach: This highly experiential and interdisciplinary course will engage students in the experience of the maturing artist through studying literature, attending guest lectures and conducting interviews and site-visits with older artists in the community. Interviews with selected artists will allow students to assist in documenting the artists’ life and art. These tasks will incorporate the disciplines of art history, gerontology and museum studies for students to ultimately shape an exhibition at the Brentwood Arts Exchange devoted to arts created by people over the age of 65. This will involve applying the research and experience from throughout the course to select the works, design the space, organize public programs and publish the exhibition catalog, brochures and wall labels.

Community Benefit: The contemporary art world focuses its attention on young emerging artists, creating difficulty for maturing artists to enter or re-enter public view. The goal of this course is to help their art become better recognized, documented, publicly exhibited and appreciated by our community. Research has demonstrated that community-based cultural programs for older adults are effective in health promotion, disease prevention and reduction in the need for long-term care. UMD students will benefit from the intergenerational interaction by gaining perspective of the ageist practices in the art world and the creative vitality that can be found in the maturing artist community.

A CONVERSATION WITH AFRICA’S PREMIER DIVA

By Gabriela Martínez

Angélique Kidjo, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and activist from Benin, visited the University of Maryland for the WORLDWISE: Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series to talk about her life story and the role of music in activism.

As soon as she walked onstage and sat down for her live discussion with Sheri Parks, associate dean of University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities, Angélique Kidjo looked at the audience and said “You are all so quiet. We’re talking about art, man.”

Using her own lively stories about her childhood in a village in Benin, Kidjo captured the audience and lightened the mood. An inquisitive child—known affectionately in her village as “Where, what and how?”—Kidjo was privileged for having parents who greatly valued her intellectual development.

Kidjo’s mother, a skilled costume designer, created a theater in her community. As a child, Kidjo would spend time climbing in and out of the animal costumes her mother made. One night, when her mother did not have enough actors between scenes, she made Kidjo go onstage. Not knowing what to do, Kidjo decided to belt out a song.

It was after that moment that Kidjo decided that she wanted to spend her life onstage.

When asked what it feels like to be the queen of African music, Kidjo responded “I don’t believe in kings or queens.”

She said her nature is to defy structures of power, which she did after deciding to leave Benin, having realized that the country’s communist regime was not going to foster her creativity and desire to grow intellectually.

Escaping Benin was not easy, she said. At the time, citizens who wanted to leave the country needed to get authorization from the government. Kidjo, however, was lucky. Her brother’s friend, who was working as airport security at the time, let her board the plane while his supervisor was in the bathroom.

“I’ve never ran so fast in my life,” Kidjo said.

When Kidjo arrived in France, she experienced racism and cultural estrangement in French society, and at the educational institution she graduated from—the CIM Jazz School of Paris.

On her way to register at the school, Kidjo asked for directions from two students.

“Jazz is not for African people,” one of the students told her.

The head of the school, having overheard what the girls had said to Kidjo, told Kidjo that she could prove those students wrong. At the end of the school year, he introduced her to the person who produced her debut album “Parakou.”

Since then, Kidjo’s fame has skyrocketed. She won her first Grammy in 2008 for her album “Djin Djin” and was named one of the 40 most powerful celebrities in Africa by Forbes.

Kidjo also discussed her work with the Batonga Foundation for Girls in Africa, which aims to empower girls and young women in Africa through educational opportunities. Kidjo is currently working on a cellphone-based program that collects information about girls in different African villages and maps it out according to different locations.

The purpose of the program is to find out how girls are living, if they are in school, forcefully married, or going through other types of difficult living situations. Kidjo’s foundation will develop an educational approach for girls based on the needs of the community reflected through the data.

For Kidjo, the first step in creating humanitarian programs for Africa, is giving voices to people and finding out what are their genuine needs.

“I don’t believe anyone can make any change in Africa if the African people are not in the center of the change,” Kidjo said. “If you don’t ask them what they need, how can you bring a program that makes any sense to people?”

After the discussion, Moses Namara ‘16, a computer science major originally from Uganda, asked Kidjo for advice on how to improve the education system in different African countries.

In response to Namara’s question, Kidjo advocated for the role of youth in a country’s social and educational development, at the same time warning against starting revolutions and “breaking a system” without a plan.

