Facilities and Centers

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Facilities and Centers

The University of Maine maintains a wide variety of special educational and research facilities and supports many special educational, research, and public service programs. A few of these that are of most direct interest to undergraduate students are described below.

The University Libraries

The Raymond H. Fogler Library, Maine’s largest research library, contains more than 1.4 million print volumes, 2.3 million microforms, over 1,700 manuscript collections, and access to more than 557,000 e-books, 98,000 online serials, and 420 online databases. Fogler Library is the regional depository for federal government publications and provides access to approximately 2.39 million U.S. Federal, Maine State and Canadian federal and provincial documents. It is also the Science, Technology and Business Research Library for the State of Maine and serves to meet the needs of the citizens of the state of Maine in these areas.  The Darling Marine Center Library in Walpole, Maine has a collection of more than 18,000 volumes focused on marine studies.

Through URSUS, the online union catalog of the University of Maine System Libraries and other participating libraries - the Maine State Library, the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library, and the Bangor Public Library - faculty and students have access to more than two million volumes. URSUS indexes the majority of the print and non-print materials for the libraries, including books, serials, microforms, sound recordings, maps, government documents, and other audiovisual formats. In addition to a bibliographic description of each item, URSUS provides location and status information. Fogler Library also participates in the MaineCat catalog, a statewide catalog that includes URSUS along with most of the other library collections in the state.

Fogler Library provides access to electronic resources available to the university community. The electronic resources include indexes, databases, electronic reserves, electronic journals, electronic books, web sites, and other material selected or created by librarians. The library also provides online reference service through Ask-a-Librarian at: library.umaine.edu/refchat.htm and also allows patrons to view their own record and renew their books through URSUS at: https://ursus.maine.edu/patroninfo/

The Reference Services Department is the contact point for general reference assistance. The Department provides research assistance, database searching, and conducts instruction in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, business, and education. Individual research assistance is available by appointment. The Department is also the service point for Federal and Canadian documents and provides access to Maine’s only Patent and Trademark Depository Library.

The Special Collections Department contains an extensive collection of published bibliographical, historical, and descriptive works on Maine, as well as literary titles by its authors. These books, pamphlets, and state documents provide extensive important insights into Maine cities, towns, counties, people, and institutions. A substantial body of original source materials complements them. The department also houses rare books and university publications and records. Since 1998 it has been the home of the William S. Cohen Papers.

Students and faculty may borrow books from any of the UM System campus libraries using the online requester function in URSUS, and through MaineCat, which allows online borrowing among the member libraries. Other materials may be requested from Fogler’s Interlibrary Loan Department, which provides desktop delivery for many requests.

Additional information about materials and services can be found at the Fogler Library web site: http://library.umaine.edu. Please use the web site to access URSUS, the online indexes and databases, electronic resources, and other collections. The web site also gives detailed information on the library departments, collections, services, and contacts. The general telephone number for the library is 207-581-1666 and the number for hours is 581-1664. 

University of Maine Museum of Art 

The University of Maine Museum of Art, located at 40 Harlow Street in Downtown Bangor, has four galleries which feature changing exhibitions (new shows every three months) of primarily modern and contemporary art, as well as frequent rotations of the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The Museum Collection consists of over 3,600 works of art that encompass an array of visual art including painting, photography, and prints created since 1910. Highlights include works by Marc Chagall, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, Käthe Kollwitz, Ralph Blakelock, George Inness, Mary Cassatt, Pablo Picasso, and Diego Rivera. The Museum Collection also celebrates the long heritage of Maine art and includes examples by artists with deep connections to the state such as Berenice Abbott, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, John Marin, Carl Sprinchorn, Bernard Langlais and Andrew Wyeth. The Robert Venn Carr ‘38 Collection is comprised of over 300 pieces and includes works on paper by many contemporary masters including Max Beckmann, Jennifer Bartlett, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Elizabeth Murray, and Robert Rauschenberg. 

The Department of Art Gallery

The Department of Art Gallery, on campus in Lord Hall, displays traveling exhibits as well as work by UMaine students and members of the faculty.

The Hudson Museum

The Hudson Museum is located in the Collins Center for the Arts on the UMaine campus. The Hudson Museum celebrates a world of culture and cultures of the world.  The Museum’s holdings feature an extraordinary collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts ranging from Olmec to Aztec - The William P. Palmer III Collection, Native American holdings from Maine, the Southwest, Northwest Coast, Arctic, and Plains, as well as Collections from Africa, Oceania and Asia.  The new Museum features three galleries:  the Merritt Gallery for temporary exhibits, a World Cultures Gallery and a Maine Indian Gallery, as well as the Minsky Culture Lab.

