Maine Humanities Council

The Center for Global Humanities is a public forum dedicated to the study of human destiny in the 21st century. Because new discoveries in science and technology are changing our understanding of human nature and raising burning questions about the future of our civilization, the Center uses the lenses of the humanities to provide insight into this emerging human condition. Analyzing the state of our cultures today is as important as any medical or technological breakthrough.

Global in perspective and connected to similar national and international programs, CGH offers seminars and lectures by leading scholars from around the world who are doing innovative scholarship. Various international seminars enhance our regular program. Because the Center believes in the vital necessity of a humanities culture to civic and democratic life, it works closely with the local community to encourage reading, discussion, and debate.

Elizabeth De Wolfe, Chair of the History Department at the University of New England, presented her talk Desperate for Some Kindness: A History of Asking for Help in Hard Times as part of the Center for Global Humanities annual lecture series.

The Center for Global Humanities is a partner of the Maine Humanities Council.

Desperate for Some Kindness: A History of Asking for Help in Hard Times [ 1:14:23 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3613)

Listen to the inaugural event that launched the new minor of Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies at the University of Maine, Augusta. This program was hosted by the Director, Abraham Peck at the Michael Klahr Center in Augusta. The panel discussion: First Mainers and New Mainers was part of a project entitled The Dignity of Difference: First Mainers and New Mainers that allowed Maine’s First Nations and Maine’s most recent immigrants and refugee communities the opportunity to showcase their cultures, history and communities to the broader UMA and Central Maine populations. This panel was moderated by Reza Jalali and included Ismail Ahmed, Paul Bisulca, Grace Valenzuela and Pious Ali all leaders in their communities.

For more information on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies minor please visit their website. This program was made possible through a Community Outreach grant from the Maine Humanities Council.

First Mainers and New Mainers [ 1:16:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5710)

Brad Babson is a consultant on East Asia and global development issues. He served 26 years with the World Bank, most recently as Senior Advisor for the East Asia and Pacific Region, with assignments including Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. He has published widely on topics related to East and Southeast Asia, including the topic of this talk: the integration of North Korea into the international community. Babson holds an MPA from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a BA from Williams College.

This talk was part of the 2009 Views of the East teacher program in Brunswick, Maine, which was co-sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Maine. Views of the East is a program of the Five College Center for East Asian Studies through the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia, funded by the Freeman Foundation and Unum. We welcome your feedback on this episode.

Today's Challenges on the Korean Peninsula [ 1:12:30 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5605)

The goal of this day-long program was to provide an introduction to the complex web of politics, culture, and religion that has made South Asia both a volatile area and an emerging power. Rachel Sturman, Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies at Bowdoin College, was the featured scholar. The recording is offered here in two parts: an overview from the beginning of the day and a question-and-answer session from the end.

India and Pakistan: The History Behind the Headlines took place on December 4, 2008, in Brunswick, Maine. We welcome your feedback on this program.

India and Pakistan: Part 1 [ 1:04:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (10761)

India and Pakistan: Part 2 [ 48:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (176)

The 2008 Douglas M. Schair Memorial Lecture on Genocide and Human Rights was a dialogue for Muslim-Jewish understanding, presented in cooperation with the Islamic Society of Portland and the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine. The featured speakers were Judea Pearl and Akbar Ahmed. Pearl, a computer scientist from Israel, and Ahmed, a social scientist from Pakistan, share a concern about the deterioration of relationships between Muslim and Jewish communities around the world. They have become partners in a dialogue project in memory of Pearl’s son, journalist Daniel Pearl, under the auspices of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. Through their public dialogue, they aim to inspire ongoing conversations in the communities they visit that are similarly honest and respectful. They were recognized for this project in 2006, with the first annual Purpose Prize.

The Schair Memorial Lecture took place at the University of Southern Maine in Portland on April 7, 2008. We welcome your feedback.

Beyond the Clash of Civilizations [ 1:32:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6834)

Patrick Rael is Associate Professor of History at Bowdoin College. His areas of interest include antebellum America, Civil War and Reconstruction, and comparative slavery. Among other publications, he has edited a volume of scholarship on African-American Activism Before the Civil War (Routledge, 2008). In this talk, Rael places the Vietnam conflict in a continuum of U.S. military engagements, considering the impacts of war on society, and vice versa.

This talk was part of the 2008 Teaching American History teacher program in Brunswick, Maine. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Standard Podcast [ 1:09:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7009)