“The platform is there—use it wisely,” said Kidjo, who is optimistic about the power of the Internet, but also wary about its potential to isolate people.

After graduating from the University of Maryland, Namara will return to Uganda to teach basic programming classes at different local universities, including the Kampala International University.

Toward the end of the program, students gathered around Kidjo to discuss issues of colonialism and social injustice in Africa.

“She is very engaging,” said Peace Gwam ‘17, an economics and history major. “I like that she really called us to action as young students.”

Soulyana Lakew ’17, an economics major originally from Ethiopia, is interested in the role of the western world in the development of Africa.

“It is so refreshing to meet people with integrity,” Lakew said. “A lot of the role models we are given in society are so corrupt. To find someone who is able to use their voice for good and who is true to their word is so inspiring.”

UMD "THINKATHON" DISCUSSES ONGOING REFUGEE CRISIS, POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

12/6/15

By Sydney Tonic, The Diamondback

Photo Courtesy of Victoria Robinson

The arts and humanities college partnered with the Office of Diversity & Inclusion and the Office of International Affairs to foster a discussion about the ongoing refugee crisis in the country and what students at this university can do to help.

Sheri Parks, the director for the Center for Synergy and the associate dean for research and interdisciplinary programming in the arts and humanities college, organized the “Thinkathon,” hoping to implement a “think and do” model to involve students in the discussion.

About 15 students gathered for the workshop Friday morning in Stamp Student Union.

“We believe that, along with faculty and staff, students care about major issues of our time, such as the refugee crisis,” Parks said. “We have students here who have been refugees or are the children of refugees.”

Yasmine Taeb, a legislative representative for human rights and civil liberties at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, spoke about the crisis and its human impact at the event. She said the present crisis is devastating and more than 8 million refugees are internally displaced in Syria.

As part of the committee, Taeb lobbies and advocates about refugee-related issues with congressional offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

“Refugees coming to the U.S. are by far the most scrutinized community of entrance to the U.S.,” Taeb said. “We just don’t feel as though the U.S.’s response to the crisis has been adequate; their response has been quite tepid, at best.”

Hiba Salih, program manager for youth and health at the International Rescue Committee in Baltimore, and Tyler Stoddard, its development coordinator, also came to talk about the work they do for refugees. Salih, a former refugee from Sudan, explained the difficulties of the life of a refugee coming to this country.

“The major challenges are the trauma that they have been through,” Salih said. “Having to adapt to a new country, new systems … they haven’t seen civilization.”

Read more here.

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER- SONGWRITER FROM BENIN IN CONVERSATION AT THE WORLDWISE: ARTS AND HUMANITIES DEAN’S LECTURE SERIES

WHAT:

The WORLDWISE: Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series features a discussion between Angélique Kidjo and Sheri Parks, associate dean in the College of Arts and Humanities, in which Kidjo will talk about her life story, including her reasons for escaping Benin’s former leftist regime to pursue her dream of becoming an artist in Paris. She will also talk about what it means to be the “queen of African music” and her fervent activism around women and girls in Africa.

The discussion will also explore the idea of cultural rights in the lives of refugees, taking into account the United Nations’ recognition of culture as a human right.

Prior to the lecture, the Arts and Humanities Center for Synergy led by Sheri Parks will host a ThinkAThon for Refugees: A Think and Do Day of Intellectual Activism, in which Yasmine Taeb from Friends’ National Committee for Legislation will brief participants on the ongoing refugee crises. Two representatives from the International Rescue Committee will provide briefings on the current refugee crisis in Baltimore, which is one of largest receiver cities of refugees in the Unites States.

The briefings will be followed by group discussions, in which participants will examine specific issues and think of solutions to alleviate the plight of refugees.

The event is co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of International Affairs.

Lunch will be provided. Participants should register, but walk-ins are welcome.

WHO:

Sheri Parks, Associate Dean for Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Programming in the College of Arts and Humanities

Angelique Kidjo, singer-songwriter and activist from Benin, Africa

Growing up in Benin, Africa, Kidjo was influenced by the sounds and rhythms of Beninese traditional music, as well as jazz, pop, and salsa music. Through her dynamic collaborations with composers such as Philip Glass, Kidjo strives to combine African music with different musical styles.

Kidjo was named one of the 40 most powerful celebrities in Africa by Forbes and one of the 100 most inspiring women in the world by The Guardian. As the founder of the Batonga Foundation for Girls in Africa and is Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, Kidjo is dedicated to empowering the lives of African women.

