Mon, 07/21/2025 - 12:00

A conversation with a stranger—in the checkout line, riding a quiet elevator or waiting for class to start—can spark a human connection that brightens an otherwise ordinary day. Yuval Zohar ’08 has had plenty, with one distinction: He’s usually naked. In these cases, he has disrobed and descended into the mineral-rich, blistering pools found in Japanese onsen: hot-spring bathhouses fueled by the country’s highly volcanic landscape that for centuries have been a source of community, healing and friendship. 

Fri, 01/16/2026 - 12:00

This article originally was published in Terp.AN AIRPORT’S MOVING walkway offers a window into the spectrum of human emotion in motion: the exhaustion of a mother placating her toddler with M&Ms; the collective fury over a canceled flight; the apathy brewing in a stagnant queue at Starbucks.

Mon, 10/17/2022 - 12:00

Of the many ways downpours disrupt the small town of North Brentwood, Maryland—from flooded basements to sodden front yards—one in particular is surprising: the walk to school. One of Prince George’s County’s oldest and lowest-lying towns along the Anacostia River is often overwhelmed by rain, with water pooling on roads and sidewalks, leaving children’s socks and shoes squishy as they head to class.

Mon, 10/24/2022 - 12:00

Two stunning urban enclaves—“Stack Alley” by graduate students Joseph Chase Edwards (B.S. Architecture ’20) and Marcelino Defngin (B.S. Architecture ’21) and “Dwelling in the City” by undergraduate student Meredith Eby (B.S. Architecture ’22)—were awarded top honors in the graduate and undergraduate categories last week at the 2022 AIA Baltimore Excellence in Design Awards celebration.

Wed, 05/22/2019 - 12:00

Bill Bonstra, FAIA (B.ARCH ’83) has spent his career as an architect seeking to enrich people’s lives through thoughtful design, a philosophy he has extended to his relationship with the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation for over 30 years. This past month, Bonstra, who has supported the school over the years financially and as an advisor, mentor and teacher, pledged a $30,000 endowment through UMD’s New TerpStart Matching Scholarship Program.

Fri, 04/12/2019 - 12:00

MAPP is proud to announce that Ariel Bierbaum, along with her team of three other researchers, has secured $50,000 in research grant funding from the Spencer Foundation’s Small Research Grants Program. The grant will allow continuing work into the socioeconomic impact of public school closures in Philadelphia, and will look specifically at issues of school reuse and/or demolition.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

Towards the end of a difficult spring semester in 1985, Chris McCabe (B.S. Architecture ’85, M.ARCH ’87) was at a crossroads. Having studied architecture at UMD for four years, she was uncertain as to whether she had the talent and confidence needed to tackle the Master’s program in architecture. For Chris, the announcement of Professor Tom Schumacher’s inaugural Study Abroad Program in Rome was not only good timing, it proved to be life-changing.