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SCHOLARSHIP AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY.

In 2022, the Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement added the new role of Hoffberger Ethics Fellow to its roster. The fellowship was designed to be a source of continuing fresh ideas and diverse perspectives for the benefit of the Center and The University of Baltimore community. This faculty position is a full-time limited term appointment, and the Fellow will participate in the life and mission of the Center, work to enrich curricular development, teach philosophy classes and advance the development of the Hoffberger Library.

Dr. Rebeccah Leiby, a lecturer in the division of ethical and legal studies at UBalt, was the first to be awarded the fellowship and served as the inaugural Hoffberger Ethics Fellow during the 2022-2023 academic year. In addition to teaching three classes at The University of Baltimore—Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophers That Changed the World and Ethical Issues in Business and Society—she also collaborated with the Hoffberger Center to facilitate programming, outreach and curriculum development.

She completed her Ph.D. in Philosophy in 2022 at Boston University, where she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies (2020) and a terminal M.A. in Philosophy (2016). Her doctoral dissertation, “Towards a Contractualist Theory of Transitional Justice,” investigated the ethical intuitions with which transitional justice interventions have been undertaken over the past several decades and proposed a victim-centered approach to adjudicating between values under circumstances of significant social and political instability.

In addition to the Hoffberger Ethics Fellow, 2022 was the inaugural year for the Hoffberger Center Student Fellows program, an academic cohort focusing on philosophy and ethics research, available to undergraduate students from any major at the University.

While the Fellows are free to enter and leave the program each semester, most chose to continue on this first year. Several awards were made in FY2023 to students in the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, including Anna Williams, B.A. ‘23 and Jeremy Collins, B.A. ‘23, who served during the fall 2022 semester, before graduating. Current UBalt students Jana Dubinovsky (Philosophy, Law, and Ethics), Oluwanifemi Oduntan (Psychology) and Juan Carlos Manlangit (Interdisciplinary Studies) were awarded fellowships for the 2022-2023 academic year. Each Fellow received a $300 stipend per semester.

Fellows have the opportunity to engage in a unique and stimulating academic experience that can be tailored to their individual ethical interests and philosophical passions. Furthermore, the program offers each Fellow one independent study credit for a semester of their choosing, providing them with the flexibility to further customize their academic experience.

Pro Tanto, the program’s undergraduate journal of Philosophy, Law, and Ethics is a significant component of the program, with each Fellow contributing one article based on a semester-long guided philosophy/ethics project. These articles are then peer-reviewed by the Fellows themselves, providing them with a unique opportunity to engage in collaborative research and intellectual discourse.

At the end of each semester, Fellows present their philosophy research, highlighting the depth and breadth of the program’s academic rigor. Finally, Fellows also participate in and help facilitate Hoffberger programming, further expanding their scholarly horizons and engaging with a diverse range of perspectives and ideas.

The Student Fellows program aspires to be an unparalleled opportunity for exceptional undergraduate students to engage in a unique and stimulating academic experience, collaborate with like-minded individuals, and make meaningful contributions to the academic community.

LEGACIES AT WORK: MEMORIAL FUNDS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE

The Amanda May Memorial Fund was established in FY2023 in the name of the former UBalt staff member and 2016 graduate of the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts M.F.A. program at the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences. The fund will provide a financial award to students who come to the Integrated Arts program from the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts M.F.A., as well as the Integrated Design programs. Amanda’s parents, Jack and Diane May, hope the award will celebrate their daughter’s creativity by allowing students to create projects without restriction.

I am a scholarship recipient and student in the Simulation and Game Design program. Since my time at the University began, I have earned and maintained status as a UBalt Distinguished Scholar and have held a work study position with the University’s Special Collections and Archives. My time with the team in the Special Collections has been a fulfilling experience for me. As someone with a passion for exploring our history, the task of preserving and archiving physical collections and creating a digital database of those collections has been especially rewarding. Thank you for your support of these activities.”

–THOMAS DETTLING, B.S. ‘23
BOB PARSONS SCHOLAR