End of the Year Report – LHFA – Fall 2023

Thank you everyone that attended today's lunch. Here are some the items we discussed. 

Also, there is still time to add your 2023 achievements to our website. 

Wishing you all a great end of the semester! y ¡Felices Fiestas! 

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Events this year:

1.    Latinx/ Hispanic Heritage Month Talk – Humanities Forum / Dresher Center.

-       Julián Delgado Lopera – Colombian Writer.

-       We co-sponsored with other departments the talk and a writing workshop for students. 

-       September 21^st, 2023.

2.    Maya Quilolo Artist’s talk, a Brazilian artist and researcher born in Maroon, a quilombola community in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

-       Artist’s talk at the Dresher Center. Attended by students and faculty.

-       Co-sponsored with other departments.

-       Wednesday, November 15^th. 2023.

3.    LHFA / Meet and Greet / Día de Muertos

-       55 people attended, students, faculty, and staff.

-       President Sheares Ashby was there, she made it a point to say our annual “meet and greet” event it’s a “must attend” for her.

-       Student orgs shared info. This was great and something we can keep repeating.

-       Very festive and fun. Something worth repeating in a bigger space next year and with more food.

-       The Latinx / Hispanic org wants us to collaborate with them next year to put together a “Día de Muertos community ofrenda table.” They did it this year alone but would like to do it with us next year.

4.    Co-sponsored: "Performance and Discussion: La bella en su jaula." A joint event between UMBC and Morgan State University.

-       Our colleague María Manni/ MLLI organized this event on campus. 

-       It was an opportunity for our students to learn about Latin American theater and its history.

Other relevant events/news:

-       LHFA Beginning of the year lunch / meeting. We met new Latinx/ Hispanic faculty. We have 3 new members this 2023-2024 academic year.  As of now we have 38 members/ faculty that identify as Latinx/Hispanic.

-       We have a Discord Channel! Help us keep it alive.

-       Our website has been updated. Finally. Check it out! Thanks, Henrique, for all the updates.

Upcoming events/projects/info:

-       LHFA Logo competition. Winter Competition, $100 prize for the winner. We will be sharing the flyer for this soon. Please share with your networks.

-       May 1^st – Immigrant Day event. We will need help to plan. Let us know if you or your department itself would like to collaborate or sponsor. We will use some ideas from past Immigrant Days on campus.

-       We are starting to receive requests to meet with job candidates. If you are willing to meet with candidates next semester, please let María Sánchez or Thania know. It is usually a half hour meeting online or in person. We discuss LHFA and answer questions from candidates that identify as Latinx/Hispanic and have requested a meeting with us as part of their campus visit.

-       We are planning again a Promotion and Tenure workshop during the spring semester. Do you have topics, dates, in mind for this? Let us know.

-       Our budget for next semester is: $1,520.45

-       As a reminder, please let us know if you would like to discuss a retention and/or promotion issue with us. We would like to know how your experience is going at UMBC and if we can help in anyway.

Faculty news / Mural de los Éxitos:

Check our website for links and pictures. (coming soon!)

Fernando Vonhoof received "The Black & Latine/x Excellence Award" from the I3B and the Mosaic Center last May.

Drs. Sandra Barrueco, Rebecca Schacht, & Pamela Rakhshan Rouhakhtar from the Department of Psychology have been awarded a $990,497 grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It is entitled "Advancements in Integrated, Culturally and Linguistically Competent Behavioral Health Services for Children, Adolescents and Young Adults in Maryland’s Underserved and Rural Communities".

https://sites.google.com/umbc.edu/bienestar/bienestarwellbeing-lab

Jennifer Mata-McMahon published in multiple prestigious academic journals/books and attended conferences to share her research on Children’s Spirituality in Early Childhood Education. Check out her publications on our website, with pictures!

Ana Oskoz, professor of Spanish, has accepted an appointment as vice provost for Faculty Affairs.

Carlos A. Romero Talamás gave a Grit- X talk on Ocober 14^th, 2023: "The Fusion Energy Solution – Why Engineering Simplicity Matters"

Thania Muñoz D. was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure at the Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication in June 2023.

Yolanda González Mendoza coauthored the book, Abolishing Poverty: Towards Pluriverse Futures and Politics. University of Georgia. 2023.