WHEN:

5:30 - 7 p.m. (WORLDWISE: Arts and Humanities Dean’S Lecture Series)

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (ThinkAThon for Refugees)

WHERE:

The ThinkAThon for Refugees will be held in the Charles Carroll Room at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland, College Park.

The WORLDWISE: Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture with Sheri Parks and Angélique Kidjo will take place in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall in The Clarice, University of Maryland, College Park.

AADHum Executive Summary

“Synergies among Digital Humanities and African American History and Culture” (Synergies), co-directed by the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) and the Arts and Humanities Center for Synergy (Center for Synergy), will cultivate disciplinary transformation by bringing African Americanists together to develop the tools, methods, and archives needed to address their research questions in a digital humanities (DH) framework. The proposed training model and associated programming will grow and diversify the community of scholars pursuing DH; increase the DH field’s capacity to address questions within African American studies; strengthen the capacity of African Americanist scholars to create and work with digital and archival repositories of primary source materials that privilege understanding of African American experiences; and disseminate knowledge gained at the intersections of DH and African American labor, migration, and artistic expression.

Thematic Focus: Labor, Migration and Artistic Expression

The essential tensions between labor, migration, and artistic expression in the development of African American diasporic cultures in the United States form the rich core of the Synergies project. These themes represent some of the College of Arts and Humanities’ (the College) greatest strengths[1] and will bring together prominent and nationally-recognized faculty in African American history and cultural studies from departments throughout the University of Maryland. The work of Synergies will be undertaken in collaboration with The Center for the History of the New America (CHNA), housed in the History Department and supported by two colleges, which brings together scholars of the long immigration history of the United States; The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Art and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora (The Driskell Center), which provides a locus for some of the leading artists and art historians of African American art and is the largest academic center of African American art and archive collections in the country; and the George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archives, housed within University Libraries, which consist of approximately 40 million documents that serve as a primary repository of the history of American labor. The research of these two centers and the AFL-CIO Archives will serve as testbeds for Synergies projects.

Project Description

Synergies builds upon existing research and training mechanisms within the College and will develop new curricular initiatives and programming. Throughout the project we will disseminate information about the process, tools, methods, and collections developed, culminating in a national symposium to initiate a research network of African American scholars with digital interests and skills.

The Digital Humanities Incubator is a series of workshops and project consultations that organize the high-level training intended to acculturate scholars, students, and librarians to the use of DH tools and methods. For Synergies, we will develop DH Incubators that respond to the project themes and will bring together scholars from a diverse array of disciplines across UMD and from neighboring campuses. The first Synergies DH Incubator will involve 8 intensive workshop sessions over two semesters (Spring - Fall 2017), led by DH specialists and archivists from MITH and University Libraries. The sessions will provide a progressive arc of skill development relevant to digital work with our testbed collections, and will be interspersed with targeted readings on methodologies, “homework” assignments, and one-on-one meetings and coaching. The first year of the DH Incubator will culminate in a “pitch and proposal” process, and selected proposals will receive more extensive and focused project-specific technical support, advice for developing the project, seed grants to cover other research costs, and support for seeking further grant funding. In the second year of the DH Incubator (Spring - Fall 2018), a 5-session workshop series will use the selected seed projects as testbeds to provide further training, teaching participants about project design and management, and introducing information architecture, usability, and technology design. By the end of this two-year period, we expect the DH Incubator process to have engaged a large cross-section of African Americanists, both on campus and beyond, in the thoughtful production of new resources, new digital research methods, and new knowledge for the field.

To support Curricular Development, Synergies Postdoctoral Fellows will each design a two-semester First-Year Innovation Research Experience (FIRE) stream sequence, a course structure that provides inquiry-based experiences and mentorship for first-year students. Synergies FIRE sequences will engage students with research questions involving African American labor, migration, and artistic expression that are tractable to digital tools and methods. Students will pursue these questions through use of project testbed collections, including hands-on work at CHNA, the Driskell Center, and the Meany Archive. Synergies FIRE students may elect further study through either the Arts and Humanities Social Innovation Scholars (SIS) program - a College supported 3-semester curricular initiative that trains promising undergraduate scholars in the use of humanities-based strategies for activism - or the Foxworth Creative Enterprise Initiative, which provides support for faculty to design and teach a course that engages students in addressing an issue encountered by underserved, at risk, and/or historically underrepresented populations. The Synergies SIS course series will allow students to learn and apply DH skills in work with non-profit organizations to answer organizational questions informed by the broad themes of this proposal. The Foxworth course will give students a learning experience that combines DH methods with the study of African American history and culture. The Project Director will work with UMD faculty in African American history and cultural studies to develop new interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate courses designed to include a DH component and hands-on practice. S/he will also establish and lead a summer curriculum transformation project to help faculty teaching African American studies classes build DH methods and tools into their courses.

