The 8th Annual Bangor Humanities Day on Feb. 1 will celebrate music, art, history, literature and other humanities disciplines at venues throughout downtown Bangor. The free public event is sponsored by the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center at the University of Maine.
The day kicks off at Bangor Public Library at 10 a.m. with live music in the atrium by UMaine’s premiere all-treble a cappella group Renaissance, currently celebrating their 20th anniversary . From 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m., students from Bangor area high schools will share posters on their humanities-based research in the library’s Crofutt Room.
At the Maine Discovery Museum at 10:30 a.m., Penobscot Tribal member Ann Pollard-Ranco will be leading a demonstration on traditional corn husk doll making. Participants will make corn husk dolls that they can take home.
In Bangor Public Library’s Minsky Lecture Hall, UMaine professor of philosophy Doug Allen will present a keynote lecture, “The Decline and Potential for the Renewal of the Humanities: Scientific Reductionism and Gandhi-informed Humanities Research.” Allen’s talk from 1–2 p.m. will address the current state of the humanities and how knowledge produced in these fields helps make better sense of the human experience in a changing world.
Stan Wells, a former director with Los Angeles theatre troupe The Groundlings, will lead a two-hour theater improv workshop for ages 12 and older from 2–4 p.m., also in Minsky Lecture Hall at the library.
Matt Bishop, curator of the Bangor Historical Society, will be offering a hands-on history event in the Crofutt Room of the library, also beginning at 2 p.m, featuring postcard images from Bangor’s past.
At 3 p.m. in the Crofutt Room, Shawn Laatsch from Emera Astronomy Center will be giving a talk on “Cultural Astronomy: Human Uses of the Sky.” His lecture will look at different ways in which all cultures have looked up at the night sky and have used it for navigation, measuring time, and agriculture among other uses. From Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids, Aztecs to First Nations to Polynesians, and many more – find out how these groups used the sky as a tool for exploration and discovery.
From 4:30–6:30 p.m. at the University of Maine Museum of Art, there will be a reception and gallery tour, led by museum director and curator George Kinghorn. The catered reception and cash bar are made possible with the help of Basil Creek Catering.
Norumbega Collective 2.0 will host a poetry reading by local writers from 7-8 p.m. at the Bangor Arts Exchange, followed by a 9 p.m. performance by the local improv group “Unredacted,” led by Stan Wells. For mature audiences.
Bangor Humanities Day follows “2020 Visions: The Humanities at UMaine,” a showcase of current research and creative projects in the humanities, Jan. 31 at Buchanan Alumni House. This event, also free and open to the public, celebrates humanities research and creative projects on campus.
For more information on either event or to request a reasonable accommodation, call 207.581.1848.
