In fall 2025, the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) welcomes four new undergraduate humanities research fellows: Haden Buzzell, Thomas Gao, Eddie Nachamie and Helen Walter. This cohort joins current fellows Chantelle Flores, Heath Kennedy, Jordan Ramos and Ellis Sinclair.

MHC undergraduate fellows receive an award of up to $8,000 over the course of two semesters to pursue an independent research or creative project in the humanities in collaboration with a faculty member.

Haden Buzzell (West Newfield, ME), the David ’64, ’67G and Alison ’71 Wiggin Humanities Fellow, is a Political Science major and an Honors student whose project “Not Quite White: Understanding the Racial Identity of Franco Americans in Maine during the 20th Century” seeks to determine how the racial labels imposed upon the Franco-American community that migrated from Quebec and Maritime Canada into Maine during the 19th and 20th centuries shaped their treatment as an ethnic group. Buzzell will be working with faculty mentor Mark Brewer, Professor and Department Chair of Political Science.

Thomas Gao (Chilmark, MA), a Psychology major whose project “ADHD and the Lived Experience: A Phenomenological Inquiry of Mental Disorders” explores Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) through the perspective of phenomenology to provide a new framework to understanding ADHD beyond its classification in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. He is the Sandra Merrill Peters and John G. Peters Humanities Fellow. Gao will be working with faculty mentor Susan Bredlau, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

Eddie Nachamie (North Andover, MA), the Echoes of Maine Fellow, is an Ecology and Environmental Sciences major and an Honors student whose proposal “Climate Change Futures in McCarthy, Alaska and the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains” examines the unique socio-ecological context of McCarthy, Alaska and the surrounding Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Nachamie will be working with faculty mentor Don Beith, Associate Professor of Philosophy.

Helen Walter (Brunswick, ME), a Political Science and History double major, is the Liam Riordan Humanities Fellow. Her project “Sir Thomas More’s Utopia and the Question of Justice” probes Thomas More’s book Utopia and the works it draws on in order to understand More’s answer to the question: how does human desire relate to justice? Walter will be working with faculty mentor Robert Ballingall, Associate Professor of Political Science.

In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, MHC fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus and the broader community. For students interested in becoming a fellow, and faculty who might like to nominate one, the next deadline to apply is March 17. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered. This includes academic papers, art gallery shows, community workshops or films. Applicants do not need to be humanities majors or minors to be eligible. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines and a statement of purpose, is available on the .

The MHC supports excellent teaching, research and public engagement in the humanities to deepen understanding of the human condition. It elevates programs that foster intellectual curiosity, critical reflection and creative innovation. At the core of the center’s work is the belief that studying the humanities inspires compassion across differences, develops empathy, strengthens critical thinking skills and cultivates the emotional and intellectual agility needed to navigate an increasingly interconnected and complex global landscape.

Contact: Alex Young

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In spring 2025, the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) will welcome four new undergraduate humanities research fellows: Chantelle Flores, Heath Kennedy, Jordan Ramos and Ellis Sinclair. This cohort joins current fellows Rehannah Baksh, Obie Casperson, Kyra Pederson and Neil Rockey.

MHC undergraduate fellows receive an award of up to $8,000 over the course of two semesters to pursue an independent research or creative project in the humanities in collaboration with a faculty member.

Flores, (Oakland, ME), is a student in the Honors College and an English and art history major whose project, “The Traces of Other Ghosts: A Documental Poetic Approach to Hypervisualizing Medical Trauma,” aims to raise awareness of medical trauma by creatively exploring the tensions between patient and medical field, between subject and document, and between the physical body and one’s lived experience. Flores will be working with Dr. Hollie Adams, assistant professor of English. Chantelle’s Fellowship is supported by the David ’64, ’67G and Alison ’71 Wiggin Humanities Fellowship.

Kennedy, (Cape Elizabeth, ME), a Music Education and Performance major whose project “The Influence and Uniqueness of Barbara York’s Music” seeks to understand what makes Barbara York’s musical compositions for low brass unique, as well as understand her influence within the tuba and euphonium community. Kennedy will be working with faculty advisor David Stern, adjunct professor of low brass. Heath’s Fellowship is supported by The Sandra Merrill Peters and John G. Peters Humanities Scholarship Fund.

