On Jan. 31, the University of Maine’s Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center worked in collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to host the “2020 Visions: The Humanities at UMaine” event. The event hosted a variety of speakers and exhibits on the humanities-based research that UMaine’s McGillicuddy Humanities Center supports.
A majority of the speakers presenting their work were UMaine faculty and professors. However, some students presented their research. The event emphasized the expertise in both the UMaine faculty and students, showcasing the broad scope of research the McGillicuddy Humanities Center and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences promotes.
The McGillicuddy Humanities Center was founded in 2010 and was only recently renamed after donors Clement and Linda McGillicuddy. The objective of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center is to promote involvement in the humanities disciplines while incorporating diversity at UMaine. They also work with the community outside of UMaine to create relationships with educators across the state.
The afternoon commenced with a poster exhibit session displaying research topics that both students and professors in the humanities study. The poster exhibition highlighted the interdisciplinary collaboration researchers undertook, a research approach at the core of UMaine’s research initiative. Interdisciplinary research has helped departments across campus grow and expand their research in ways that benefit the UMaine community, and the local and global communities.
Faculty and students also showcased a UMaine Opera performance. Shortly after the performance, Emily Haddad, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science, gave warm remarks alongside Margo Lukens, the director of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center.
The remainder of the event included slideshow presentations by UMaine Humanities Scholars. A majority of the presenters were current UMaine professors speaking about the arts, modern languages, psychology and more.
To follow the “2020 Visions: The Humanities at UMaine” event, the McGillicuddy Humanities Center organized the Bangor Humanities Day on Feb.1. Bangor Humanities Day focused on incorporating and recognizing the humanities in the community outside of the UMaine campus. Bangor Humanities Day was sponsored in part by the McGillicuddy Humanities Center to provide the opportunity for members of the local community to attend free poetry readings, an improv workshop and a lecture from community members on current humanities research and developments over the past year. The event also highlighted humanities research, culture and arts from around the area, with a display of posters on research conducted by Bangor-area high schoolers and a display of photos of the Bangor area hosted by the curator of the Bangor Historical Society.
The McGillicuddy Humanities Center hosts a variety of events and opportunities for students and staff each semester. Currently, the McGillicuddy Humanities Center has sponsored two McGillicuddy Humanities Center fellows for the 2020 year. The fellowship offers a funding opportunity for students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to conduct independent research over the span of the year.
For more information on the McGillicuddy Humanities Center, contact Margo Lukens at lukens@maine.edu or at the McGillicuddy Humanities Center website at https://umaine.edu/mhc/.