The Center for Synergy will design and implement complementary Programming that will bring together research and technical experts with a broader public and will increase the accessibility and impact of both the project themes and methods of analysis. We will also design and stage the Synergies Research Seminar, an interdisciplinary reading group open to faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students focused on specialized topics that relate to the broader themes (2017) and nascent projects (2018) of the Synergies project. The Center for Synergy will also dedicate two of its WORLDWISE Dean’s Lecture Series, one each in 2017 and 2018, to probe the theoretical and pragmatic contexts of our work through presenting major speakers and related programming events for faculty and students. Finally, the Project Director will lead the planning of a 2-day national symposium at the project’s conclusion.

Conclusion

Synergies will bring together African Americanist scholars from across the College, campus, and region to re-imagine their research and scholarship through the tools, methods, and techniques of the digital humanities. The project will produce a new model for training scholars, as well as more diverse practitioners and content in the field of digital humanities. Through concerted dissemination efforts, Synergies successes and lessons learned will offer a model for replication and promise widespread benefits to the academy, to cultural heritage institutions, and to the public.

---------------------------------------------------------
[1] The graduate program in African American History is ranked 2nd nationally, and the African American Literary Studies graduate program of the English department is ranked 8th nationally (U.S. News and World Report, 2013), with particular strengths and renowned faculty in both African American and African Diaspora studies. The American Studies Department is ranked 3rd nationally (American Studies Association).

Empathetic Engineering: An Engineer's Journey

Zupnik Lecture Hall, Rm. 1110, Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building

Thursday, November 05, 2015 - 5:00 PM

This year's Whiting-Turner Lecture features Kevin Apperson, who will discuss how he hires artists, humanists and engineers who work together to develop healthcare technology solutions that work for both patients and doctors.

A DANCER AND HIS ROBOT

9/25/15

Written by Alex Carolan, The Writer's Bloc

Photo Courtesy of Victoria Robinson

We live in an age where technology is constantly evolving.

Tech gurus and entrepreneurs are creating and programming new devices that have previously been unimaginable.

Huang Yi, a native of Taiwan, presents a tangible piece of technology, a fresh invention the public has yet to experience.

Yi programs a robot named Kuka and performs dance routines with it at different venues.

Sheri Parks, the College of Arts and Humanities associate dean for research moderated a talk with Huang Yi Thursday in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at The Clarice about his experiences in dance, programming and life.

Students and staff were also involved in the conversation, and were encouraged to ask questions.

Bowen Gong, a freshman mathematics major asked Yi if he had a nickname for the robot, because “Kuka” is the name of the model – not the individual device.

“It’s really easy for me to relate my emotions to many items,” Yi said. “So I try not to name them.”

The crowd of around 60 spectators were once again captivated by Yi’s summations of his own life and technology.

Yi said he is limited to certain movements in dancing, as a human, but his robot Kuka is not.

“[It’s like] I’m beginning to learn how to be a human,” he said.

Yi attended Thailand University of the Arts for 11 years, from just after completing high school to when he completed his MFA, he said. He was isolated to that one area because of financial concerns and lackluster travel options.

Read and watch video here

HUANG YI SHOWCASES ROBOTIC CHOREOGRAPHY AT THE CLARICE

9/27/15

By Miranda Jackson, The Diamondback

Highly acclaimed Taiwanese choreographer and dancer Huang Yi came to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center with one seemingly crazy concept: a piece of choreography designed around a robot named KUKA.

Many years ago, when Yi was a child, his family underwent a drastic lifestyle change when his parents had to file for bankruptcy. As his artist statement reads: “My family of four moved from a luxurious house to a 40-square-foot room.”