Ramos, (Bristol, RI) is a student in the Honors College and a studio art and environmental science double major whose project is “Maine Wild Blueberry Harvest Heritage: Painting Series Exploring the Interconnected Relationship Between the Fields and Communities Practicing the Harvest Tradition of Hand-raking.” Ramos’s work will be advised by Dr. Lily Calderwood, 91±ŹÁÏ Cooperative Extension wild blueberry specialist and assistant professor of horticulture. Jordan’s Fellowship is supported by the Echoes of Maine Humanities Fund.

Sinclair, (Bangor, ME), an English and WGS double major, proposes “Girls’ Worlds,” a collection of essays exploring three classic children’s stories: Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Employing a Marxist-feminist framework influenced by prominent children’s literature scholars such as Jack Zipes and Maria Tatar, they aim to situate these stories in both their historical contexts and their contemporary sociological relevance. Ellis will be working with the English Department’s Dr. Hollie Adams as a faculty advisor on the project. Ellis’s Fellowship is supported by the Liam Riordan Humanities Fellowship Fund.

In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, MHC fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus and the broader community. For students interested in becoming a fellow, and faculty who might like to nominate one, the next deadline to apply is March 17. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered. This includes academic papers, art gallery shows, community workshops or films. Applicants do not need to be humanities majors or minors to be eligible. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines and a statement of purpose, is available on the .

The MHC supports excellent teaching, research and public engagement in the humanities to deepen understanding of the human condition. It elevates programs that foster intellectual curiosity, critical reflection and creative innovation. At the core of the center’s work is the belief that studying the humanities inspires compassion across differences, develops empathy, strengthens critical thinking skills and cultivates the emotional and intellectual agility needed to navigate an increasingly interconnected and complex global landscape.

Contact: Alex Young

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In fall 2024, the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) welcomes four new undergraduate humanities research fellows: Rehannah Baksh, Obie Casperson, Kyra Pederson and Neil Rockey. This cohort joins current fellows Kiera Campbell, Jess Cleary-Reuning, Alex Morgan and Mackenzie Reynolds.

MHC undergraduate fellows receive an award of up to $8,000 over the course of two semesters to pursue an independent research or creative project in the humanities in collaboration with a faculty member.

Baksh, (Queens, NY), whose project “Dignity and The Dancer” proposes to choreograph a dance piece devoted to the live narration of scholar Ranjana Khanna’s 2007 article “Indignity”, which argues for a radical reassessment of the category of dignity as the basis for the human or humanity. Baksh’s work will be supervised by assistant professor of theatre and English Rosalie Purvis.

Casperson, (Fort Collins, CO), an anthropology major whose project “Explorations of Local Distinctiveness in Cyprus Amidst Effects of Mediterranean Urbanization and Globalization” seeks to document local distinctiveness in the Mediterranean city of Nicosia and evaluate the impact of 21st century contemporary urbanization and globalization. Casperson will be working with faculty mentor Greg Zaro, associate professor of anthropology and climate change.

Pederson, (Brainerd, MN), a philosophy major whose proposal, “Packing the Wound: A Phenomenological Account of Grief Objects,” asks what fills the space that loss creates, and why must that space be necessarily occupied? Pederson will be working with professor of philosophy Jessica Miller.

Rockey, (Chicago, IL), an international affairs major, whose project “Balancing the Scales: Developing Ethical Guidelines for AI’s Role in Life-and-Death Decisions,” considers examine the environments in which artificial intelligence (AI) is, or will be, involved in making critical life-and-death decisions. Rockey will be working with Manuel Wörsdörfer, assistant professor at the Maine Business School and School of Computing and Information Science and associate member of the Climate Change Institute at the 91±ŹÁÏ.

In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, MHC fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus and the broader community. For students interested in becoming a fellow, and faculty who might like to nominate one, the next deadline to apply is October 17. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered. This includes academic papers, art gallery shows, community workshops or films. Applicants do not need to be humanities majors or minors to be eligible. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines and a statement of purpose, is available on the .

The MHC supports excellent teaching, research and public engagement in the humanities to deepen understanding of the human condition. It elevates programs that foster intellectual curiosity, critical reflection and creative innovation. At the core of the center’s work is the belief that studying the humanities inspires compassion across differences, develops empathy, strengthens critical thinking skills and cultivates the emotional and intellectual agility needed to navigate an increasingly interconnected and complex global landscape.

