Incoming fellow Luke Miller, a history major from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, will spend the next academic year exploring, “How Government Policy Affects the Homeless Population In Maine: From Vietnam to Today.” Miller will study state and local policies and data on homelessness, and conduct interviews within the homeless population and those who serve them, to better understand how needs could be better addressed. While comparing data and policies from across the state, his research will focus on Bangor in particular. Miller will be advised by Dr. Brian Pitman from the Department of Sociology.

Sabrina Paetow, a Sociology major from Topsham, Maine, will spend her fellowship analyzing “Rhetoric in the Age of Trump: Presidential Discourse on the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which is tied to her Honors thesis of the same title. Paetow, who will be advised by Dr. Amy Fried from the Department of Political Science, hopes to understand how this particular public health crisis has been framed across the pandemic, and how Trump’s rhetoric affected public perception and discourse on the topic.

Also joining the new cohort will be Stephanie Tillotson from Cumberland Foreside, Maine, who is majoring in Spanish with a minor in Legal Studies. Tillotson is the first student from the Department of Modern Languages and Classics to be awarded a McGillicuddy Humanities Center Fellowship. For her proposed project, “Making Foreign Language Education Accessible through Spanish Animation,” she aims to create a plan and prototype for a mini series of animated, Spanish learning videos featuring the adventures of a dog named Moxie, inspired by her own dog. Tillotson’s research will be advised by Dr. Katie Quick from the Honors College.

Lastly, nursing student Heather Webb of Bangor, Maine, will be writing a series of interconnected personal reflective essays titled, “When Teacher Becomes Pupil: Writing My Way Through Career Transition.” Webb, who worked as an English teacher for many years, is making a career transition into the field of nursing. Her essays will explore the nature of teaching and learning through her experiences going back to school in an unfamiliar field. Nilda Cravens, MSN, RN, will be advising the project. Webb is the first nontraditional student, and first Nursing student, to be awarded a MHC student fellowship.

The MHC funds a rotating cohort of eight undergraduate fellows, providing $4,000 each per semester for two semesters to complete the research or creative projects of their choosing.�� In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus, and beyond. Many past MHC Fellows have stayed on at 91���� for graduate school.

Students interested in becoming a McGillicuddy Humanities Center undergraduate fellow have two deadlines to apply annually, on March 17 and October 17. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered, from academic papers and art gallery shows, to community workshops or films. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines, and a rubric, are all available at umaine.edu/mhc/research/for-students/undergraduate-fellowship/ or by contacting the MHC’s Humanities Specialist Karen Sieber at karen.sieber@maine.edu.

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Four University of Maine students have joined the McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) this semester as research fellows: Delaney Burns, Elizabeth Dalton, Grace Royle, and Haley Santerre. This new cohort joins existing fellows Nolan Altvater, Hailey Cedor, Nola Prevost and Katherine Reardon, who will finish their research at the MHC in Spring, 2021.

Incoming fellow Delaney Burns is exploring the intersection of art and science.�� Burns, a fourth-year student from Gorham, Maine, is double-majoring in Studio Art and Marketing with minors in Art History and Graphic Design. For her fellowship, Burns will create a series of large-scale wood block prints titled, “Pinus Iongaeva: Discovering Form and Value through Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees.” She hopes to learn and share new printmaking techniques, understand more about Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees, and their importance to the ecosystem, and explore their personal connection to her father, a 91���� Forestry graduate.

Elizabeth Dalton has begun her research into, “Analyzing the Harmful Effects of Historical Inaccuracies in Medieval History as Seen in Popular Culture.”  A third year History major from Lamoine, Maine, Dalton is minoring in Medieval and Renaissance Studies.�� While recognizing the potential that binge-worthy shows and popular movies have to engage the public with history, Dalton’s project will investigate and describe the problematic ways in which accuracy is overlooked for the sake of entertainment. Her fellowship research will focus on depictions of the Medieval Age, as in Netflix’s The King.

Grace Royle is a third year Communication major and Legal Studies minor from Minot, Maine. Royle has begun work on a scholarly paper tentatively titled, “From Self-Help to Self-Harm: An Analysis of the Dangers that Fester in the Self-Help Industry.” She is particularly interested in exploring the hidden dangers of the industry, with self-proclaimed gurus practicing without certification, or sufficient qualifications or regulation. Her research will also look into the complicated psychology that comes into play, where people are being promised self-help but instead partaking in dangerous, self-harming activities.

Incoming fellow Haley Santerre asks, “Are the Gods to Blame?” Santerre is a third year Studio Art major and Art History minor from Portland, Maine. She is creating a series of six paintings that examine recent catastrophic events, such as the Coronavirus pandemic or Australian wildfires, through an historical and theological lens. By examining how ancient cultures, particularly those in Greece, would have responded, she hopes in turn to learn more about people’s beliefs today.�� Haley is the inaugural Richard and Karin Anderson Undergraduate Fellow, whose generous donation funds the research of one fellow per year.