The constant moving that he experienced put a lot of stress on his parents, so much so that they often attempted suicide. In order to relieve his parents of anymore potential stress, Yi detached himself from all his emotions, a very common defense mechanism among children. He became a perfect child, like a robot, with hardly any personality left at all.

Perhaps this is why he connected so well with the atmosphere of robotics. His favorite television program growing up was a cartoon called Doraemon, which Yi explains as a “Japanese animation character and a cat robot who is always there to solve problems for his owner.” Robots became a passion of his from a very young age, as he identified with their loyalty and selfless destiny.

As an adult, he decided that he wanted to combine two divergent concepts: the science of mechanical engineering and the art of dance, as he grew up with a passion for both. His show featured four members: himself, dancer Lin Jou-Wen, dancer Hu Chien and German robot KUKA. Yi didn’t build this robot; he simply programmed it after receiving it from the company, which was in itself an ordeal.

Read more here.

WORLDWISE ARTS AND HUMANITIES DEAN'S LECTURE SERIES: HUANG YI

The University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities presents WORLDWISE Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series: In Conversation with Sheri Parks. This year’s Dean’s Lecture Series features Huang Yi, a dancer, choreographer, inventor and videographer from Taipei, Taiwan.

In an additional event on Sept. 24, ArtistTalk: Manipulating Data for Performance, Huang Yi will be interviewed by professor Satyandra K. Gupta, director of the Maryland Robotics Center in UMD's Institute for Systems Research.

WHO

Huang Yi’s work focuses on the relationship between humans and machines, and how they are becoming more interrelated. His dance performances integrate human and mechanical movements in a synchronized manner. According to Sozo Artists website, his work has received considerable praise at international arts festivals, including the Ars Electronica Festival (Austria), Joyce Theater, Engien-Les-Bain Centre des Arts (France), Nimbus Dance Works (Jersey City), Cloud Gate 2 (Taipei), the Indonesian Dance Festival (Jakarta), New York Live Arts and the American Dance Festival (North Carolina).

Sheri Parks is an associate professor at the Department of American studies and associate dean for Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Programming at the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU), which is dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary research and scholarship in the arts and humanities.

EVENT DETAILS

WORLDWISE Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series: In Conversation with Sheri Parks -5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall

For free tickets or more information, visit: go.umd.edu/HYi or call 301.405.ARTS.

Facebook event page here

ArtistTalk: Manipulating Data for Performance- 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Kogod Theatre

MEDIA

For more information about this event, please contact Nicky Everette, director of marketing and communications for the College of Arts and Humanities, at meve@umd.edu or 301-405-6714.

Media should RSVP to meve@umd.edu.

SPRING 2016 ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Below is a list of enrichment opportunities for ARHU faculty, staff and students for spring 2016. We hope you will be able to join us for some of these exciting events. Please consider incorporating some of these events into your syllabi and pass these opportunities along to your students. A copy of these events is available for download here. If you have something you would like to be included in this listing, please email arhusynergy@umd.edu.

Do Good Challenge: Course Support Micro-Grant Funds Available
Request for Proposals Deadline: Dec. 21, 2015
The Do Good Challenge is an eight-week social innovation challenge that inspires students to apply their creativity, skills, and passion to address pressing social challenges on campus and around the world. During the challenge, students team up to analyze a pressing social issue, take action through volunteering, fundraisers, advocacy, or start their own social enterprises. This year they are launching a new initiative which provides funds ($500 to $2000) and resources to faculty who are interested in incorporating the Do Good Challenge into spring 2016 courses. Contact Katlin Meissinger, katmeiss@umd.edu for more info.

Artist Partner Program
NextLOOK: Clown Cabaret
Fri. Jan. 22, 2016, 7:00pm; Joe’s Movement Emporium
Pay what you want, no tickets required
Clown Cabaret, who will be in residency at Joe’s Movement Emporium from January 18–22, 2016, works in an evolving art form that celebrates a universal sense of fun. Through performance, workshops and audience interaction, Clown Cabaret keeps the tradition alive as they develop their newest work.

Artist Partner Program
ODC DANCE: “Stay In One Place” Workshop
Thurs. Jan.28, 2016, 3:30pm; The Clarice, Rever Rehearsal Studio
Free, Registration Recommended
Workshop that illuminates the natural environment through sculpture and movement.