The Museum offers guided tours and gallery programs, lectures, workshops and an annual Maine Indian Basketmakers Sale and Demonstration.  It also offers staff assistance for directed research projects and internships. For further information, please call 581-1904 or visit us on the web at www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum.

University of Maine Hutchinson Center

The Hutchinson Center, located in Belfast, one hour south of the University of Maine’s Orono campus, provides educational opportunities including access to courses that meet UMaine general education requirements, bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees.  Credit and non-credit courses are delivered live, online or via videoconferencing technology.  A state-of-the art telecommunications facility, with high tech biology and chemistry labs, art studio, and air-conditioned classrooms, the Hutchinson Center also hosts many community conferences and meetings.  For future information: The Hutchinson Center, 80 Belmont Avenue, Belfast, ME 04915, (207)338-8000/1-800-753-9044, Fax: (207)338-8013 or on the web at http://www.hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu.

Page Farm and Home Museum

The Page Farm and Home Museum documents the history of rural Maine from 1865 to 1940 through a collection of art and artifacts from that period. The main museum building itself is a part of Maine agricultural history. The large, post-and-beam barn is the last of the original agricultural buildings actually pre-dating the founding of the University of Maine by more than thirty years. Careful renovations display the collection over its three floors while preserving much of the building’s original character.   The site of the Museum includes an historic one-room schoolhouse, a carriage house, blacksmith shop and two heirloom gardens.  The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9-4.  FMI: call 581-4100 or visit us on the web:  http://www.umaine.edu/pagefarm/

Collins Center for the Arts

The Collins Center for the Arts is the cultural centerpiece of eastern and northern Maine. Now in its 30th season, the Collins Center continues to present world-class performances in a wide variety of art forms and cultures, appealing to diverse interests and age groups. Each season brings a wide variety of events, including Broadway tours, nationally-known comedians, legendary singers, renowned dancers, family shows, live theatre, and everything in between. The 1,435 Hutchins Concert Hall provides the perfect venue to see your favorite events.  In addition to presenting some of the world’s most exciting live events in its Mainstage Series, the Collins Center allows you to get up close and personal with some of history’s most prolific instrumental and vocal music in a Chamber Music Series, primarily presented in the intimate Minsky Recital Hall.  The Collins Center is home to one of the largest broadcast screens in Maine, where they present two thrilling series: The Met: Live in HD and National Theatre Live. The Metropolitan Opera’s Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series The Met: Live in HD broadcasts the best of British theatre recorded live from the London stage.   The Collins Center for the Arts is proud to be the home of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, one of the oldest, continually-operating community orchestras in the nation. Each year, the Symphony performs the Nutcracker, and other selections for thousands of fans.  The Collins Center is also the perfect place to see arts education in action with symphonic, jazz and vocal concerts performed by music students from the University of Maine School of Performing Arts.  Annually, more than 100,000 people visit the Collins Center for the Arts for a variety of events. Whatever your interest, we have something for you!

The Leonard and Renee Minsky Music Recital Hall

This 280-seat facility is primarily the site for faculty and student recitals, vocal and instrumental ensembles, concerts, and several Collins Center for the Arts performances. Various dance and theatre productions are also presented. A recording studio and moveable stage lighting are part of the Minsky Hall facility.

Darling Marine Center

The Darling Marine Center is the marine laboratory and field station of the University of Maine. Located in Walpole, on the shore of the pristine Damariscotta River Estuary, just 100 miles south of the Orono campus, the DMC is a full-service field station with diverse marine habitats in the immediate area. The 170-acre facility has over one mile of waterfront, two flowing seawater laboratories for culturing marine organisms, an aquaculture lease site, and analytical laboratories with a wide variety of state-of-the-art instrumentation, as well as a fleet of coastal research vessels, oceanographic sampling gear, SCUBA support, classrooms, and a marine library. Housing, meal service and meeting space are available for researchers, class field trips, or scientific and educational conferences.

The DMC is closely associated with UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences. Together they offer many great opportunities for students to study and research the marine realm. In the unique Semester-by-the-Sea (SBS) program, undergraduate marine science majors spend a semester in residence at the DMC exploring the organisms, habitats and maritime history of the Gulf of Maine in experiential, field-oriented classes. Internships and capstone opportunities provide research experiences for undergraduates during the summer months. Intensive hangs-on undergraduate and graduate level field courses are also offered at the DMC through UMaine’s Summer University.

Emera Astronomy Center

The new Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium and Observatory in the Emera Astronomy Center on Rangeley Road opened in 2014 as Maine’s largest and most advanced astronomy facilities of their kind. They were built by the generous contributions of private donors. Intended for the use of students, researchers, and the public they offer programs throughout the year and are a resource of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Even on cloudy days, audiences in the Planetarium can enjoy a view of the stars and journeys of adventure through space and to the limits of the imagination. Public showings (free to UMaine students) are offered on weekends and private star shows can be arranged for school classes, private groups, and families.

