This Week in English | Nov. 28 – Dec. 5

Neville is buzzing as we move toward our last week of class for the semester. In classes, students prepare presentations, papers, and exams. Outside class, 101 portfolios and paperwork stream into the English office, instructors haul in treats and snacks for their last classes, and we all turn our minds towards that last week of finals and papers, and then….a break! Here’s a little news for our community:

 

Moxley Poetry class prepares Manuscripts, comic poems: 

Jennifer Moxley’s 400-level Poetry class is in the thick of preparing their manuscripts of poetry, many of which will also serve as senior capstone projects. Moxley notes: “Allison Ogle, a CW minor in my Advanced poetry course, likes to write comic verse. She said it was okay if I shared this one with others”:

Press Update: Neville Hall to be Renamed “-ille Hall”

Never will I ever find a “Neville” that’s intact.
Nor will I discover a good reason to react
To letters going missing – I’ll tell you, that’s a fact.
That’s it. I give up. I’ll put “-ille Hall” in the contract.

Neville certainly does seem plagued with missing letters—the sign that hangs over the south entrance in particular never seems to read “Neville”. Thanks, Allison, for the levity!

McGillicuddy Fellow Sherralyn Robbins Presents her Original Research: 

The McGillicuddy Humanities Center and the UMaine Writing Center present: “Confronting Gender Binaries, A Discussion: Women’s Agency in Academia and Beyond, Wednesday, December 7 at 3:00 p.m. at the UMaine Writing Center (Neville 403).

Come support the exciting work Sherralyn will share!

 

16th Annual Emily Dickinson Reading:

The University of Maine’s bookstore & co-sponsors, UMaine Dept. of English & the Honors College, invite you to the 16th Annual EMILY DICKINSON BIRTHDAY READING at the Bookstore, Weds., Dec. 7, 2022, 4 pm. Enjoy UMaine faculty, students, staff, poets, & friends reading an Emily Dickinson poem or an original poem of their own. If you’d like to read a poem, contact: kathleen.ellis@maine.edu

 

Modernism and Manifestos:

We are drumming up enrollment for this fascinating section of ENG 229: tell your friends!

The modernist period has been called an era of “-isms” (Mary Ann Caws), as radical movements like futurism, dadaism, and surrealism waged war against the old guard of reactionary politics and establishment art. This course will look at the historical avant-garde through the prism of its most characteristic genre: the manifesto. We will chart the manifesto’s rise to become a dominant mode of self-assertion among a variety of twentieth-century artistic and social movements, exploring its dual nature as a literary genre that seeks to produce real social or political change in the world. Often, the manifesto has global ambitions, and this course will accordingly emphasize its international character and scope. We will also pay particular attention to questions of identity and representation and the ways in which racial, ethnic, gender, and class struggles have been written into the manifesto’s history.

Wabanaki Winter Market:

The Wabanaki Winter Market, an annual celebration of art created by Wabanaki artists, will return with one-of-a-kind artwork for sale from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the University of Maine Collins Center for the Arts. This year marks the 28th anniversary of this signature holiday event, hosted by the UMaine Hudson Museum and the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA), and supported in part by the Onion Foundation. The market will feature over 30 Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Mi’kmaq artists who create brown ash and sweetgrass baskets, birchbark containers, and jewelry, among other art forms. MIBA participants include new and nationally award-winning basket weavers.

The Wabanaki Winter Market also includes a performance of Penobscot songs by Kelly Demmons, a brown ash pounding exhibition by Mi’kmaq artist Eldon Hanning, a children’s brown ash bookmark workshop by Penobscot weaver Pam Cunningham and drumming by the Burnurwurbskek Singers. Additionally, there will be book signings for “Still They Remember Me” by authors Carol Dana, Penobscot language master, and Margo Lukens, UMaine English professor, and for “Night of the Living Rez” by Morgan Talty, UMaine assistant English professor.

“The Hudson Museum is excited to host the full-scale return of this in-person opportunity to celebrate Wabanaki artists and their extraordinary art,” says museum Director Gretchen Faulkner. “In addition to one-of-a-kind art, visitors can learn about Wabanaki history and culture through demonstrations, music, a children’s workshop, drumming and dancing, and exhibits in the Hudson Museum.” The schedule of events is online.

Also of interest to visitors to the show, the Minsky and Merritt galleries are featuring exhibits of Wabanaki artwork. A collection of Wabanaki brown ash and sweetgrass baskets and basket making tools from the Leo and Florence Shay Collection will be on exhibit in the Merritt Gallery.

The Minsky Gallery is showcasing works by Indian Island School students in grades 5–8, with artists from each grade using different printmaking techniques. Fifth graders created hand-printed and hand-colored Plexiglass etchings of shamans and medicine people. Sixth graders made portraits colored with watercolor paint after they were hand-printed. Seventh graders made self-portraits using linoleum block prints. Eighth graders used techniques pioneered by Andy Warhol to make self-portraits that were screened over watercolor paint.

Opportunity to join the Black Bear Consulting Corps, 

A new program from the Foster Center for Innovation designed to provide assistance to Maine companies bringing new innovations to market and to help students gain valuable, paid professional experience.

Students who join the BBCC will work on 3- to 6-week projects for Maine companies over the course of the spring semester. Each student will be placed on a team with 1-2 others and paid for their work on projects that could include market research, graphic design, marketing, copywriting, web design/improvements, competitive & data analysis, and much more. Not only will they make great professional connections and build their résumés, they’ll provide critical support to Maine small businesses recovering from pandemic impacts. For more information, please email Emma Wilson, or visit the BBCC website. Student applications are due by December 9, 2022.

Shows at the Versant Power Astronomy Center: 
There are a lot of exciting shows on the docket for December. Particularly interesting to me is Mexica Archaeoastronomy: Between Space and Time:

Through impressive immersive scenarios, Mexica Archaeoastronomy: Between Space and Time illustrates the important role played by astronomical observation for the evolution of pre-Hispanic cultures in central Mexico. The Mexicas used the calendrical and astronomical knowledge inherited by their predecessor cultures to found the capital of their empire: Tenochtitlan. Vibrant colors, shapes and sounds transport the viewer to one of the most important cultures that, to this day, still lives in the heart and skin of the Mexican people.  The program includes a tour of the night sky and an update on latest astronomy news.

Watch the trailer here! For tickets or more information, visit the Versant Power Astronomy Center website.

Black Bear Food Drive: 

A campuswide nonperishable food drive to benefit the University of Maine Black Bear Exchangefood pantry will be held Nov. 1–Dec. 16, sponsored by UMaine Auxiliary Enterprises and the Green Campus Initiative. Black Bear Exchange has specifically requested nonperishable food donations of boxed cereal, oatmeal, peanut butter or nutbutter, jelly or jam, tuna fish, and macaroni and cheese. Read more here.

Thanks, everyone; this will be the last Week in English until the spring term begins. Enjoy your winter activities and festivities!