DeVos Institute of Arts Management Internships
Applications accepted on a rolling basis through January 29, 2016
The DeVos Institute of Arts Management is currently accepting applications for Spring 2016 Internships. Students gain valuable experience in event management, program management, and industry research by supporting the Institute’s domestic and international training programs. Interested students may send a resume and cover letter to Syrah Gunning at sgunning@umd.edu.

Recital featuring Andrés Cárdenes, violin; Rita Sloan, piano
Tuesday, February 2, 2016, 8:00pm; Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Free, no tickets required
Grammy-nominated artist Andrés Cárdenes parlays his myriad talents into one of classical music’s most versatile careers. An intensely passionate and personally charismatic artist, Cuban-born Cárdenes has garnered international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for his compelling performances as a violinist, conductor, violist, chamber musician, concertmaster, and recording artist.

Artist Partner Program, UMD School of Music
Ursula Oppens: Piano Master Class
Wed. Feb. 3, 2016, 7:00pm; The Clarice, Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Free, No tickets required
Ursula Oppens will coach students from piano studios in the UMD School of Music.

Ursula Oppens’s Artist-Partner Recital
Thursday, February 4, 8:00pm; Gildenhorn Recital Hall
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her "steely fingers and tender, inviting sense of lyricism infused… with athleticism and grace," Ursula Oppens has long been recognized as the leading champion of contemporary American piano music.

She is a four-time Grammy nominee who has performed with virtually all of the world’s major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. Prolific as a chamber musician as well as a soloist, Oppens has collaborated with the JACK, Juilliard and Pacifica Quartets.

NextLOOK: Clown Cabaret
Friday, February 5, 2016, 7:00pm; Joe's Movement Emporium
Pay what you want, no tickets required
Clown is an evolving art form which celebrates a universal sense of fun. Through performance, workshops, and audience interaction, Clown Cabaret keeps the tradition alive with laughter. During the company’s NextLOOK residency, they will continue developing their newest work. In The Heist, a trio of menacing gangsters conspires to execute the Greatest Robbery of the 21st Century: a piggy bank. A film noir motif carries the story without dialogue, making the show accessible to audiences regardless of language or age. The Heist is a robust physical comedy, with nods to both high and low art ranging from French Surrealism to Bugs Bunny.

Artist Partner Program
Deke Sharon Master Classes
Wed. Feb. 10, 2016, 5:00pm; The Clarice, Dekelboum Concert Hall
Thurs. Feb. 11, 2016, 7:00pm; The Clarice, Dekelboum Concert Hall
Free, Registration Recommended
Two public master classes taught by Deke Sharon, the father of contemporary a cappella.

PANEL: Careers in Writing, Publishing & Editing
Mon. Feb. 15, 2016, 5:00-6:00pm; University Career Center, 3100 Hornbake Library, South Wing
Free, Registration Required
Interested in an internship or career using writing or editing skills? Learn more and network with panelists in a variety of fields that value strong written communication skills. Panelists will be named closer to the date. Open to all undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni. Please RSVP here http://go.umd.edu/pnlwriting or email Kate Juhl at kjuhl@umd.edu.

Artist Partner Program
Vocalosity: The Aca-Perfect Concert Experience
Fri. Feb. 19, 2016, 8:00pm; The Clarice, Dekelboum Concert Hall
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
From the movies to television, a cappella is soaring in popularity. Vocalosity captures this excitement live onstage at The Clarice. Deke Sharon, producer for Pitch Perfect and NBC’s “The Sing-Off,” gathers the world’s best singers for an ‘Aca-Perfect’ musical experience. For added fun, UMD a cappella groups will audition to be an opening act for this special evening.

Artist Partner Program
InnovatorTalk: Art and Community Development
Sat. Feb. 20. 2016, 1:00pm; Brentwood Arts Exchange
Free, Registration Recommended
City Blossoms, a non-profit dedicated to kid-driven, community-engaging, creative green spaces, was founded by UMD alum Lola Bloom. Specializing in an art-based, hands-on approach, Bloom will give an overview of the group’s evolution, and lead participants through activities that demonstrate her unique approach to learning.

UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
BALTIMORE: Big Ten New Play Initiative
Fri. Feb. 26, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Sat. Feb. 27, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Sun. Feb. 28, 2016, 2:00pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Wed. Mar. 2, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Thurs. Mar. 3, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Fri. Mar. 4, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Sat. Mar. 5, 2016, 2:00pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
Sat. Mar. 5, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Baltimore by Kirsten Greenidge is a contemporary story about the loss of innocence and the coming of age of a student forced to encounter the social ramifications of difference and her own cultural relevance.

