The Stories We’ll Tell Tomorrow: University of Maine Humanities Scholars and the COVID-19 Pandemic

This event features presentations of recent research projects and creative endeavors undertaken by University of Maine scholars during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHEN: Thursday June 17, 2021

TIME: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

WHERE: Online via Zoom

AFFINITY: University of Maine Humanities Scholars

COST: Free

Virtual via Zoom: maine.zoom.us/j/88357463978

This event features presentations of recent research projects and creative endeavors undertaken by University of Maine scholars, moderated by Michael Socolow, the director of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center. These three projects all speak to the essential relevance of the humanities and humanistic inquiry, and have received press and media attention noting their public service.

Event Speakers:

Kreg T. Ettenger, Associate Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Maine Folklife Center and Maine Studies Program presents the Maine Folklife Center’s “Jack Pine Project,” a community art project that responded to the covid-19 crisis by “connecting artists, art educators, and art therapists with residents from around Maine. Through a series of individual workshops, Maine artists, musicians, writers, and others worked with different groups to help them express their thoughts, feelings, concerns, and hopes for the future.”

Kathryn Swacha, Assistant Professor of English presents “Coping with Covid: A Public Story Telling Project,” which “aims to provide a space for people to share how they are ‘coping with COVID’ throughout their everyday routines and to improve our understanding of how we are all interpreting social distancing and other public health guidelines on a daily basis,” and the Maine Folklife Center’s “Jack Pine Project,” a community arts project that responded to the covid-19 crisis by “connecting artists, art educators, and art therapists with residents from around Maine.

Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism and Director of the McGillicuddy Humanities Center presents the Center’s “Maine Remembers the Coronavirus” project, which will collect oral history interviews about the pandemic’s impact in different sectors of Maine’s society and economy.

This event is co-sponsored by the University of Maine Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School and the McGillicuddy Humanities Center.