More information will be announced soon about a two-part showcase event in April featuring the research of the four fellows completing their research this spring. Future tribal educator Nolan Altvater has been doing his fellowship research on “Decolonizing Maine Education: Creating an Educational Resource to Improve the Implementation of The Wabanaki Studies Law.”  Fellow Hailey Cedor is completing research related to local involvement of Lithuanians in the Holocaust and how that currently informs national views and identity in relation to that horrific moment in time. Like many, Fellow Nola Prevost is interested in the historic use of fairy tales to represent societal issues or moral messages. She has been using fairy tale conventions and feminist scholarship to create her own modernized collection of fables. Lastly, Katherine Reardon is putting final edits on her work on, “Family Stories, The Truth, and How It Shape Us,” which examines family lore and storytelling within her own Irish family.

The MHC funds a rotating cohort of eight undergraduate fellows, providing $4,000 each per semester for two semesters to complete the research or creative projects of their choosing.�� In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus, and beyond. Many past MHC Fellows have stayed on at 91���� for graduate school.

Students interested in becoming a McGillicuddy Humanities Center undergraduate fellow have two deadlines to apply annually. Proposals to become a fall 2021 through spring 2022 fellow should be submitted by March 17, 2021. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered, from academic papers to art gallery shows, community workshops to educational video series. While the project has to be centered in the humanities, students from other disciplines are welcome to submit proposals for humanities-based projects. Students must be in their junior and/or senior year during the length of the two-semester fellowship term.

More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines, and a rubric, are all available at umaine.edu/mhc/research/for-students/undergraduate-fellowship/ or by contacting the MHC’s Humanities Specialist Karen Sieber at karen.sieber@maine.edu.

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The Fall 2020-Spring 2021 McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellows are, from left to right, Hailey Cedor, Nola Prevost, Nolan Altvater, and Katherine Reardon.��

Joining the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) as Fall 2020 through Spring 2021 Fellows are Nolan Altvater, Hailey Cedor, Nola Prevost and Katherine Reardon. The new cohort joins returning Fellows Ivy Flessen, Bria Lamonica, and Leela Stockley, who will be completing their research this semester. Fellows receive $4000 each semester for two consecutive semesters, to work on a humanities project of their own devising. They serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus, and beyond. The MHC currently supports seven undergraduate Fellows, and will be expanding to eight next semester.

Nolan Altvater, of Sipayik and Island Falls, Maine, is a Wabanaki student majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in English. He will be doing his fellowship research on “Decolonizing Maine Education: Creating an Educational Resource to Improve the Implementation of The Wabanaki Studies Law.”  As a future tribal educator, Altvater hopes to address the poor implementation and lack of resources related to LD-291, also known as the Wabanaki Studies Law. At the culmination of his MHC Fellowship he plans to create a writing camp centered around Maine’s Native history, culture, and epistemologies.

History major Hailey Cedor, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, was selected as a MHC Fellow to complete research related to local involvement of Lithuanians in the Holocaust and how that currently informs national views and identity in relation to that event. Cedor, a History major minoring in Environmental Horticulture, became interested in the topic after working the past year on Professor Anne Knowles’ Holocaust Ghettos Project, which involves GIS mapping. With Holocaust denial on the rise in Europe and here in the U.S., Cedor believes that bringing stories like this to light are as important now as ever.

Fellow Nola Prevost of Brewer, Maine, is an English Major concentrating in Creative Writing and minoring in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is interested in the historic use of fairy tales to represent societal issues or moral messages, and is curious how this genre could be used to engage with current socio-political discourse. Her fellowship project, “Feminist Fairy Tales,” will use modern fairy tale conventions and feminist scholarship to create her own collection of fables in hybrid prose poetry form. This collection will address feminist issues, writing especially for marginalized groups within American society.

Katherine Reardon, an English major with a minor in political science, hails from Westwood, Massachusetts. Reardon will be spending her fellowship working on her project, “Family Stories, The Truth, and How It Shape Us.” After a trip to Ireland where her ancestors are from, Reardon became curious about the validity of certain family stories, particularly those told by her late grandfather. Her research will combine oral history, historic documentation and nonfiction creative writing to examine the sometimes-fictional stories families pass down, and how they can shape us.

Students interested in becoming a McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellowship have two deadlines to apply annually in October and March. The deadline to become a Spring 2021 through Fall 2021 Fellow has been extended until Wednesday, October 28. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines, and a rubric, are all available at umaine.edu/mhc/research/for-students/undergraduate-fellowship/ or by contacting the MHC’s Humanities Specialist Karen Sieber at karen.sieber@maine.edu.

