Maine Humanities Council

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 have evoked complicated responses from Americans and also the rest of the world. Now, ten years later, we are reflecting on how we at the Maine Humanities Council have responded. In summary, I think it is fair to say that we have tried to learn from the events of 9/11 and to promote understanding of how people in other parts of the world live, what they believe and want, and how they view the United States. 9/11 also caused us to reflect on how Americans see themselves, and we’ve created a number of programs and given grants that explore that as well.

In this post, we’ll present programs that look outward, towards the rest of the world, and in October focus on programs and activities that have encouraged us to reflect upon ourselves as Americans.

The Council’s immediate response to 9/11 was our quickly organized statewide reading and discussion program Let Freedom Ring! On October 11, 2001, nearly 1,000 Mainers came together in 63 libraries to share thoughts on W.H. Auden’s ”September 1, 1939” and Franklin Roosevelt’s speech, “The Four Freedoms”, and to reflect on the events of September 11. As one participant wrote afterwards, “There was freedom and respect in this circle – it models what we wish for in the larger world.”

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Installation View of the Leonard Gallery at the UMaine Museum of Art, credit: UMMA

On October 28, 2011, the MHC will hold a Picturing America training in partnership with the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor. Picturing America began as a National Endowment for the Humanities Initiative that encouraged educators to use American art as a tool for advancing learning in the classroom. The MHC’s Picturing America programs work with educators of all grades—from infant care to preschool and kindergarten up through high school—to introduce the same concepts of visual literacy, history, and content that can inspire conversation and critical thinking.

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Foxcroft Academy students show their nations' flags.

By Tom Lizotte

Five years ago, it would have been unthinkable for the Maine Humanities Council to produce a day-long forum on East Asia in Dover-Foxcroft. There would simply not have been an audience in my small town.

That was before Foxcroft Academy, the local independent secondary school, built an on-campus dormitory and grew what had been a small international student presence into a 98-student boarding program with representatives from 10 foreign countries. Foxcroft, like other “town academies” in rural Maine, figured out that a great way to reverse declining enrollment (and revenues), while also increasing diversity, was to look to the East. And I don’t mean East Dover.

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"Migrant Mother," one of Dorthea Lange's 1936 series of photographs of Florence Owens Thompson and her children, is in the Picturing America collection of art

On March 19, 50 educators convened in Lewiston at the Bates College Museum of Art and the USM Lewiston-Auburn College Atrium Art Gallery to learn innovative ways to use visual images from the NEH’s Picturing America program and Maine’s local art collections to teach critical thinking skills, visual and verbal literacy and American culture. Educators included preschool teachers as well as K-12 teachers in this one-day program intentionally designed to bring together two constituencies that rarely attend professional development programs together with opportunities for sharing of ideas, solutions and challenges.

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Sharing art with children can result in amazing conversations and growth. Here, a boy learns about a modern work at the Portland Museum of Art. Photo credit: Diane Hudson

Does a teacher of a student you know, from preschool to high school, want to learn more about using art in the classroom? The Maine Humanities Council is offering Picturing America in Lewiston on Saturday, March 19, from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. This one-day program for educators of students ages birth through 18 offers innovative ways for teachers to use visual images from the National Endowment for the Humanities Picturing America initiative and Maine’s local art collections to teach critical thinking skills, visual and verbal literacy, and American culture. This program will be held at, and in partnership with, the Bates College Museum of Art and the USM Lewiston-Auburn College Atrium Art Gallery. Teachers may register online for a fee of $25 (scholarships are available).

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by Kenneth Z. Chutchian

When I was five years old I wanted to write a book, but then I got really busy over the next 40 years and couldn’t find the time. I managed to write more than 2,000 bylined articles for newspapers from Greenfield, Massachusetts to Augusta, Maine, between 1979 and 1999, but that and the arduous task of being a responsible adult really cut into my book-writing aspirations. A few years ago I finished a rough draft of a novel. I joined a writing group in Windham, which helped me shred my 70,000 words into unrecognizable fragments, aborted chapters, and folders of paper that look like a TV drama crime scene, minus the body. So for these reasons and many others, I consider myself lucky to stumble upon the Maine Humanities Council’s “Teaching American History Through Biography” program. During my second summer institute, I finished a paper on John Reed that I hope to turn into my long-awaited book.

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Want to learn more about the intriguing cultures of China, Japan, and Korea? Come to a MHC program on December 3, 2010, at Thornton Academy for China, Japan and Korea: Perspectives on East Asia.

As Maine continues to adjust to globalization, diverse cultures come together, enriching our families and communities. Recently, many East Asian students have made Maine their home as they pursue their education.  This affords a unique opportunity to Maine residents and visitors alike to broaden perspectives and engage with the larger world in a new way.

Join us on December 3, 2010 at Thornton Academy in Saco to explore the fascinating history and contemporary issues of East Asia. Presenters will include Brad Babson, former World Bank employee and expert on contemporary issues in North and South Korea; Tom Conlan, Asian Studies professor at Bowdoin College and Japanese historian; Brad Dearden, Geography professor at UMF and Jai Zhao, Professor of History at University of Southern Maine and specialist in Chinese history and culture.

Please register online. CEUs are available for early childhood educators, K-12 teachers, and adult education instructors. Contact us with questions.

by Denise Pendleton

Last week, I was delighted to have the opportunity to facilitate the first of two sessions of a Born to Read Peaceable Stories training. Held in Bucksport, it was attended by educators of children ranging in age from toddlers to children in those afterschool or local elementary and middle school special ed programs. Most had been working with children for more than 15 years. As participants did a free association exercise on the word “peace,” questions about the concept emerged. How often does peace require compromise? What are the connection between power and peace? Does our culture provide hero and heroines that model peaceful behavior? One participant said peace for her meant being quiet, while another participant described peace for her as as noisy children that become embroiled in conflict, then learn resolution through communication.

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Scotch immigrant family at Quebec, New York Public Library

Immigration has raised complex issues for Maine and America throughout history, affecting our society and our landscape. With new immigrants and refugees arriving every day, people continue to struggle with the profound and complicated changes that occur.

On October 29, the Maine Humanities Council will present Coming to America: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, a one-day conference in Ellsworth, that will explore the historic and contemporary challenges of immigration.

This conference will feature presentations by Professor Edward O’Donnell from the College of the Holy Cross, Professor Tomasz Herzog of University of Maine Presque Isle, and Ian Yaffe, Executive Director of Mano en Mano in Milbridge.  The day will also include several break-out sessions to enable deeper conversation about specific topics.

The conference will take place from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth. Register online or phone (207) 773-5051.

Immigration represents opportunity for some, escape for others, and for many people, a threat. Throughout American history, immigrants have left their mark on this country, and continue to do so today. Coming to America: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, a one-day conference presented by the Maine Humanities Council, will explore the past, present and future of immigration in America and Maine, including discussions of the many challenges that surround the issue. Featured speakers include Professor Joseph Conforti of the University of Southern Maine, Professor Edward O’Donnell of the College of the Holy Cross, and Professor Greg Fahy of the University of Maine at Augusta, as well as others. This program will take place on April 30, 2010, from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm at the University of Southern Maine.

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