The University of Maine sits on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation, where issues of water and territorial rights, and encroachment upon sacred sites, are ongoing. This simple fact is recognized not only in the University’s land acknowledgment, but in its commitment to fostering a more robust understanding of the complex and multifaceted meanings inherent in such encroachment. As a community, we are living on lands taken from dispossessed peoples and we must recognize our obligation to making visible and present that which time, memory, and power have sought to obscure.
The process by which history obscures and hides is not unique to Maine, or the United States. It is all-too common to forget—or ignore, or erase— the lives and stories that would offer fresh opportunities for reflection and reconsideration. Numerous scholars at the University of Maine are engaged in surfacing and describing lives and cultures, and reconstructing stories from archives and memories. In 2022-2023 the McGillicuddy Humanities Center plans to spotlight this work in our annual symposium, titled, “Recovery, Rediscovery, and Resilience: Revisiting Lost Lives and Cultures.” The MHC will produce and coordinate events, offer publication support, and encourage projects related to rediscovering and re-presenting lives deserving of memory. Much of this work is already occurring on campus, but has not been brought together; for example, scholars are involved in the integration of archeological data with Indigenous perspectives to interpret the past; others have been involved in the recovery of musical compositions from the Holocaust; others explore the abolitionist tradition in New England, while still others map often-overlooked Holocaust sites.
This year’s annual symposium affords the Center an opportunity to highlight University of Maine scholars dedicating their careers to telling stories obscured but nevertheless traceable in history. It’s important work that remains critical in our contemporary world, and we’re proud to support and promote it.
Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center
The University of Maine sits on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation, where issues of water and territorial rights, and encroachment upon sacred sites, are ongoing. This simple fact is recognized not only in the University’s land acknowledgment, but in its commitment to fostering a more robust understanding of the complex and multifaceted meanings inherent in such encroachment. As a community, we are living on lands taken from dispossessed peoples and we must recognize our obligation to making visible and present that which time, memory, and power have sought to obscure.