2018–2021 Presidential Teaching Professor

Nicole King, Associate Professor and Chair, American Studies

Nicole King’s unique approach to teaching creates informed, digitally-literate citizens who possess oral and written communication skills and an understanding of social justice. Her community-engaged pedagogy revolves around field research and engagement with local communities to help students develop a deeper understanding of Baltimore and create opportunities for students to learn directly from Baltimore residents.

Since joining UMBC in 2008, King has taught every required course in the American studies major and redesigned more than a few. Students often note how much King’s courses have influenced their outlook–and even career paths–and praise her mentorship as invaluable to their personal, educational, and professional development. She also has provided excellent leadership and vision in the department, which she chairs, over the last decade. King’s creative approach to teaching and learning has also earned her several prestigious campus awards, including a Faculty Innovation Grant, BreakingGround grants, and a Hrabowski Innovation grant to develop undergraduate and graduate courses.

Her Preserving Places project has trained students in methods of place-based cultural documentation and social entrepreneurship to develop original public programming in Baltimore’s Baybrook and Curtis Bay neighborhoods. In 2015, King developed Baltimore Traces, a collaborative teaching innovation designed to bring together UMBC classes from a variety of disciplines to create media focused on Baltimore residents and neighborhoods, including oral histories and digital maps of historical landmarks in Baltimore.

King received her M.A. from the University of New Mexico and her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park.