UMD School of Music: UMD Symphony Orchestra
Alternative Energy
Fri. Feb. 26, 2016, 8:00pm, The Clarice, Dekelboum Concert Hall
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
New violin faculty artist Irina Muresanu and viola faculty artist Katherine Murdock are soloists in Mozart’s brilliant double concerto. With hip-hop and techno beats, folksy fiddling and junkyard percussion, Mason Bates’ Alternative Energy is a time-travelling montage that conveys the rise and fall of our industrialized world.

Professional Use of Social Media Workshop
Mon. Feb. 29, 2015, 4:00-5:00pm; University Career Center, 3100 Hornbake Library, South Wing)
Free, Registration Required
Did you know that many internships and entry-level jobs look for candidates with professional-level knowledge of social media? Pick up valuable skills for your resume during this workshop, which will provide background on how to run social media platforms as part of an internship or job. Open to all undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni. Please RSVP herehttp://go.umd.edu/arhusocm or email Kate Juhl at kjuhl@umd.edu.

Art In a Box: Campus-wide Art Design Contest
Deadline for submissions: March 1, 2016
Participants will have a chance to design a box for art therapy kits that creatively helps children cope with trauma. The kits will contain a collection of art and play materials that will be shipped internationally to different schools and educational institutions, as well as refugee camps. Winners will receive $5,000 in prize money.

Worldwise Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series
William “Bro” Adams and Jane Chu, In Conversation with Sheri Parks
Tues. March 22, 2016, 5:30pm; The Clarice, Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Free, ticket required
In celebration of their 50th anniversaries, Chairpersons of both the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts will join Sheri Parks in conversation about how the arts and humanities help shape our global future.

Artist Partner Program
NextLOOK: Yoko K.
Fri. March 25, 2016, 7:00pm; Joe’s Movement Emporium
Pay what you want, No tickets required
Electronic musician Yoko K. is a two-time winner of Wammie’s “Electronica Artist” and former Strathmore artist-in-residence who creates an immersive multimedia experience using live electronic music and video art. Her NextLOOK residency examines how post-apocalyptic views of the future shape our present and playfully explores an alternative. Audience members will be invited to participate and engage in a post-performance discussion and online forum about the non-immediate impact of the work.

Black Theatre Symposium
Saturday, April 2, 2016, 9:00am; Gildenhorn Recital Hall
The theme of the third annual Black Theatre Symposium is “Embracing Inclusion and Diversity in American Theatre.” The 2016 Black Theatre Symposium (BTS) continues to champion efforts towards inclusion and diversity in American theatre, and will address the overriding theme: “Black Aesthetics: Past, Present, and Future.” The event will feature keynote speaker Johnetta Boone, and will include panel discussions, workshops, and performances that address the following questions:

What is a “Black Theatre Aesthetic”?
Which institutions are successfully cultivating black theatre scholars and artists?
How do we facilitate inclusion and diversity in the technical and design aspects of the field?
Racial Battle Fatigue — How can theatre positively impact the current cultural climate and racial tensions?

Theatre professionals, scholars, and students will convene to discuss and take action around these questions in order to influence and expand practices of inclusion in the field of theatre.

PANEL: Careers in Music, Film & Entertainment
Mon. April 4, 2016, 5:00-6:00pm; University Career Center, 3100 Hornbake Library, South Wing)
Free, Registration Required
Interested in an internship or career in the music, film or entertainment industries? Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to connect with panelists who work in these fields. Panelists will be named closer to the date. Open to all undergraduate and graduate students as well as alumni. Please RSVP here http://go.umd.edu/pnlentertain or email Kate Juhl at kjuhl@umd.edu.

Artist Partner Program
Puppet Cinema: Salt of the Earth
Fri. April 8, 2016, 8:00pm; The Clarice, Kogod Theatre
Sat. April 9, 2016, 8:00pm; The Clarice, Kogod Theatre
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Puppetry, miniature sets and multimedia create a dystopian world that explores freedom.

Artist Partner Program
Margaret Leng Tan: Film Screening and Conversation
Sorceress of the New Piano: The Artistry of Margaret Leng Tan
Mon. April 11, 2016, 7:00pm; The Clarice, Leah M. Smith Hall
Free, Registration Recommended
Documentary film about avant-garde pianist Margaret Leng Tan.

