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2/8/23

Faculty members are invited to nominate candidates for the 2022-23 Undergraduate Researchers of the Year awards ($1,000 prize), presented annually in conjunction with Maryland’s Undergraduate Research Day (April 26, 2023). Nominations are due by Sunday, March 26, 2023.

PLEASE NOTE: Eligibility is limited to SENIORS (may be graduating in May 2023, Summer 2023, or have graduated in December 2022). A maximum of ONE (1) student nomination per faculty member can be accepted.

This award recognizes individual undergraduates (not teams) who have distinguished themselves exceptionally - **above and beyond expectations** - in research activities over the span of their time at the University. Nominated students should exemplify excellence in undergraduate research and show great promise for further accomplishment. 

Up to 6 awards, with prizes of $1000 each, will be presented in conjunction with Undergraduate Research Day (April 26, 2023).

ELIGIBILITY: Nominees must be SENIORS graduating in May 2023 or Summer 2023, or be alumni who began the 2022 academic year as SENIORS but who graduated in December 2022. Please note: a maximum of ONE (1) student nomination per faculty member can be accepted.

DEADLINE: Nominations should be sent to ugresearch@umd.edu no later than SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2023 and should include: 

  1. student’s name and email address;
  2. a statement of nomination highlighting what is especially notable and exciting about the student’s accomplishment(s) – if you have recently written a recommendation letter for this student that effectively describes their research accomplishments, you may submit that as your nomination statement.

We welcome any additional information, hyperlinks, etc., that would help illuminate your nominee’s accomplishments. 

**Nominated students will be asked to provide a research resume or CV, copies of relevant presentations/papers, and a personal reflection on their research activities.**

Questions? Contact Francis DuVinage, Director, National Scholarships Office and Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research (duvinage@umd.edu). 

9/30/21

By Christine Zhu

The University of Maryland is debuting an immersive media design major this semester, the first undergraduate program in the country that synthesizes art with computer science.

There are two tracks available in the program: an art track leading to a bachelor’s of arts degree from the college of arts and humanities, and a computer science track leading to a bachelor’s of science degree from the college of computer, mathematical and natural sciences.

The program works with creating virtual and augmented realities, offering a wide variety of courses for whichever track a student wants to take. 

One of the classes, Introduction to Immersive Media, covers history and research in the field. Its projects involve sensors, augmented reality and virtual reality.

Another class, Introduction to Computational Media, teaches students about the computing that’s required for each type of media. For example, imagery deals with computer graphics and sound deals with synthetic audio.

“We’re investigating ways to use modern technology and media to take the place of information that you would perceive with your senses in a natural environment,” said Stevens Miller, an adjunct lecturer in the department of computer science. 

As a result, students can create artificial environments where they control interactions with the senses — sight, sound and even touch and smell in some cases.

Studio arts lecturer Mollye Bendell used the Artechouse, an art center in Washington, D.C., as an example of a virtual reality experience that uses immersive media design. 

“[It’s] a gallery that specializes in the intersection of art and technology,” she said. “[An example is] an augmented reality application where you’re looking through the camera on your phone and … you see a 3D model appear.”

An immersive media design exhibit was held at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center as a part of NextNOW Fest in mid-September. About 15 students displayed their projects, Bendell said. 

In one student’s project, people were able to play chess remotely with others around the world, Miller said. 

“Instead of being limited to a two-dimensional point and click-with-your-mouse way of interacting with the chessboard, you actually saw a three-dimensional chess set in front of you that you could manipulate even though it doesn’t actually exist,” he added.

While all immersive design students need to have coding ability, the computer science track covers more of the technical components while the art track focuses on the perceptive side, Miller said.

Sophomore Maggie Letvin, a studio art major and hopeful immersive media design major, is planning on the art track. She’s used to approaching projects from the angle of an artist, and said that programming was hard for them.

“[With] programming, you have to know what you want to do ahead of time,” she said. “I approach art from a standpoint of, ‘I have the materials, I’m just gonna work with my hands and figure out what happens,’ but you can’t exactly do that with coding.”

In later years, students from the art track are paired with students from the computer science track. As a result, students are able to work with a partner from a different background and learn more from each other.

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Thursday, October 21, 2021 - 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

Esteemed violinist and social justice advocate, Vijay Gupta will present "Creating Justice through the Arts".

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 - 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM

Join Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill for the first installment of the ARHU Dean’s Colloquium Series on Race, Equity and Justice featuring Perla Guerrero, associate professor of American studies and U.S. Latina/o Studies at Maryland.

Below please find undergraduate reserach opportunities from ARHU faculty posted in the Maryland Student Researchers database for Spring 2019. 

 

 

Kay Theatre, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

Join this timely conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and MacArthur fellow Viet Thanh Nguyen.

University of Maryland, College Park
Thursday, October 18, 2018 - 8:00 AM to Saturday, October 20, 2018 - 7:00 PM

Join the first national conference of the African American Digital Humanities Initiative at UMD.

Contact: K. Lorraine Graham, Communications Manager, klgraham@umd.edu

COLLEGE PARK, Md. —Acclaimed political journalist Mara Liasson will conclude the 2017-18 Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series, hosted by the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) at the University of Maryland (UMD). The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. on April 11 at the Gildenhorn Recital Hall in The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Liasson is National Public Radio’s (NPR) political correspondent and an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience reporting on the White House and Congress. Her lecture will focus on “The Political Landscape: Dealing with Hate and Bias in Washington.”

Prior to serving as NPR’s political correspondent, she was their White House correspondent during the Clinton Administration. Liasson covered six presidential elections, from Bill Clinton in 1992 to Barack Obama in 2012. She is also a contributor to Fox News.

The theme of the 2017-18 Dean’s Lecture Series is “Courageous Conversations: ARHU Resists Hate & Bias.” This year’s speakers consider what it means to engage in courageous conversations that speak to the difficult issues of hate and bias across personal, historical and political frames.

The first lecture featured poet and social justice activist Theo Wilson, and the second lecture featured Bobby Seale, founding co-chairman and national organizer of the Black Panther Party. Each lecture is an opportunity for the campus and the UMD community to join together for dialogue on these complex issues.

This lecture is co-sponsored with the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For free tickets or more information, visit go.umd.edu/liasson or call (301) 405-ARTS.

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ABOUT THE SERIES

The Dean's Lecture Series provides an opportunity for the college faculty, students and staff to join together to discuss issues that cross ARHU disciplines. Lectures and performances may address enduring or emerging questions central to the arts and humanities, or questions arising from other disciplines that the arts and humanities may be affected by. Each lecturer interacts in smaller settings with faculty, graduate students and undergraduates.

The David C. Driskell Center, 1214 Cole Student Activities Building
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM

Join African American history and culture scholars in dialogue with emerging leaders in black digital studies.

0301 Hornbake Library
Thursday, March 08, 2018 - 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Join the Fembot Collective for a lecture on W.E.B. Du Bois and the politics of literary recovery.

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