Tahira Mahdi, '10, '14, Ph.D. '18, psychology Adjuncts, Artists, and Other Innovators Engaging Community from the In-Between Spaces February 4, 2026 12PM–1:30PM CADVC What is the difference between having membership in a community and being of a community? How does one engage different communities while carving a career through the in-between spaces? Are belonging and trust necessary in our work? What do we do when belonging and trust are not possible? In this interactive workshop, participants are invited to explore and expand their perspectives on what it means to be in community with people outside of and between our boundaries. This program is led by Tahira Chloe Mahdi, and will be introduced by Kate Drabinski About Tahira Chloe Mahdi Tahira Chloe Mahdi is a community psychologist, consultant, and adjunct professor at UMBC. She is a program evaluator and workshop facilitator for organizations, businesses, and institutions that cultivate community-engaged projects and research. A three-time UMBC graduate, Dr. Mahdi publicizes her research through fiction writing and filmmaking with the novel This Is Not How It Was Supposed to Go and the new feature film Caught Out There. This event is offered as part of absolute alternatives, the 2026 Arts+ UMBC Faculty Exhibition, curated by Maleke Glee, on view through February 28. The program is supported by the UMBC Arts+ initiative.”