The Jordan Observatory, a small, domed building behind the Emera Astronomy Center houses a state-of-the-art, remote-controlled, 20” reflector telescope system and several smaller instruments that students can use to learn about astronomy, conduct research, and enjoy the wonders of the heavens. Public observing nights are staffed by volunteer and student staff, typically on Friday and Saturday. Interested visitors can call in advance to check on schedule and weather conditions for the evening. Astronomy students use the facility for studies on weeknights, and student volunteers operate it on weekends for the general public.
For more information visit the Emera Astronomy Center web site: http://astro.umaine.edu/observatory/.

Canadian-American Center

Founded in 1967, the Canadian-American Center is one of the leading institutes for studying Canada in the United States. Designated a National Resource Center on Canada by the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, the Canadian-American Center coordinates an extensive program of undergraduate and graduate education; contributes to the continued development of Fogler Library as a major research library on Canada; promotes cross-border research in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professions; and directs outreach programs to state, regional, and national audiences which include Canada Week, summer teachers institutes, and international conferences.

The Canadian-American Center coordinates an extensive program of undergraduate and graduate education leading to the Minor in Canadian Studies, Major in International Affairs with a concentration in Canadian Studies, Master of Arts in History with a concentration in Canadian History, Master of Arts with a concentration in North American French Studies, and Doctor of Philosophy in History with a concentration in Canadian History. The Canadian-American Center is located at 154 College Avenue www.umaine.edu/canam.

Maine Folklife Center (MFC)

The Maine Folklife Center was founded in 1992 (with roots going back to 1957) by world-renowned folklorist Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, who taught in the Departments of English and Anthropology from 1964-1999. The Center’s mission is to enhance our understanding of the folklife, folklore, and history of Maine and Atlantic Canada and to encourage appreciation of the diverse cultures and heritage of the region, thereby strengthening and enriching our communities. Among other activities, the Center documents, preserves, analyzes, and disseminates information about the region’s history and traditional cultures, primarily through recorded interviews. The Center also offers training in oral history and cultural heritage documentation, and participates in many national and regional events such as the American Folk Festival in Bangor. 

MFC houses the nationally distinguished Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History, founded by Sandy Ives in 1958. This digitized collection of several thousand audio recordings of oral histories and musical performances, plus thousands of photographs, documents such subjects as traditions of the Maine lumber woods and river drives, women’s folklife, coastal and maritime occupations, and textile arts and artists. MFC publishes the scholarly monograph Northeast Folklore and the semiannual newsletter, Maine Folklife. The Center is in South Stevens Hall on the Orono campus; our phone number is 207-581-1891. More information can be found on our website: umaine.edu/folklife.

Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) is an interdisciplinary research unit of the University of Maine. The work of CCIDS is guided by the principles of universal design/access, inclusion, diversity, and social justice.  CCIDS faculty and staff representing diverse disciplines, engage in a broad range of initiatives that enhance the quality of life for individuals with developmental and other disabilities.  The CCIDS offers interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate study, and supports the conduct of research, evaluation, and policy analysis in the areas of education and early intervention, child care, health, employment, housing, and other aspects of community living for individuals with disabilities and their families.  As Maine’s federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), CCIDS is a member of the Association of University Centers on Disability and collaborates with other universities and research centers throughout the country and internationally to address disability-related research, practice, and public policy.  Graduate and undergraduate students from any discipline may become involved in the Center’s activities through coursework, independent studies, projects, and research.  For additional information, please contact the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, 234 Corbett Hall, Phone 207/581-1084 or 800/203-6957, TTY users: Maine Relay 711, or website: www.ccids.umaine.edu.

Women’s Resource Center

The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) promotes and maintains a close relationship between the women on the University of Maine campus and women in the larger Maine community. Located at 102 Fernald Hall, the WRC works with women of all ages and offers mentoring opportunities with women activists; organizes initiatives to support economic equity for women including support for women in underrepresented career fields; gender equity programs for college students, staff, pre-college girls and educators; and organizes education and action to support reproductive rights. Leadership, skill development and research opportunities are available to undergraduate and graduate students through the WRC . The Center serves as a resource for individuals and organizations, offering information and referrals for women’s programs and services, on and off campus in order to create a broader understanding of the diverse experiences of all women. The Center provides an accessible meeting space for small groups, collaboration with the Student Women’s Association, and information about events of interest to women. For more information: www.wrc.umaine.edu/ or call (207) 581-1508.