At UMBC you will find your people, put down roots, and flourish.
The dictionary definition of “flourish” is to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way as the result of a particularly favorable environment. At UMBC we believe that finding your people at work, at home, and further afield is critical to the success and wellbeing of our faculty, and we make every effort to help you establish these connections. At our university, this can mean joining one of our affinity groups or faculty working groups, becoming an affiliate faculty member with another department, or attending one of the many lectures, performances and exhibits by and for our faculty offered throughout the year. UMBC is particularly invested in interdisciplinary work, and creating opportunities for synergistic work between scholars in different disciplines. Interdisciplinary collaboration is a truly wonderful way to build community and to rethink the traditional borders of academe.
Once you have settled in, we also encourage you to explore your local communities and all that the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area has to offer. Are you looking for a place of worship? We have a list to help you with that. Are you interested in playing tourist in your (now) new home state? From beaches, to mountains and historical sites, there is plenty to see and do in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Many of our faculty members are engaged in community-engaged scholarship, and it will come as no surprise that many of us are also deeply committed to community activism, working together to bring about change in social, economic, environmental, and cultural policies and practices at our university, in our neighborhoods and further afield. We invite you to get involved if this is something that interests you.
We want you to flourish in all ways!
Resources to Help You Flourish in Our Community
One of the things you’ll notice immediately about UMBC is that we have a very strong sense of community. There is a reason why many of us have spent our entire careers here: this is a place where there are many opportunities to forge meaningful connections with colleagues across the university.
Once you’ve moved here it is time to explore and get to know your community! Here are some guides and some ideas to get you started.
Many faculty members at UMBC agree with Alice Walker that “activism is my rent for living on the planet.” Here are some ways to get involved.