On Monday, Oct. 29, University of Maine President Paul Ferguson will hold Community Conversation 2.0, his second annual discussion with the UMaine community.
The President’s Community Conversation 2.0 will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. in Wells Conference Center. This year, the President’s Community Conversation is being combined with the annual Employee Breakfast. For UMaine employees working evening shifts, an “evening breakfast” is scheduled for 9–10 that night.
Last October, President Ferguson held the first Community Conversation to share his first impressions of UMaine. He also described the collaborative process about to be initiated to shape a bold, pragmatic vision for UMaine’s future. That Conversation launched the “The Blue Sky Project: Reaffirming Public Higher Education at Maine’s Flagship University,” the strategic planning initiative led by a 26-member leadership team of faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Community Conversation 2.0 will focus on both achievements and challenges at UMaine this past year, and will introduce the Blue Sky Project Implementation Plan.
Contact: Margaret Nagle, (207) 581-3745
The University of Maine and ESTIA, a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization based in Maine dedicated to the protection of cultural and biological diversity, will host the 9th Annual ESTIA Conference on “Slow Food: A Model for Sustainable and Healthy Living.”
Interest in the concept of Slow Food has grown in recent years as more people seek to understand the value of local, in-season and organic food that boosts the local economy while protecting the environment.
The conference will be held 6 p.m.–9:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, and 8 a.m.–5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. Events will be held both days at UMaine’s Wells Conference Center.
The conference will address various topics such as understanding the Slow Food model and its contribution to sustainability, its health benefits and its viability in boosting Maine’s economy. The conference will also explore food policy as it relates to Slow Food and present success stories from Maine institutions and businesses.
More than 20 speakers from local, state and national organizations will explore different aspects of Slow Food. Roger Doiron, the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International, will give the keynote address at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 26. Doiron led the successful campaign for a kitchen garden at the White House, earning him the Hearst Media’s “Heart of Green” Award as one of the 10 most inspiring people in sustainable food.
Carlo Petrini, the founder of the International Slow Food movement, will greet conference attendees via video. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, a member of the House Agriculture Committee and a national voice for local, sustainable farming, will deliver a talk titled “Food Policy — Incorporating the Slow Food Model into the Maine Economy.”
Other speakers include Walt Whitcomb, commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Mark Lapping, executive director of the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service; and Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
The conference fee, which includes local, in-season and organic food, is $40 ($50 on-site registration) and $25 ($30) for students. The registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 15. To register go to estiamaine.org. For more information, contact Gregory Edwards, ESTIA treasurer, at 716 Union Street, Bangor, Maine, 04401 or email estiamaine@gmail.com.
Contact: Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, (207) 581-3124 or dorothy.klimis.zacas@umit.maine.edu; Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu
The Bangor Daily News carried an article announcing the ESTIA Conference on “Slow Food, a Model for Sustainable and Healthy Living,” which is being held Oct. 26–27 at UMaine’s Wells Conference Center. More than 20 speakers, including U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine and several UMaine faculty members, will address topics such as understanding the slow food model, its contribution to sustainability, health benefits, viability in boosting the Maine economy and food policy as it relates to slow food.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
The University of Maine and ESTIA, a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization based in Maine dedicated to the protection of cultural and biological diversity, will host the 9th Annual ESTIA Conference on “Slow Food: A Model for Sustainable and Healthy Living.”
Interest in the concept of Slow Food has grown in recent years as more people seek to understand the value of local, in-season and organic food that boosts the local economy while protecting the environment.
The conference will be held 6 p.m.–9:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, and 8 a.m.–5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. Events will be held both days at UMaine’s Wells Conference Center.
The conference will address various topics such as understanding the Slow Food model and its contribution to sustainability, its health benefits and its viability in boosting Maine’s economy. The conference will also explore food policy as it relates to Slow Food and present success stories from Maine institutions and businesses.
More than 20 speakers from local, state and national organizations will explore different aspects of Slow Food. Roger Doiron, the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International, will give the keynote address at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 26. Doiron led the successful campaign for a kitchen garden at the White House, earning him the Hearst Media’s “Heart of Green” Award as one of the 10 most inspiring people in sustainable food.
Carlo Petrini, the founder of the International Slow Food movement, will greet conference attendees via video. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, a member of the House Agriculture Committee and a national voice for local, sustainable farming, will deliver a talk titled “Food Policy — Incorporating the Slow Food Model into the Maine Economy.”
Other speakers include Walt Whitcomb, commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Mark Lapping, executive director of the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service; and Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
The conference fee, which includes local, in-season and organic food, is $40 ($50 on-site registration) and $25 ($30) for students. The registration deadline has been extended to Thursday, Oct. 25. To register go to estiamaine.org. For more information, contact Gregory Edwards, ESTIA treasurer, at 716 Union Street, Bangor, Maine, 04401 or email estiamaine@gmail.com.
