Maine Studies

About Maine Studies

The Maine Studies (MES) Program explores the places, people, culture, history and stories of Maine. The program offers undergraduate and graduate options, including tracks in the Bachelor of University Studies (BUS) and Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) degrees, as well as a Minor in Maine Studies.

Our courses cover a wide range of topics and are taught by faculty from several departments, including Anthropology, History, English, Political Science, and others. Many courses are available through UMaineOnline, helping students throughout Maine and beyond explore the richness of the Pine Tree State.

The Program also sponsors and organizes events related to the study of Maine from a broad perspective. This includes the series Framing Maine: Conversations with Storytellers and Imagemakers from the Pine Tree State. We are also connected with the Maine Folklife Center, which conducts research and training in areas such as oral history, digital storytelling, and the vernacular arts and crafts of northern New England and the Maritimes.

We welcome you to explore this site to learn more about our programs, courses, faculty and students. To ask us questions, please use the Contact Us page.

Voyages: Music of Maine from Across the Sea

TEMPO: The Eastern Maine Pops Orchestra presents, “Voyages: Music of Maine from Across the Sea,” featuring the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and Award-Winning Irish Fiddler, Seán Heely as guest artist Saturday, June 1, 2019 at 7:00 pm at The Grand in Ellsworth. He has been praised for his soulful playing and breathing new life into ancient Celtic traditions. Heely is also a singer in the folk style and some of his repertoire includes songs in Scots Gaelic. Guitarist Jeff Morgan will be joining Sean in music from Scotland, Puirt a beul and waulking songs, pipe tunes, ballads, Irish immigration song and tunes, plus a song in Irish – An Spailpin Fanach. Michael Marion and his singing group will lead a rousing sea shanty in an audience sing along. You will even hear the great Highland pipes paying tribute to our Scottish heritage with TEMPO. A gallery of Maine immigrants from Scotland and Ireland will be on display in the lobby of The Grand. Partial funding is provided by the Maine Humanities Council.

Framing Maine 3 - An Eye for Detail

Maine writers Paul Doiron and Kristen Lindquist, both known for their detailed descriptions of places, people and wild creatures, appeared together for the third installment of the Framing Maine lecture series on November 8th. The event took place at the Collins Center for the Arts and Minsky Recital Hall on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

Paul, former Editor-in-Chief of Down East magazine and a registered Maine guide, is known for his series of award-winning detective novels set in Maine’s wild places and featuring fictional Maine game warden Mike Bowditch. Kristen writes poems and essays that draw heavily on her experiences as an avid birder and naturalist. Her books, including Transportation and Tourists in the Known World, draw a different picture of Maine, but also one grounded in real Maine places.

Paul and Kristen were joined onstage by their friend, fellow author and playwright Monica Wood, who interviewed them following their presentation.

Framing Maine features notable Maine writers, artists, musicians and others who tell Maine’s stories through creative fields. Previous speakers include television host Bill Green and singer-songwriter David Mallett. For more information on the series, and for photos, audio and video from previous events, click HERE.