Maine Humanities Council

History Camp is a one week seminar for high school students who enjoy history. Each history camp theme is related to a Maine person, historical site, or event in United States history and may be offered in collaboration with a history-related organization.

One of this year’s camps, titled “The Cold War, McCarthyism, and Margaret Chase Smith’s ‘Declaration of Conscience’ ” was held at the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. This podcast, Margaret Chase Smith and Cold War America was from a lecture by Gregory Gallant, Ph.D, the Director of the Margaret Chase Smith Library.

The Cold War, McCarthyism, and Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience” took place June 28 - July 2, 2010 at the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, Maine.

 

 Margaret Chase Smith and Cold War America [52:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1142)

Wonder what writers really think about? Get ready for a literary extravaganza! The Maine Festival of the Book, brought to you by Maine Reads brings together writers and readers to enjoy readings, panel discussions, book signings, and performances. With the exception of Opening Night and Youth Outreach, festival events are first-come, first-served, un-ticketed seating, and are free. Almost 2000 people attended this year’s three-day event. In its four years of existence, the Maine Festival of the Book has featured more than 200 authors, including four Pulitzer Prize winners.

For more information about The Maine Festival of the Book and to join the mailing list for 2011, check out Maine Read’s website.

There are no new stories, just new ways of telling the old ones. Or so some people say. In this panel presentation, three authors whose work involves the retelling of old stories discuss their inspiration. Graphic novelist Nicole Chaison will talk about Joseph Campbell and hero journey stories, author Elizabeth Searle will talk about her fascination with stories of celebrities in disgrace, and novelist Debra Spark will talk about reading The Book of Esther on the eve of the Iraq War.

The Maine Festival of the Book is an annual festival brought to you by Maine Reads with support from the Maine Humanities Council.

 

 No New Stories [60:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2222)

Wonder what writers really think about? Get ready for a literary extravaganza! The Maine Festival of the Book, brought to you by Maine Reads brings together writers and readers to enjoy readings, panel discussions, book signings, and performances. With the exception of Opening Night and Youth Outreach, festival events are first-come, first-served, un-ticketed seating, and are free. Almost 2000 people attended this year’s three-day event. In its four years of existence, the Maine Festival of the Book has featured more than 200 authors, including four Pulitzer Prize winners.

For more information about The Maine Festival of the Book and to join the mailing list for 2011, check out Maine Read’s website.

This lectured entitled “The Reawakening of Ayn Rand” featured Anne C. Heller, author of Ayn Rand and the World She Made, offers a new perspective on the novelist-philosopher’s life and work and why she is still popular today.

The Maine Festival of the Book is an annual festival brought to you by Maine Reads with support from the Maine Humanities Council.

 

 The Reawakening of Ayn Rand [57:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1)

Wonder what writers really think about? Get ready for a literary extravaganza! The Maine Festival of the Book, brought to you by Maine Reads brings together writers and readers to enjoy readings, panel discussions, book signings, and performances.  With the exception of Opening Night and Youth Outreach, festival events are first-come, first-served, un-ticketed seating, and are free. Almost 2000 people attended this year’s three-day event. In its four years of existence, the Maine Festival of the Book has featured more than 200 authors, including four Pulitzer Prize winners.

For more information about The Maine Festival of the Book and to join the mailing list for 2011, check out Maine Read’s website.

This lectured entitled “Franco-American Women’s Words in Maine” featured author, Rhea Côté Robbins, reading from works in progress as well as from previously published titles weaving stories of the French woman’s life on the landscapes in Maine. Trudy Chambers Price was unable to attend, but pieces of her works were also read.

The Maine Festival of the Book is an annual festival brought to you by Maine Reads with support from the Maine Humanities Council.

 

 Franco-American Women's Words in Maine [58:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1753)

The Council’s annual Winter Weekend, a humanities seminar on a classic text, provides an opportunity for readers to confront, in a group setting, an important work of literature. Held at Bowdoin College in early March, the program begins with a Friday evening lecture and dinner (a gastronomic taste of the time and culture reflected in the chosen text). The group reconvenes Saturday on various aspects of the book, from cultural context, to critical analysis, to explorations of specific themes.

This year’s selection, George Eliot’s Middlemarch is an English masterpiece the follows the social and intellectual lives of very human characters in a small provincial town.

Dianne Sadoff, professor of English at Rutgers University presented third on Saturday morning with a lecture entitled “The Reading Nation at Mid-Century: George Eliot’s Critics, Contemporaries, and Publishers.”

Winter Weekend 2010 took place March 12 and 13, 2010 at Bowdoin College.

 

 The Reading Nation at Mid-Century [48:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1369)

The Council’s annual Winter Weekend, a humanities seminar on a classic text, provides an opportunity for readers to confront, in a group setting, an important work of literature. Held at Bowdoin College in early March, the program begins with a Friday evening lecture and dinner (a gastronomic taste of the time and culture reflected in the chosen text). The group reconvenes Saturday on various aspects of the book, from cultural context, to critical analysis, to explorations of specific themes.

This year’s selection, George Eliot’s Middlemarch is an English masterpiece the follows the social and intellectual lives of very human characters in a small provincial town.

Charles Calhoun, the charming Scholar in Residence at the Maine Humanities Council presented second on Saturday morning with a lecture entitled “Why Was There No British Revolution? The Political Economy of Middlemarch.

Winter Weekend 2010 took place March 12 and 13, 2010 at Bowdoin College.

 

 Why Was There No British Revolution? [60:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2191)