Contact: Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, (207) 581-3124 or dorothy.klimis.zacas@umit.maine.edu; Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu
A Bangor Daily News article about a bipartisan initiative led by Gov. Paul LePage and House Democratic Leader Emily Cain to revise state government ethics, accountability and transparency laws for the next legislative session noted that UMaine Honors College student Shelbe Lane of Patten will research and write omnibus ethics reform legislation as part of her thesis. LePage’s acting legal counsel Michael Cianchette said while that it’s unusual to hand over such a project to a college student, Lane is “an intelligent young Mainer” and up to the challenge.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
As the presidential election season heats up, the University of Maine has several experts available to discuss the campaigns and candidates, as well as their most recent election- and political-related research.
Mark Brewer, an associate professor of political science, follows American politics, political parties, elections, interest groups and religion and politics. His recent research includes an examination of the evolving definition of the word
liberalism, which had a very different connotation 100 years ago than it does today. Brewer can be reached at (207) 581-1863 or mark.brewer@umit.maine.edu.
Amy Fried, a professor of political science, is interested in American politics, public opinion, participation, voting rules, and women and politics. She is a national expert in public opinion and her blog, Pollways, can be read at pollways.com.
She recently released a book, “Tea Party Talk – The Governors,” which compiles quotations and comments from Tea Party governors across the country and discusses their links to the Tea Party movement. Fried can be reached at (207) 581-1797 or amy.fried@umit.maine.edu.
Jordan LaBouff, a Department of Psychology faculty member, authored a study that found participants interviewed outside a religious structure in two western European cities were more ideologically conservative, more strongly supported specific conservative policies, and were more negative towards out-groups like Muslims, foreigners, or homosexual persons than did those who were interviewed outside a nonreligious structure such as a government building. LaBouff collaborated on the research while he was a doctoral candidate at Baylor University in Texas. LaBouff can be reached at (207) 581-2826 or jordan.labouff@umit.maine.edu.
Richard Powell, an associate professor of political science, has research interests that include the U.S. Presidency, Congress, mass media, elections, state politics and constitutional law. He has also authored book chapters on presidential
communications, and is prepared to discuss the presidential debates, which begin Oct. 3. Powell can be reached at (207) 581-1795 or rpowell@maine.edu
Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu
Several area news organizations, including the Bangor Daily News and Channel 5 (WABI) covered Friday’s memorial celebration of the life of University of Maine Honors College Dean Charlie Slavin, who died unexpectedly in July. Around 650 friends and colleagues of the 58-year-old mathematician turned out to honor Slavin at UMaine’s Collins Center for the Arts.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
The Bangor Daily News reported that the University of Maine community will honor the memory of Charlie Slavin, dean of the UMaine Honors College who died unexpectedly at his home on July 30, in a special ceremony from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 14 at the Collins Center for the Arts. A reception at the Collins Center will follow.
Contact: Emily Cain, (207) 581-3308
David Gross, professor emeritus of English at the University of Oklahoma, has been named interim dean of the University of Maine Honors College, where he has been a part-time faculty member since 2005.
Gross has been endorsed by University of Maine System Chancellor James H. Page and recommended to the Board of Trustees as interim dean. His term of service will begin this semester.
Gross will assume the interim role due to the sudden passing this summer of Honors Dean Charlie Slavin.
Gross had a distinguished academic career at the University of Oklahoma. For five years, he served as assistant director of the University of Oklahoma Honors Program, and was a member of a diverse number of university and college administrative committees, including the University Budget Council, Graduate Council and College Executive Council. He has been recognized by the University of Oklahoma Regents for Excellence in Teaching and received numerous awards, including the College of Liberal Studies Kenneth Crook Outstanding Faculty Award, the Student Association Award for Outstanding Teaching in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Association of English Graduate Students First Annual Award for Excellence in Teaching, General Education Teaching Award, and the College of Liberal Studies Superior Teaching Award.
Gross received a B.A. in French (with Honors) from Wesleyan University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Iowa.
A national search for a permanent dean of the Honors College will be conducted this academic year.
Contact: Margaret Nagle (207) 581-3745
The University of Maine campus was packed Monday, Aug. 27 with thousands of visitors from around the country for the third Summer Tour, a UMaine admissions event that gave prospective students and their guests the opportunity to ask questions about UMaine, tour the campus, get a glimpse of student life and even skate on the same ice sheet as the UMaine hockey teams.
Nearly 2,300 students and their guests preregistered for the event, the popularity of which has grown each year. Last year nearly 1,900 people preregistered for Summer Tour and there were 1,500 attendees in 2010.
Summer Tour started Monday morning with check-in on the University Mall, during which time attendees had a chance to speak one-on-one with UMaine students, faculty and administrators in their areas of academic interest and met with representatives from academic student groups, admissions and financial aid. Attendees thronged tables representing each college and other UMaine divisions and programs such as the Explorations program, the Foster Center for Student Innovation, and the Division of Lifelong Learning.
UMaine President Paul Ferguson and other members of the administration, along with UMaine mascot Bananas the Bear, greeted attendees Monday morning.
Following a series of tours and presentations at locations throughout the campus, Summer Tour attendees reconvened at Alfond Arena for the Maine Event, which included the Black Bear Picnic. There were also information tables on UMaine student organizations.
For more information about Summer Tour go to go.umaine.edu/summertour/.
Contact: Jessica Bloch (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu