INDS welcomes a new INDS 330 professor, Dr. Lisa Vetter.
Dr. Lisa Pace Vetter will be teaching INDS 330: Ways of Knowing in the Fall 2008 semester. She is a graduate of the Interdisciplinary Studies program at UMBC, where she combined coursework in political science, ancient studies, philosophy, French, and German. Dr. Vetter went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science at Fordham University, specializing in Political Theory. She is a Visiting Scholar of Government at American University, where she has taught ancient, modern, contemporary, and feminist political thought, and a Faculty Fellow at the American University Women and Politics Institute. She also serves as a Senior Program Officer in the Research Division of the National Endowment of the Humanities in Washington, DC. Dr. Vetter’s first book is titled “Women’s Work as Political Art: Weaving and Dialectical Politics in Homer, Aristophanes, and Plato (Lexington Books, 2005) and her recent research investigates the origins of American feminist political theory as a transnational extension of the American founding. She lives in Bethesda with her husband Joe and enjoys cycling and running on the Capital Crescent Trail, gardening, and cooking with locally grown products. She is very pleased to return to her alma mater and share her lifelong commitment to interdisciplinary study and practice with a new generation of UMBC students.

INDS welcomes a new INDS 480 professor, Mr. James Scott.
This semester one of the sections of INDS 480 will be taught by Mr. James (Jim) Scott. Mr. Scott is a former INDS Program Advisor who is also teaching POLI 327, Interest Groups and Lobbyists, this semester. Last spring he taught HIST 102, US History, 1877-Present, and POLI 324, The Congress.

Mr. Scott received his M.A. in Historical Studies from UMBC and is currently working on his Public Policy Ph.D. in the policy history track. His dissertation will examine the role the Congress played in shaping the emergency shipbuilding program of World War II.

Meet the INDS Staff:

Director Patricia La Noue has been with INDS since 1987 when she was hired as Assistant Director and Academic Advisor. Soon after Patricia's arrival, she engaged several faculty interested in helping students design majors in environmental science and environmental policy. These concentrations flourished, and recently have become part of the Geography and Environmental Science major here at UMBC. Realizing the talent of UMBC faculty and the abundant opportunities in the Baltimore-Washington area for career preparation in the international field, Director La Noue initiated the International and Global Studies concentration in the early 2000's. In addition, she has been active in helping students interested in designing unique, interdisciplinary majors in international health, public health, integrative health studies and neuroscience.

Assistant Director Steven McAlpine joined the INDS team in June of 2006 as a Program Advisor and Instructor for the Capstone Seminar (INDS 480). Before coming to UMBC, Steven worked as a researcher and seminar facilitator for the Interdisciplinary Studies Project at Harvard Project Zero. While at Harvard, Steven designed a Teachers Guide for Walden Media's IMAX film "PULSE: a STOMP Odyssey" and worked as an educational consultant for the Boston Arts Academy. He is a professional studio musician and composer who has taught as an adjunct faculty member of the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. Steven earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He and his wife Martha live with their son, Maddox, and daughter, Lily, in Catonsville, MD. His favorite part of working for INDS is to help students to turn their interests and dreams into career goals. Steven is in office 546A in the Fine Arts building.

Carrie Sauter joined Interdisciplinary Studies as a Program Advisor in 2007. She received her B.A. in Psychology from UMBC and her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Loyola College in Maryland. Not only is she an alum from UMBC, she worked for the past 2 years in the Registrar's Office advising transfer students and graduation candidates. Prior to working for UMBC, she performed psychological assessments for Maryland's Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Carrie enjoys running in ultra-marathons, experimenting with new foods and recipes, and tending a variety of gardens at home with her husband, Craig.

Janet Goetz was hired by the English Department in 1986. She has been the Administrative Assistant for Interdisciplinary Studies since 1997. She has been an officer at a local swim club for many years. In her free time she enjoys her friends, spending time at the beach, various artistic interests, cooking, reading and growing plumerias.

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES COMMITTEE
Fall 2007