New Class on Creating a Better Baltimore Offers Opening Night Welcome to the Community, Aug. 31
August 20, 2015
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore's new fall course, "Divided Baltimore: How Did We Get Here, Where Do We Go?," will kick off with a welcoming event for the entire community on Monday, Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall in the H. Mebane Turner Learning Commons, 1415 Maryland Ave. UB students and faculty will join community activists, local leaders and concerned citizens in an overview of the semester-long course. The event is free and open to the public—attendees do not have to be enrolled in "Divided Baltimore" to be there.
PLEASE NOTE: R.S.V.P.s for this event are now closed. All seats are taken.
To watch a live feed for the class, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on every Monday during the semester, including the Aug. 31 session, or to access the archived video of each class use our streaming video player (Panopto) by clicking here.
With sections designed for undergraduate and graduate experiences, the course—taught by veteran UB faculty members and guest lecturers in both physical and online environments—will focus on a broad-based, multi-disciplinary approach to address the city’s long-standing issues regarding segregation, economic and racial inequalities, and untapped potential. The overarching goal of the course is to explore the city’s problems and prospects from a variety of perspectives, and begin the process of positive change.
"This is a broadly interdisciplinary and collaborative effort that is available to students at multiple levels of education and various interests," said UB Provost Joseph Wood. "We'll look at how the city's policies of segregation a century ago led to the problems we see today, and what we can do to overcome those racial and economic divides. Baltimore is a city that is well worth investing in, and we know it is in everyone's self-interest to do so. This course will help us understand the basic forces that are at play and how we, as people who believe in the city and want to improve it, can help make changes that will reveal a stronger, more equitable, and more vibrant Baltimore."
At the opening night kickoff:
- a lecture, "How Baltimore Got Segregated," will be presented by Elizabeth M. Nix, assistant professor of history in UB's Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences and contributing author and co-editor of the award-winning anthology Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth in an American City;
- an overview of the course will be presented by Provost Wood;
- UB officials will take questions from the audience.
Areas of focus for the course include the city's justice system, health care and wellness, homelessness, the role of government, the role of faith-based organizations, the need for entrepreneurs and good jobs, access to public transportation, the revitalization of neighborhoods, the impact of segregation, the importance of public schools, and so on.
To learn more about the "Divided Baltimore" course, contact Darien Ripple, manager of UB's Experiential Learning Program in the Office of Academic Innovation at 410.837.6538, or send an email.
Get Twitter updates about the course at #dividedbaltimore.
Read about the local business community's support of the class in The Baltimore Business Journal.
Check out this podcast from WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks program, which did an overview of the course during its Aug. 20 edition.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Public Affairs and the Merrick School of Business.