Brinkley Talks to BDN About Franco-American Culture, Identity Symposium

The Bangor Daily News advanced the upcoming University of Maine spring symposium, “In and Out of Place: Finding Home in Franco America.” UMaine’s Franco-American Centre and Franco American Studies program will host the series of free events April 25–26 on the Orono campus. Tony Brinkley, a professor of English and faculty associate at UMaine’s Franco-American Centre, spoke with the BDN about the symposium. “The benefit of these programs is immense. You can’t have an economically powerful state if its cultural power isn’t recognized,” he said. Brinkley added that a recent UMaine study found that about 33 percent of Maine residents have some French in their background, and events such as the symposium, are important in terms of embracing cultural history.