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On Friday, September 25, 2020, the University of Maine’s McGillicuddy Humanities Center will offer a virtual workshop on applying for NEH grants. It will be conducted by Mark Silver, Senior Program Officer in the Division of Research Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities. The workshop is open to the public. Anyone interested in learning about NEH funding opportunities and application strategies is invited to attend, although space is limited and priority will be given to those in the Mid-Coast, Downeast and Highlands regions of Maine. The workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Although the event is free, you must register in advance. Registration is now open

During the first half of the workshop, Dr. Silver will provide an overview of a variety of NEH funding opportunities and offer guidance for writing competitive proposals. In the second half of the workshop, he will run a mock application review panel, where panelists will discuss and rank sample proposals using NEH guidelines to provide insight into how applications are evaluated and recommended for NEH funding.

Dr. Silver will also be available during the afternoons of Thursday, September 24, and Friday, September 25, to meet virtually with prospective applicants to discuss their projects and offer advice about their proposals. Those interested in scheduling a twenty-minute appointment will be asked to submit a one-page single-spaced overview of their project in advance.

For more information, email mhc@maine.edu or follow us on social media.

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During the first half of the workshop, Dr. Silver will provide an overview of a variety of NEH funding opportunities and offer guidance for writing competitive proposals. In the second half of the workshop, he will run a mock application review panel, where panelists will discuss and rank sample proposals using NEH guidelines to provide insight into how applications are evaluated and recommended for NEH funding.

Dr. Silver will also be available during the afternoons of Thursday, September 24, and Friday, September 25, to meet virtually with prospective applicants to discuss their projects and offer advice about their proposals. Those interested in scheduling a twenty-minute appointment will be asked to submit a one-page single-spaced overview of their project in advance.

For more information, email mhc@maine.edu or follow us on social media.

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The Spring 2020-Fall 2020 McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellows are, from left to right, Ivy Flessen, Leela Stockley, Bria Lamonica.��

The Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center is proud to announce that 91���� students Ivy Flessen, Bria Lamonica, and Leela Stockley have been chosen as our Spring 2020-Fall 2020 MHC undergraduate fellows. Fellows receive $4000 each semester for two consecutive semesters, while they work on a humanities project of their own devising. They serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus, and beyond.

Ivy Flessen is from Oswego, Illinois, and is a third-year political science major, with minors in legal studies, as well as ethics and political philosophy. She is involved with a number of honor societies and student organizations, including the 91���� Singers, the Pre-Law Society, and Phi Beta Kappa. Ivy’s project, “The Morality of the Life of the Mind in Plato’s Dialogues” will also serve as her honors thesis. Her research examines the perennial tension between self-interest and altruism in the dialogues of Plato. She is interested in determining whether Plato regarded a life dedicated to wisdom as the zenith of public service, or as a selfish enterprise. She was drawn to this research because she hopes to one day work in academia, and sees modern academics still facing charges of elitism and irrelevance.��

Bria Lamonica is a third-year English major with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in psychology. A native of Turnersville, New Jersey, Bria is particularily interested in the work of feminist poets like Gertrude Stein, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Adrienne Rich, as well as contemporary poets. Her fellowship research, which will also inform her capstone and honors thesis, will involve creating a collection of poetry titled, “Out of Darkness: Contemporary Feminist Poetry.” She is hoping to use poetry as a way to fight back against oppression and speak up for women who cannot speak for themselves. Bria also writes for the Maine Campus, is involved with the Phi Mu fraternity, and is a member of  the Sigma Tau Delta National English Honors Society.��

Leela Stockley is a third-year journalism and anthropology double major from Chester, Maine. As news editor at Maine Campus, she thinks a lot about journalists’ duty to provide unbiased media coverage. Her research, “Ethical Implications of the Protest Paradigm on Marginalized Communities: Examining the portrayal of social justice movements in mass media based on lines of class and race” hopes to further examine how language choice in news coverage often conflicts with this ethical duty. When the media coverage uses language that emphasizes deviant behavior, violence and confrontation, but ignores the core tenets and goals of a movement, Stockley believes it blurs the reader’s understanding of the social justice movement and marginalized communities.��

Returning for their second semester as McGillicuddy Humanities Center Fellows are Noah Loveless, doing research on Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project, Sarah Penney who is examining Icelandic sagas, and Matthew Ryckman who has been exploring the history of geometry textbooks through the lens of a 1732 edition of Euclid’s Elements. All six of the current McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellows will be attending the National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University on April 3-4.��

For students interested in becoming a McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellowship, applications for the Fall 2020-Spring 2021 cycle are due March 27. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines, and a rubric, are all available at umaine.edu/mhc/grants-scholarships/ or by emailing mhc@maine.edu.��

For more information on this event, please contact Karen Sieber [karen.sieber@maine.edu] or Margo Lukens [lukens@maine.edu] at the McGillicuddy Humanities Center at 91���� (207) 581-1848.��

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Are you an undergraduate student at 91���� studying art, music, history, performing arts, English, journalism, communications, new media, philosophy, languages or other humanities fields?