Contact: Zach Ludington

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In spring 2024, the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) will welcome four new undergraduate humanities research fellows: Kiera Campbell, Jess Cleary-Reuning, Alex Morgan and Mackenzie Reynolds. This new cohort will join current fellows Chapman “Chappy” Hall, Iris Loehr, Sarah Renee Ozlanski and Katherine Ritche.

MHC undergraduate fellows receive an award of up to $8,000 over the course of two semesters to pursue an independent research or creative project in the humanities in collaboration with a faculty member.

Campbell, a junior majoring in English from Buxton, Maine, was named the David ’64 and Alison ’71 Wiggin Humanities Fellow for her proposed research project “Getting To Know A Dead Man: The De-Deification of Brian (A Non-Case Study).” Kirsten Jacobson, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, and Gregory Howard, associate professor of English, will supervise the study. Campbell’s project will draw on the work of philosopher Simone de Beauvoir to explore how the relationships children form with their parents change in young adulthood. 

Cleary-Reuning, a senior in the Honors College from Eliot, Maine who is majoring in marine biology and minoring in journalism, will pursue a project titled “College Radio’s Continuing Role: How WMEB and Other College Radio Stations Create and Sustain Community,” supervised Michael Socolow, professor of communication and journalism. Drawing on her experience as manager of WMEB, 91±ŹÁÏ’s student-run radio station, and her interest in media studies, Cleary-Reuning’s research aims to explore the recent history of WMEB in the context of the past and contemporary practices of college radio in the United States.

Morgan, a third-year psychology major in the Honors College with minors in philosophy and neuroscience from Perry, Maine, will pursue a project titled “Roots and Resilience: Understanding the Belonging Among Children of Iranian Diaspora in The United States.” Jordan LaBouff, associate professor of psychology and honors, will supervise the project. Morgan’s work will aim to understand how the underrepresented group of second-generation Iranian Americans experience their perceived belonging in a cross-cultural context of multiple identities.

Reynolds, the Liam Riordan Humanities Fellow and a history major and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies minor from Conroe, Texas, will be working on a project titled “Separate But Not Equal: The Exclusion of Black Women from First-Wave Feminism in Maine and Louisiana, 1900-1925.” Kara Peruccio, assistant professor of history and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, will supervise the project. By studying different modes of racism in Louisiana and Maine’s suffrage movements, Reynolds’s work will explore how social and cultural differences between Louisiana and Maine impacted the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and its auxiliaries in these states between the years of 1900–1925. Though NAWSA’s Maine and Louisiana Woman Suffrage Associations existed under the same national umbrella, their local politics and cultures impacted their statewide activism, who could be involved and how their platform was presented to each state’s respective citizens. Because of implicit and explicit racism found in their state movements, Black women in both states formed their own groups to advocate for themselves.

In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, MHC fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus and the broader community. For students interested in becoming a fellow, and faculty who might like to nominate one, the next deadline to apply is March 17. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered. This includes academic papers, art gallery shows, community workshops or films. Applicants do not need to be humanities majors or minors to be eligible. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines and a statement of purpose, is available on the .

The MHC supports excellent teaching, research and public engagement in the humanities to deepen understanding of the human condition. It elevates programs that foster intellectual curiosity, critical reflection and creative innovation. At the core of the center’s work is the belief that studying the humanities inspires compassion across differences, develops empathy, strengthens critical thinking skills and cultivates the emotional and intellectual agility needed to navigate an increasingly interconnected and complex global landscape.

Contact: Brian Jansen, brian.jansen@maine.edu

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The Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center has announced the recipients of funding for the Fall 2023 Faculty Research Awards cycle. MHC Faculty Grants, adjudicated by a subcommittee of 91±ŹÁÏ faculty across humanities disciplines, provide up to $5,000 to deserving 91±ŹÁÏ faculty and staff (including lecturers and adjunct instructors) for financial support of research, community engagement, or innovative teaching in the humanities, broadly defined. This year’s grants will support projects proposed by Taylor Ashley, Ellie Markovitch, Kara Peruccio, Liam Riordan, and the team of Michael Socolow, Amelia Couture Bue, and Haley Schneider.

