McGillicuddy Humanities Center showcase features student fellows
The Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center at the University of Maine is hosting a virtual showcase featuring the research and creative work of four graduating seniors at 7 p.m. April 21–22.
“The Stories We Tell” includes presentations by English majors Katherine Reardon, and Nola Prevost, history major Hailey Cedor and secondary education major Nolan Altvater.
On April 21, Reardon presents, “What is Was and What I Know: Attempts at Family History” and Prevost offers, “All the Girls in the Woods: Feminist Fairy Tales.”
Reardon examines where the truth fits when combining oral histories and family lore with sometimes contradictory archival records, and the importance of the truth of family stories through the lens of her Irish heritage.
Prevost, a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor, will explore the ability of the fairy tale genre to create and disseminate knowledge and values, and how this can be useful for social justice activism. She will also discuss the impact of inclusive and diverse representation in stories on women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community.
April 22 features Cedor’s talk, “Local Involvement, Memory and Denial: The Complexities of the Holocaust in Lithuania,” and Altvater’s presentation, “Wabanaki Tools of Diplomacy: Storying Protocols as Political Will.”
Cedor will share her Honors thesis research about local involvement and memory of Lithuanians in relation to the Holocaust. The complex relationship of current Lithuanians with past atrocities reflects the challenges of acknowledging and reconciling difficult history, and the dangers of sustaining ignorance of that history.
Altvater will discuss using Indigenous research methodologies to inform education policy in Maine. He will address the barriers to implementation of the state’s Wabanaki Studies Law (LD 291) to illustrate how Native diplomacy can facilitate decolonization and build antiracist convictions.
All events are free and open to the public. More information about the showcase and a Zoom link are online.
To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the center at mhc@maine.edu.