The McGillicuddy Humanities Center is sponsoring a two-night research showcase event, “The Stories We Tell,” featuring the research and creative work of our four graduating undergraduate student fellows. While each student has been working independently, their collective research this past year all happened to center around stories that people tell from generation to generation. The showcase will take place on Wednesday, April 21, and Thursday, April 22, from 7-8:30 p.m. on both nights. . Passcode  899432 if prompted. Email questions to mhc@maine.edu.

PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 21, 7-8:30 PM, FELLOWS KATHERINE REARDON AND NOLA PREVOST

Katherine Reardon, “What It Was and What I Know: Attempts at Family History”

Senior English major Katherine Reardon will be reading her creative work discussing family histories and storytelling through the lens of her own Irish family. Reardon was inspired to do this work while studying abroad in her family’s native Ireland. Combining the oral histories and family lore she grew up with sometimes contradictory archival records, Reardon examines where the truth fits in with these stories, and whether or not it is important if a family story is true. She will also discuss her personal reflective process, and locating herself within these stories.

Nola Prevost, “All The Girls In The Woods: Feminist Fairy Tales for the Modern World”

Nola Prevost will present selections from her original collection of feminist fairy tales, All The Girls In The Woods. Prevost, a senior English major and a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor, will explore the ability of the fairy tale genre to create and disseminate knowledge and values, and how this can be useful for social justice activism. She will also discuss the impact of inclusive and diverse representation in stories on women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Thursday, April 22, 7-8:30 PM, FELLOWS HAILEY CEDOR AND NOLAN ALTVATER

Hailey Cedor, “Local Involvement, Memory and Denial: the Complexities of the Holocaust in Lithuania”

Senior History major Hailey Cedor will present part of her Honors thesis research about local involvement and memory of Lithuanians in relation to the Holocaust. The complex relationship of current Lithuanians with past atrocities shows the difficulties of acknowledging and reconciling difficult history, and the dangers of that ignorance. In Lithuania, the country’s complicated past has left ample room for self-victimization and denial that favors the public memory of non-Jewish Lithuanians, leaving the small Jewish community that survived the Holocaust to be continually marginalized. Cedor has worked with Holocaust material since the fall of 2018, and this past experience sparked an interest in Lithuania’s relationship to the Holocaust.

Nolan Altvater, “Wabanaki Tools of Diplomacy: Storying Protocols as Political Will”

Using Indigenous research methodologies, senior fellow Nolan Altvater’s project aims to center the needs and voices of Wabanaki communities to inform education policy in the State of Maine. Altvater, a Passamaquoddy citizen and future Tribal educator, addresses the current barriers of implementation of the Wabanaki Studies Law (LD 291) and presents how Wabanaki diplomacy can lead the way to address these issues and serve as political will toward decolonization and antiracist conviction in Maine education. In addition, it explores the concepts and protocols of wampum and its later form of Indigenous writing and how Wabanaki people have used traditional intellect to use these tools for empowerment to resist colonialism. Altvater is also a board member of Wabanaki Reach.

Click here for more information on the McGillicuddy Humanities Center fellowship program, or email mhc@maine.edu with questions.

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“The Resistance to Reason: An Enduring Problem”

March 12, 2 pm.

We are surrounded by those who refuse to accept what science tells us. Yet in many ways, the question remains to be answered: how are we to think of these people? How do we to get them to listen? Can we? McGillicuddy Humanities Center Fellow Ivy Flessen will be presenting her research related to these questions. Her talk will center around ±Ê±ô²¹³Ù´Ç’s Myth of Er to answer these questions, and illuminate the irrationality, hatred, and anger that seems to overwhelm our political society. Free and open to the public.

Email mhc@maine.edu with any questions.

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The McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellows program offers junior and senior humanities students the support needed to concentrate on their coursework and develop research and creative projects, work collaboratively with a select group of peers, participate in interdisciplinary humanities programs, and gain professional skills. Fellows attend, help plan, and promote the Center’s various programs, putting them in meaningful contact with their peers and faculty, as well as the public. Fellows also act as student representatives of the Center’s mission on campus and in the community.

Benefits and Duration

MHC Undergraduate Fellows receive $4000 per semester for two consecutive semesters to create an ongoing overlap of activity and personnel. The current cycle of funding is for the Spring and Fall semesters of 2020. Fellows will work individually with Financial Aid to ensure their eligibility to accept the MHC Undergraduate Fellowship. An MHC Undergraduate Fellowship can be rescinded after the first semester if the Fellow does not fulfill the duties as outlined below.

Duties and Expectations

In addition to attending MHC events and programs, fellows participate in a bi-weekly group meeting with a Fellows Coordinator (MHC humanities professional, faculty member, MHC Director) to discuss their coursework, research, and MHC’s programs. Fellows must present their research to a live audience on campus, and are expected to attend events involving MHC supporters.

Application Process

Fellowships are competitive. Applications will be accepted until October 28, 2019. Please read over the new proposal instructions and formatting guidelines on our website before applying, and give faculty advisers sufficient notice to write letters of recommendation.  Prior to winter break we will choose two or three fellows to begin their two-semester terms in the spring 2020 semester.

Instructions, proposal guidelines, and the application portal can be found at: /mhc/grants-scholarships/for-students/the-clement-and-linda-mcgillicuddy-humanities-center-undergraduate-fellowship/

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