Taylor Ashley, Coordinator for Diversity and Inclusion at the 91±ŹÁÏ Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), received an MHC grant for the proposal “Rivers, Cultures, and Their Cuisines,” which aims to educate students and 91±ŹÁÏ community members about the variety of cultures and cuisines that originate from major rivers around the globe. This program will bring diverse community members together for a hands-on immersive experience presenting guests with an opportunity to learn traditional cooking techniques and commonly consumed dishes originating from various rivers and their cultures around the globe. Following the food preparation and subsequent meal, guests will learn about the cultures and their relationship to the river through a faculty-led presentation and hands-on activity following the meal.

Ellie Markovitch, lecturer in the Department of Communication and Journalism, has received an MHC grant related to her ongoing “Fermentation Fridays” project, which takes place in the 91±ŹÁÏ Food Lab and involves developing recipes, facilitating cooking and storytelling workshops, and producing short videos. The Fermentation Fridays project engages with the local community, creating opportunities for skill sharing, the use of local food, and food rescue. At the core of Markovitch’s work is an exploration of the aesthetic of the quotidian and hospitality as art and community building.

Kara Peruccio, assistant professor in the Department of History and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, was awarded an MHC grant for her project, “Under the Same Flag: Transnational Feminist Activism in the Interwar Period, 1919-39.” The MHC will support Peruccio’s travel to the American Historical Association’s annual conference in San Francisco, for which she has organized a panel. Peruccio will be presenting a paper entitled “Unflattering Portraits: Mediterranean Women and the International Alliance of Women, Berlin 1929,” and will subsequently be traveling to give a talk on a related topic at Seattle University.

Professor of history Liam Riordan has received an MHC faculty grant related to his project ‘What We Know, What We Wish’: Maine Statehood, Historical Commemoration, and the Urgency of Public History.” “What We Know” is a co-edited interdisciplinary collection with nine chapters which grew out of the Maine Bicentennial and Statehood Conference, organized at 91±ŹÁÏ in summer 2019. Pulitzer-Prize winning historians Alan Taylor and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich have written its foreword, and the volume is under contract with the UMass Press. MHC funding will support the inclusion of a detailed two-page map to be included in the volume.

Finally, a group proposal submitted by Michael Socolow, associate professor of Communication and Journalism and former MHC director, along with Amelia Couture Bue and Haley Schneider, both assistant professors of communication, was funded to invite the filmmakers behind the documentary “Eroding History” to campus February 5-6, 2024, for programming connected to the observation of Black History Month. The film “Eroding History” documents twin challenges facing the United States, and the world, in the twenty-first century: racism and climate change. “Eroding History” tells the story of two historic Black communities on Deal Island Peninsula, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and how sea level rise threatens the island and its residents. This project is supported also in part by a grant from the Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Series Fund.

McGillicuddy Humanities Center Faculty Grants, which are awarded twice per year in a competitive process, support faculty at all levels with research, community engagement, or innovative teaching proposals in the humanities, broadly defined. The next application deadline is March 17, 2024. For more information, visit /mhc/research/for-faculty/ or email mhc@maine.edu.

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This semester, the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) welcomes four new undergraduate research fellows: Chapman “Chappy” Hall, Iris Loehr, Sarah Renee Ozlanski and Katherine Ritche. This new cohort will join current fellows Paige Allen, Sebastien Chamberlain, Abigail Roberts and Willow Wind.

MHC undergraduate fellows receive an award of up to $8,000 over the course of two semesters to pursue an independent research or creative project in the humanities in collaboration with a faculty member.

Hall is a history major in the Honors College from Brunswick, Maine. His MHC project, titled “Playing History: What Video Games Teach Us About the Past” will be completed under the supervision of professor of history Liam Riordan. Hall will survey gamers to understand how historically themed video games teach history as an active experience. Focussing on the video game “Europa Universalis IV” and themes of colonialism and imperialism in the 18th century, Hall will research the relationship between history and the video games industry, the nature of video games as a medium and the potential video games possess to create an understanding of history through experience.

