We have three new Dresher Center working groups launching this semester!

• Affect, Emotion, and Power - This faculty working group aims to explore interrelationships among affect, emotion, and power, broadly defined. While this field has developed in discrete pockets of inquiry in different (inter)disciplinary sites, we are interested in bringing together critical engagements across a range of sites including cultural and media studies, history, sociology, anthropology, geography, gender and women’s studies, and sexuality studies.
  • Leaders: Vrushali Patil (Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies) and Jason Loviglio (Media and Communication Studies)

• Seeing Things: Matter, New Materialism, and Visual Culture - This group aims to explore our entanglements with the material world in the aftermath of catastrophes, technological obsolescence, raging military conflict, economic precarity, and invisible destabilizing forces that have tangible and lingering effects.

  • Leaders: Trang Ta (Global Studies) and Karin Oen-Lee (Visuals Arts)

• Textile Studies: We are a group of writers and makers who wish to further our historical and creative research about textiles and their role in contemporary art and society. We invite our UMBC colleagues from any discipline to join us in a series of open discussions, research talks and events that explore textiles, their history, production, significance and creative use.

  • Leaders: Leaders: Beth Saunders (Library) and Sarah Sharp (Visual Arts)

If you are interested in joining these or our other working groups, please contact the group leaders. Faculty, staff, and graduate students are welcome to participate.