Artist Partner Program, Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
Margaret Leng Tan, Piano
Cabinet of Curiosities
Tues. April 12, 2016, 8:00pm; The Clarice, Kogod Theatre
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Avant-garde pianist and the world’s first toy piano virtuoso.

Artist Partner Program
NextLOOK: Swing
Fri. April 15, 2016, 7:00pm; Joe’s Movement Emporium
Pay what you want, No tickets required.
Swing is a performance-in-progress combining aerial choreography with community voices to create fresh, honest aerial movement integrated with the audience’s own stories.

UMD School of Music
Music in Mind: Paris 1920
Sun. April 17, 2016, 3:00pm; The Clarice, Gildenhorn Recital Hall
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
With works by Poulenc, Satie, Prokofiev, and Cole Porter, this Music in Mind concert captures the distinct essence of Paris in the 1920s.

Artist Partner Program
Tanya Tagaq: Indigenous Rights/Indigenous Oppression, Part 1
Public Conversation
Tues. April 19, 2016, 7:00pm; Stamp Student Union, Prince George’s Room
Free, Registration Recommended
Tanya Tagaq gives a talk about growing up in an indigenous environment and her path to music.

Artist Partner Program
Tanya Tagaq: Indigenous Rights/Indigenous Oppression, Part 2
Luncheon Symposium at the School of Public Policy
Wed. April 20, 2016, 12:15pm; Van Munching Hall, Atrium
Free, Registration Recommended
A conversation with Tanya Tagaq and other Native artists about infusing activism into their creative expression.

Artist Partner Program
ArtistTalk: Indigenous Rights/Indigenous Oppression, Part 3
A Conversation with Tanya Tagaq
Thurs. April 21, 2016, 5:30pm; The Clarice, Leah M. Smith Hall
Free, Registration Recommended
Inuit Canadian throat singer Tanya Tagaq talks about her activism around food justice and food sovereignty.

Artist Partner Program
Tanya Tagaq
In Concert with Nanook of the North
Sat. April 23, 2016, 8:00pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Inuit Canadian throat singer and activist for indigenous cultures.

Artist Partner Program
Fatoumata Diawara
Thurs. April 28, 2016, 8:00pm; The Clarice, Kay Theatre
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Malian singer-songwriter inspired by Wassoulou traditions, jazz, punk and funk.

NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES 2016: International Playwrights’ Intensive
Friday, April 29, 2016, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 30, 2016, 10:00am-4:00pm
Free, tickets required
The University of Maryland partners with The Kennedy Center’s 25th anniversary New Visions/ New Voices festival. Playwrights and producers from South Africa, Korea and India collaborate with TDPS students on their plays written for young audiences around the globe. Readings of these new theatrical works will be held at UMD followed by an intensive development period at the John F. Kennedy Center with professional actors and directors.

UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
UMoves Undergraduate Dance Concert
Fri. May 6, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Dance Theatre
Sat. May 7, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Dance Theatre
Sun. May 8, 2016, 3:00pm; The Clarice, Dance Theatre
Sun. May 8, 2016, 7:30pm; The Clarice, Dance Theatre
$25 Public / $20 Next Level / $10 Student/Youth
Concert featuring the emerging talent of the next generation of dace artists including original works created and/or performed by undergraduate students majoring in dance and new works developed throughout the year by guest choreographers.

Thinkathon for Refugees
Spring 2016, TBD
The Arts and Humanities Center for Synergy held a think-and-do day of intellectual activism in the fall to discuss the state of the refugee crisis and possible solutions and best practices. Our speakers, Yasmine Taeb, Legislative Representative for Human Rights and Civil Liberties and Tyler Stoddard and Hiba Salih of the International Rescue Committee-Baltimore have offered to return to campus for another event. If you are interested in participating in a briefing this spring on the topic, please contact arhusynergy@umd.edu.

For additional opportunities at The Clarice “For Student Terps”:http://theclarice.umd.edu/for-student-terps

For the most up to date enrichment opportunities: http://go.umd.edu/enrichment

To submit a new opportunity email arhusynergy@umd.edu with relevant details.

Pages

Mission & Vision

Connect with Us

Quicklinks

Contact