Loehr is an English major in the Honors College from Cincinnati, Ohio. Her project is titled “Mountain People: Essays on Place and Personhood in Appalachia.” Loehr will work with faculty mentor James Brophy of the Honors College on a collection of essays on a variety of topics pertaining to central Appalachia and place. By blending creative and academic styles, Loehr aims to explore human interaction with the region’s geography and geology to develop a narrative of Appalachian identity that runs counter to the ones driven by stigma. In the popular imagination, Appalachia is a site of poverty, incest and strife. Online characterizations of Appalachia portray it as a place filled with cannibals, killers, and spirits that haunt the woods deep in the mountains. Loehr’s project challenges the stigmas drawn from the region’s systemic poverty and historical isolation by presenting a vision of Appalachian culture that’s vibrant, nuanced and inherently bound to the mountains from which it emerged.

Ozlanski is a studio art and English double major from Belfast, Maine. Working with associate professor of English Carla Billitteri, Ozlanski’s project is called “The Language of my Grandmother is a Language of Resistance: How the Matrilineal Transmission of Pisanki Express Cultural Identity.” Ozlanski, the Echoes of Maine Fellow, will be expanding on research into the matrilineal tradition of pisanki, which forms a part of her cultural heritage. Pisanki are colorful eggs with images written on them through a wax and dye resistance process. These eggs can be read by those who understand the combination of colors and symbols. Ozlanski is exploring the ways this tradition has been preserved for over a thousand years by being passed down from mothers to daughters. She will also examine how pisanki has become a symbol of cultural identity for people of Ukrainian and Polish heritage, an object of cultural memory and a symbol of resistance for Ukraine during Russia’s invasion. In addition to examining a variety of scholarly investigations into this topic, Ozlanski will also be doing her own creative research about pisanki as a kind of written language that is gender and culturally specific. Her examination of this cultural expression will explore how this language represents an intersection between art and writing that can communicate the values, perspectives and histories of Ukrainian and Polish women.

Ritchie, a history and secondary education double major from Northport, Maine is working with professor of History Anne Knowles to pursue a project titled “Mapping Education: Using Maps to Teach the Holocaust.” Ritchie, the Sandra Merrill Peters and John G. Peters Fellow, will utilize mapping and teaching methods to make Holocaust education more accessible and dynamic for high school and college-aged students. Ritchie will be using a geographic information system (GIS) to create maps and lesson plans for fellow teachers and students with the goal of making the topic more approachable. Her work also looks to bridge the gap between high school classrooms and academic studies of the Holocaust with the use of interactive maps and lesson plans that are educational for both students and teachers at the secondary and collegiate levels.

In addition to honing their research skills and building their academic networks, MHC fellows serve as humanities ambassadors to their peers, the campus and the broader community. For students interested in becoming a fellow, and faculty who might like to nominate one, the next deadline to apply for a fellowship is Oct. 17. Research and creative work of all types across the humanities will be considered. This includes academic papers, art gallery shows, community workshops or films. Applicants do not need to be humanities majors or minors to be eligible. More information, including application instructions, proposal guidelines and a statement of purpose, is available on the .

The MHC supports excellent teaching, research and public engagement in the humanities to deepen understanding of the human condition. It supports programs that foster intellectual curiosity, critical reflection and creative innovation. At the core of the center’s work is the belief that studying the humanities inspires compassion across differences, develops empathy, strengthens critical thinking skills and cultivates the emotional and intellectual agility needed to navigate an increasingly interconnected and complex global landscape.

Contact: Brian Jansen, brian.jansen@maine.edu

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The Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center is pleased to announce the recipients of its funding decisions for the Spring 2023 Faculty Research Awards cycle. MHC Faculty Grants, adjudicated by a subcommittee of 91±ŹÁÏ faculty across humanities disciplines, provide up to $5,000 to 91±ŹÁÏ faculty (including lecturers and adjunct instructors) for financial support of research, community engagement, or innovative teaching. This year’s recipients were Robert Ballingall, Ryan LaRochelle, Carla Billitteri, Margo Lukens, and Jennifer Moxley.

Robert Ballingall, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, will receive funding for a book project titled Plato’s Reverent City: The Laws and the Politics of Authority. An MHC faculty grant will help defray costs related to publishing Ballingall’s forthcoming monograph in an open access format. Books published open access have much higher citation rates and impact in their fields and with the broader public. Ballingall’s book, Plato’s Reverent City brings out the enduring relevance of one of Plato’s least-studied dialogues for understanding the contempt of lawful civility that appears endemic to modern societies. The monograph shows how Plato’s Laws anticipates this worrying trend with remarkable foresight yet locates its germ in a novel cause. Contemporary observers point to economic disruption, persistent racism, and communication technology to explain the so-called new populism, but the Laws dwells on the disruptive consequences of neglecting a certain virtue—reverence, the capacity for showing due respect for what exceeds and circumscribes the human condition.

