{"id":2422,"date":"2021-10-08T11:42:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T15:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mainestudies\/?page_id=2422"},"modified":"2024-12-09T15:25:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T20:25:53","slug":"program-news-and-updates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mainestudies\/program-news-and-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"News and Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MAIS\/Maine Studies Graduates \u2013 2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Two Maine Studies students, Mary Holt and Jessica Hamilton-Jones, completed their MA in Interdisciplinary Studies degrees in May of 2021. An additional student, Anne Bardaglia, received her MA in August of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mary Holt, who works at the Glickman Family Library Special Collections Department at the University of Southern Maine, created an audio podcast on Maine humor for her master\u2019s project. Entitled \u201cMy Contribution to Art and Culture,\u201d a name derived from a quote by Maine humorist Joe Perham, the podcast looks at the storytelling aspect of Downeast humor, and how the images conveyed represent (or don\u2019t) real life. The podcast, along with another Mary created about the early LGBTQ+ movement in Maine, can be streamed on her website, There from Here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Hamilton-Jones, an artist and alternative education high school teacher who lives in the Waterville area, created an innovative ebook to help artists and students study and depict Maine places. Called The Places we Become Maine: Encouraging a Sense of Place Through Interactive Art Activities<\/em><\/a>, the ebook takes readers through a series of place-based drawing and painting lessons, each focused on a particular setting or idea such as wildlife, botany, and maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anne Bardaglio, who lives in the midcoast, wrote a thesis on the subject of \u201cconcealment objects,\u201d which are items hidden in houses and other structures by their builders or occupants. In her case the object was a man\u2019s work boot, found in her own house during renovations, which she surmises was placed there by the widow of a Finnish quarry worker at the turn of the last century. In addition to describing the research that led to this conclusion, Anne talked about the relationship between superstition and culture, and how certain traditions may transcend ethnic groups and become place-related.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The variety of high-quality master\u2019s projects by these three graduates provides a glimpse of the type of research that has been conducted under the umbrella of Maine Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n