Maine Humanities Council

This year’s Winter Weekend selection, Stendhal’s The Red and the Black follows a young intellectual man from a provincial town who tries to make it in 19th century Paris. Stendhal’s psychological portrait of Julien Sorel and his love affairs mesh well with a satiric depiction of religious and society life.

Mary Rice-DeFosse, Professor of French at Bates College presented a lecture entitled “Pens and Pistol Shots: Crimes of Passion in Stendhal’s France.”

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.

Winter Weekend 2011 took place March 11 and 12, 2011 at Bowdoin College.

Pens and Pistols Shots: Crimes of Passion in Stendhal's France [ 37:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2694)

This year’s Winter Weekend selection, Stendhal’s The Red and the Black follows a young intellectual man from a provincial town who tries to make it in 19th century Paris. Stendhal’s psychological portrait of Julien Sorel and his love affairs mesh well with a satiric depiction of religious and society life.

Theresa McBride, Chair of the History department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts presented a lecture entitled “Intimate Matters: Sex and Social Class in Post-Revolutionary France.”

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.

Winter Weekend 2011 took place March 11 and 12, 2011 at Bowdoin College.

Intimate Matters: Sex and Social Class in Post-Revolutionary France [ 51:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3756)

Tim O’Brien has been hailed as “the best American writer of his generation” (San Francisco Examiner). A Vietnam veteran, he is the author of eight books. He received the National Book Award in Fiction in 1979 for his novel Going After Cacciato. In 2005 The Things They Carried was named by The New York Times as one of the twenty best books of the last quarter century. It received the Chicago Tribune Heartland Award in fiction and was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The French edition of The Things They Carried received the prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, and the title story was selected by John Updike for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of the Century. In the Lake of the Woods, published in 1994, was chosen by Time magazine as the best novel of that year. The book also received the James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians and was selected as one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times. Tim O’Brien’s other works include If I Die in a Combat Zone, Northern Lights, Tomcat in Love and July, July. His short fiction, which received the National Magazine Award, has appeared in numerous journals, including The New Yorker, Atlantic, Esquire, Playboy, and Harper’s.

This talk was part of the Literature & Medicine program’s national conference, After Shock: Humanities Perspectives on Trauma, held on November 12 & 13, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

Two Heads and the Things They Carried [ 1:20:30 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6583)

Jonathan Shay, MD, PhD is a clinical psychiatrist whose treatment of combat trauma suffered by Vietnam veterans combined with his critical and imaginative interpretations of the ancient accounts of battle described in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are deepening our understanding of the effects of warfare on the individual. His book, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character (1994), draws parallels between the depiction of the epic warrior-hero Achilles and the experiences of individual veterans whom he treated at a Boston-area Veterans Affairs’ Outpatient Clinic. In Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming (2002), using Odysseus as metaphor, Shay focuses on the veteran’s experience upon returning from war and highlights the role of military policy in promoting the mental and physical safety of soldiers. A passionate advocate for veterans and committed to minimizing future psychological trauma, Shay strives for structural reform of the ways the U.S. armed forces are organized, trained, and counseled.

Respected by humanists and military leaders alike, Shay brings into stark relief the emotional problems faced by military combatants and veterans, ancient and modern. In 2007, he was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” for his work with veterans.

This talk was part of the Literature & Medicine program’s national conference, After Shock: Humanities Perspectives on Trauma, held on November 12 & 13, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

Learning About Combat Trauma From Homer's Iliad [ 1:06:13 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5774)

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 [ 52:20 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5683)

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 [ 57:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2328)