UMaine Canada Week Celebrates Canadian-American Center’s 25th Anniversary

Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756

ORONO — In celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary, the University of Maine Canadian-American Center will focus its annual Canada Week activities on assessing the state of Canadian studies in the United States.

Planned in conjunction with UMaine’s annual International Week, Nov. 8-12, Canada Week will take a retrospective look at Canadian studies, says Raymond Pelletier, associate director of the Canadian-American Center and associate professor of French.

The public is invited to all events, which are free.

“This is an especially meaningful Canada Week for us,” Pelletier says. “This is the twenty-fifth year that the UMaine Canadian-American Center has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Resource Center.”

The center administers the most extensive Canadian program in the United States, according to Pelletier.

The UMaine Canadian-American Center, located at 154 College Ave., is part of the New England Consortium of the Study of Canada, which includes the University of Vermont and Plattsburgh State University in New York.

With nearly 20 faculty members dedicated to or teaching courses involving Canadian studies, and regular student-faculty field trips to Canada, Pelletier says the UMaine program “is the leading institution for studies on Canada in the country.”

Canada Week is a 25-year-old tradition at UMaine, but this year, teachers, professors, students and the members of the community will discuss how Canadian studies evolved at UMaine and consider future directions for the curriculum, Pelletier says.

“Anybody who’s had anything to do with Canadian studies over the last 25 years is invited to celebrate with us,” he says. Invited guests include members of the Consortium, representatives from the Canadian Consulate in Boston and Quebec Delegation in Boston.

Public events begin Nov. 9 with the Canadian Studies Luncheon and Lecture Program acknowledging the Canadian-American Center’s 25 years as a national resource center on Canada. It’s being held from noon to 2 p.m. in the Mahogany Room at Wells Commons. Reservations are requested by calling (207) 581-4220.

Guest speakers include: George Sulzner, University of Massachusetts professor of political science and president of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, Robert Babcock, UMaine professor emeritus of history, Stephen Hornsby, director of the UMaine Canadian-American Center, and Victor Konrad, former director.

On Nov. 10, from 12:15-1:30 p.m. at Bodwell Lounge in the Maine Center for the Arts, as part of the Alice Stewart Graduate Student Lecture Series, speakers include: Hans Carlson, “St. Croix to Stats-Can: Politics and Mapping French History in the Canadian Maritimes;” Sarah Domareki Kazmierczak, “To stay or to go? A literary and historical study of Quebec emigration to New England, 1820-1930” and Lise Pelletier, “Acadian Renaissance: The Struggle Continues.” A box lunch will be provided. Reservations are requested by calling (207) 581-4220.

On Nov. 12, from 3-6 p.m. in the Bangor Lounge of the Memorial Union, Distinguished Lecturer Allan Greer, professor of history at the University of Toronto, Canadian social historian and former UMaine faculty member, will speak on “Canada in the History of Colonial North America: National, Transnational, and Imperial Approaches.”

On Nov. 18, from 3-5:30 p.m. at Bodwell Lounge, Canada-in-the-Classroom, a K-12 After School Workshop titled “Acadian History and Culture, Two Approaches: Teaching French Fluency, and Teaching with the Explanatory Maps of Saint Croix & Acadia. Refreshments, handouts and continuing education credit will be available. Reservations are requested.

More information about the program is available by calling Betsy Arntzen at the Canadian-American Center, located at 154 College Ave. on the Orono campus, at (207) 581-4225, or by emailing to barntzen@umit.maine.edu. Additional information also is on the Canadian-American Center website at http://www.umaine.edu/canam.