Carla Billitteri, associate professor in the Department of English, was awarded an MHC faculty grant for a project titled “Magnetic Surrealism: Laura (Riding) Jackson 1930s Poetics.” This project continues and expands the examination of the philosophical dimensions of Laura (Riding) Jackson’s poetics that Billitteri began in her book Language and the Renewal of Society (2009). MHC support will help support Billitteri’s plan to visit Laura (Riding) Jackson’s archive at Cornell University and examine her unpublished letters and notes, and to present her findings at a conference on Logic and Modern Literature, held by the Department of English, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, in September.

Ryan LaRochelle, lecturer in Leadership Studies and the Department of Political Science, received a McGillicuddy Humanities Center grant for work on his biography of Maine lawyer and politician William S. Cohen, tentatively titled “Getting to the Truth: William S. Cohen’s Life in Leadership.” The MHC grant will provide funding to cover travel and lodging to conduct archival research at both the Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan Presidential Libraries, as well as oral history interviews with individuals familiar with Cohen’s leadership, including Cohen himself.

Margo Lukens, professor in the Department of English and former MHC director, was awarded a faculty grant to support conference travel for her work on Indigenous literature and drama. Lukens will travel to Pomona College in Claremont, CA for a panel that assembles actors, directors, playwrights and scholars who knew and worked with William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.,. She will also be traveling to Toronto for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association’s annual conference to present on Still They Remember Me, the bilingual book of Penobscot stories published in 2021.

čóŸ±ČÔČč±ô±ôČâ,ÌęJennifer Moxley, professor in the Department of English and former MHC director, will receive MHC funding to support a campus visit and public screening of two films based on Stephen King novels, chosen and presented by Millie De Chirico and Danielle Henderson, hosts of the film podcast I Saw What You Did, followed by a discussion and Q & A. This visit, supported also by the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature,  aims to support film culture and teach students ways to approach film watching. In addition, they will be able to discuss with these working professionals approaches to using one’s humanities education (such as writing for TV, podcasting, or film programming).

McGillicuddy Humanities Center Faculty Grants, which are awarded twice per year in a competitive process, support faculty at all levels with research, community engagement, or innovative teaching proposals. The next application deadline is October 17, 2023. For more information, visit /mhc/research/for-faculty/ or email mhc@maine.edu.

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On March 29-30, the McGillicuddy Humanities Center and the 91±ŹÁÏ School of Performing Arts will welcome acclaimed conductor and educator Murry Sidlin for a two-day mini residency at the 91±ŹÁÏ. As part of his visit, Sidlin will present a viewing of the documentary film “Defiant Requiem” and will give a talk about the historical events on which the film is based.

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, March 29 in Minsky Recital Hall, Sidlin will screen “Defiant Requiem,” a feature-length documentary film which highlights the most dramatic example of intellectual and artistic courage in the Theresienstadt (TerezĂ­n) Concentration Camp during World War II: the remarkable story of Rafael SchĂ€chter, a brilliant, young Czech conductor who was arrested and sent to TerezĂ­n in 1941. The film explores SchĂ€chter’s moral leadership under the most brutal circumstances and his determination to sustain courage and hope for his fellow prisoners by enriching their souls through music. “Defiant Requiem” will also be available to stream at (password: UMAINE) from Sunday, March 26 through Sunday, April 2 for those who are unable to attend this screening in-person.

On Thursday, March 30 at 3:00 pm, also in Minsky Recital Hall, Sidlin will give a lecture about the events on which the film is based: an infamous performance of Verdi’s Requiem by prisoners before high-ranking Nazi officers from Berlin and the International Red Cross to support the charade that the Camp prisoners were flourishing. Sidlin’s lecture will include a performance from the Requiem by the Silver Duo, 91±ŹÁÏ School of Performing Arts faculty Phillip and Noreen Silver.
As part of Sidlin’s visit, on March 29 at 3:00 pm in the Foster Center, Libra Assistant Professor of English and theatre Rosalie Purvis will also direct a table reading of the docudrama Mass Appeal, 1943, written by Sidlin, which tells the dramatic story of prisoner and conductor Rafael SchĂ€chter arguing before the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp’s Council of Jewish Elders his justification to perform the Verdi Requiem with a prisoner choir. The play forcefully presents the moral and ethical arguments, both pro and con, for a performance of the Requiem; and ultimately asks the question, why would Jewish prisoners in a Concentration Camp under brutal Nazi control sing a Catholic Mass?