Would you like to earn $4,000 per semester for two consecutive semesters working on your own independent research or creative project?

The McGillicuddy Humanities Center is holding an information session and pizza party for students interested in learning more about this unique opportunity. Join us on Thursday, March 5, from 5-6 p.m. in the Totman Room of Memorial Union to learn more about the fellowships and application process from MHC staff and current and former fellows.

More information about the fellowships, including proposal guidelines and rubrics, can be found at: /mhc/grants-scholarships/for-students/the-clement-and-linda-mcgillicuddy-humanities-center-undergraduate-fellowship/

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The 8th Annual Bangor Humanities Day on Feb. 1 will celebrate music, art, history, literature and other humanities disciplines at venues throughout downtown Bangor. The free public event is sponsored by the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center at the University of Maine.

The day kicks off at Bangor Public Library at 10 a.m. with live music in the atrium by 91����’s premiere all-treble a cappella group Renaissance, currently celebrating their 20th anniversary . From 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m., students from Bangor area high schools will share posters on their humanities-based research in the library’s Crofutt Room.

At the Maine Discovery Museum at 10:30 a.m., Penobscot Tribal member Ann Pollard-Ranco will be leading a demonstration on traditional corn husk doll making. Participants will make corn husk dolls that they can take home.

In Bangor Public Library’s Minsky Lecture Hall, 91���� professor of philosophy Doug Allen will present a keynote lecture, “The Decline and Potential for the Renewal of the Humanities: Scientific Reductionism and Gandhi-informed Humanities Research.” Allen’s talk from 1–2 p.m. will address the current state of the humanities and how knowledge produced in these fields helps make better sense of the human experience in a changing world.

Stan Wells, a former director with Los Angeles theatre troupe The Groundlings, will lead a two-hour theater improv workshop for ages 12 and older from 2–4 p.m., also in Minsky Lecture Hall at the library.

Matt Bishop, curator of the Bangor Historical Society, will be offering a hands-on history event in the Crofutt Room of the library, also beginning at 2 p.m, featuring postcard images from Bangor’s past.

At 3 p.m. in the Crofutt Room, Shawn Laatsch from Emera Astronomy Center will be giving a talk on “Cultural Astronomy: Human Uses of the Sky.” His lecture will look at different ways in which all cultures have looked up at the night sky and have used it for navigation, measuring time, and agriculture among other uses. From Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids, Aztecs to First Nations to Polynesians, and many more – find out how these groups used the sky as a tool for exploration and discovery.

From 4:30–6:30 p.m. at the University of Maine Museum of Art, there will be a reception and gallery tour, led by museum director and curator George Kinghorn. The catered reception and cash bar are made possible with the help of Basil Creek Catering.

Norumbega Collective 2.0 will host a poetry reading by local writers from 7-8 p.m. at the Bangor Arts Exchange, followed by a 9 p.m. performance by the local improv group “Unredacted,” led by Stan Wells. For mature audiences.

Bangor Humanities Day follows “2020 Visions: The Humanities at 91����,” a showcase of current research and creative projects in the humanities, Jan. 31 at Buchanan Alumni House. This event, also free and open to the public, celebrates humanities research and creative projects on campus.

For more information on either event or to request a reasonable accommodation, call 207.581.1848.

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The Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center invites community members, faculty and students to attend a showcase of current research and creative projects in the humanities. The event, “2020 Visions: The Humanities at 91����,” will be held on Friday, January 31, 2020 at the Buchanan Alumni House from 2-5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The afternoon will begin at 2:00 p.m. with a poster session and digital project display in the Andrews Leadership Hall of Buchanan Alumni House. Attendees have the opportunity to converse one-on-one with students and faculty across diverse fields in the humanities about their research. Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served.

At 3:00 p.m. students from the Opera Workshop will perform in the McIntire Room, followed by brief remarks by Dean Emily Haddad from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Professor Margo Lukens, Director of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center.

The highlight of the event will be a research slideshow beginning at 3:30 p.m., where faculty from a variety of different humanities disciplines and university departments will present brief overviews of their recent research and creative projects.

The day’s events aim to highlight the diverse interdisciplinary expertise and interests of our academic faculty and staff involved in research and teaching on campus, and outward-facing humanities work. This afternoon will also familiarize the public with the roles of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center, from student fellowships and faculty grants to campus lectures, performances and community outreach.

The following day, Saturday, February 1, the McGillicuddy Humanities Center is also organizing Bangor Humanities Day, a city-wide celebration of local humanities initiatives off campus in the local area. A full schedule of Saturday’s events will be available on the MHC website soon.

More information about the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center is available online or by emailing mhc@maine.edu.

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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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