Murry Sidlin, a conductor with a unique gift for engaging audiences, is the president and creative director of The Defiant Requiem Foundation, an organization that sponsors live concert performances of “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín” and “Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer;” as well as other projects including the documentary film, “Defiant Requiem;” a new docudrama called “Mass Appeal, 1943,.” In addition, he lectures extensively on the arts and humanities as practiced by the prisoners in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp. Sidlin began his career as assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony and then was appointed resident conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra. He has served as music director of the New Haven and Long Beach (California) Symphonies, the Tulsa Philharmonic, and the Connecticut Ballet. For eight years he was resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony and, from 2002 to 2010, he served as Dean of the School of Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

These events, which are part of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center’s 2022-23 annual symposium on “Recovery, Rediscovery, and Resilience,” are free and open to the public.

For more information, or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact the McGillicuddy Humanities Center at mhc@maine.edu.

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Hollie Adams, assistant professor of English at 91±ŹÁÏ and MHC Faculty Advisory Group member, has been selected as one of 13 artists selected for Acadia National Park’s Artist-in-Residence Program in 2023. Adams is the author of the novel “Things You’ve Inherited from Your Mother” and the hybrid prose-poetry chapbook “Deliver Me from Swedish Furniture,” which was a finalist for the bpNichol Chapbook Award.

Adams will spend the year making frequent trips to Mount Desert Island to work on a collection of poems on the topic of Acadia in the Anthropocene that will investigate the effects of climate change and the human impact on the park’s landscape.

Read more on the National Park Service .

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The McGillicuddy Humanities Center and 91±ŹÁÏ Office of International Programs (OIP) are pleased to announce the winners of its Global Perspectives for Humanities Exploration and Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Awards, each given to 91±ŹÁÏ undergraduates completing a study abroad program during the semester of the award. This year’s recipient of the Global Perspectives for Humanities Exploration Award is Eli Lines. The recipient of the Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Award is Teagan Russell.

The Global Perspectives for Humanities Explorations Fund was established at the 91±ŹÁÏ Foundation in 2018 and has been made possible by alumni and friends of the New England Universities in Salzburg Study Abroad Program in honor of the program founder, the late Dr. Josef Roggenbauer, longtime professor of German in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics. The fund was launched by Tracey Graffam-Dickson ’93 and Jessica Canatsey ’92, two friends who met at 91±ŹÁÏ and shared a “life changing experience” when they participated in a travel abroad program in Salzburg. They believed experiencing a foreign culture was transformative in their lives, and so the women teamed up to initiate a fund providing opportunities for today’s undergraduates to live their own cultural adventure. Other donors have since joined in this initiative, and the funds invested will generate awards and life-changing memories far into the future.

In honor of Herr Roggenbauer, who passed away in September 2022,  the MHC and OIP will offer an additional award from the Global Perspectives for Humanities Explorations Fund for a student studying abroad in the Fall 2023 semester. That competition is now open, with an application deadline of March 31.

The newly established Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Fund, which is disbursing its first award in 2023, was set up by Charles Ryan ’84, to provide support to students wishing to expand their global views through international travel to Central and South American countries.

Eli Lines, recipient of the Global Perspectives for Humanities Exploration Award, is a sophomore Marine Science major with a minor in Outdoor Leadership, from Trumansburg NY. He will be studying in Puerto Natales, Chile and with a particular focus on Patagonian ecology in a changing environment.

Teagan Russell, recipient of the inaugaral Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Fund Award is a junior majoring in Ecology and Environmental Science with a concentration in Ecosystems Ecology originally from Plainville, Connecticut. Russell, a long-time enthusiast of everything outdoors, will be studying abroad in San RamĂłn, Costa Rica at the University of Costa Rica, taking classes that support her major, as well as classes that add to the cultural depth of her study abroad experience–including courses such as Tropical Conservation Biology, Spanish Language, Ecology and Population Biology, and Latin American Cuisine.

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