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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 Center for Excellence in Teaching and Assessment
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Assessment (CETA) supports faculty and graduate assistants in the arenas of teaching, learning, and assessment. The Center’s primary outreach to the campus community is achieved through programmed events: panels, discussions, workshops, external speakers, technology demonstrations, and related offerings. CETA also administers biannual Active Learning and Learning Circle grants in support of faculty members’ exploration of innovative classroom practices, new technologies, emerging pedagogies, and service-learning opportunities. In addition, the Center partners with a number of units around campus in promoting professional development activities for new and junior faculty members and for new and veteran department chairs.
The CETA Director reports to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Division of Lifelong Learning. For more information about CETA and the services it provides, call (207) 581-3472 or visit us at umaine.edu/teaching/.
The Raymond H. Fogler Library, Maine’s largest research library, contains more than 1,182,680 volumes, 1.67 million microforms, and access to more than 183,195 Ebooks, 86,000 online serials and 200 online databases. Fogler Library is the regional depository for federal government publications and houses approximately 2.38 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 as the resource for meeting the science, technology and business information needs of the citizens of the state of Maine.
The Darling Marine Center Library, located in Walpole, Maine, is part of Fogler’s Science and Engineering Center and 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 Department is the contact point for general reference assistance. The Department provides research assistance, database searching, and conducts instruction in the 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.
The Science and Engineering Center serves the scientific reference, instruction, and research needs of the University Community and public. The Center houses 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 requestor 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. Please call 581-1664 for library hours.
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 3,900 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, on campus in Lord Hall, displays traveling exhibits as well as work by UMaine students and members of the faculty.
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 581-1901 or visit us on the web at www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum.
The Hutchinson Center, a unit of the Division of Lifelong Learning, provides access to University of Maine degree programs plus a variety of community education and outreach programs. Located one hour south of the University of Maine’s Orono campus in Belfast, the Hutchinson Center offers undergraduate and graduate courses. Educational opportunities include access to UMaine bachelor’s degrees, graduate degrees and courses that meet general education requirements for Bachelor of Art or Bachelor of Science degrees. Credit and non-credit courses are delivered live, online or via videoconference 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 further 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 www.hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu.
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/
Since its first event in 1986, the Hutchins Concert Hall in the Collins Center for the Arts has made a reputation for itself regionwide for presenting the best the performing arts has to offer. The variety of the performances range anywhere from classical music to rhythm & blues; stand-up comedy to family-oriented entertainment; avant-garde dance to musicals straight out of Broadway.
Last season was the Center’s 25th anniversary as a public venue, and the performers of that season lived up to the expectations this milestone brought. K.D. Land and the Sis Boom Bang, David Sedaris, Cirque Mechanics, and Clifford the Big Red Dog were only a few of the names that graced the marquee. Broadway productions of My Fair Lady, The Color Purple and South Pacific experienced great success, and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra once again made the Center its primary hall for its recitals.
Digitally operated projection equipment and live satellite feeds have greatly increased the versatility of the venue over the past few years. Kickin’ Flicks has provided students with the rare opportunity to enjoy blockbuster movies without having to dig into their wallets. The Metropolitan Opera may be hosting its performances in the heart of New York, but our LIVE in HD series allows the performance to be streamed and aired live.
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 state-of-the-art recording studio that supports a course in recording arts is a part of the Minsky Hall facility.
The Darling Marine Center is the marine laboratory and field station of the University of Maine. Located on the Maine coast just 100 miles south of Orono, the 170 acre campus is situated near a wide variety of marine habitats including rocky coast, sandy beaches, marshland, and mudflats. The center campus is composed of 23 buildings totaling nearly 100,000 sq. ft. including classrooms, laboratories, faculty and graduate student offices, a marine library, a dining hall, a residence hall, a SCUBA diving support facility, and a Flowing Seawater Laboratory designed for culturing live marine organisms. The Center includes a wide variety of modern research instrumentation, and it has a modern fleet of vessels for educational and research purposes. Internships are available for undergraduates enabling them to conduct research at the Center during the summer months. The School of Marine Sciences offers a unique Semester-by-the-Sea program for undergraduate marine science majors in which students live and study at the Center during a fall semester.
The Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium is a resource for students and the public. It conducts labs for courses in astronomy, and presents public programs. This is Maine’s first digital planetarium, a domed theater where visitors can see the night sky produced by a traditional planetarium projector or the Omnidome video system. Under the dome in Wingate Hall, visitors can experience cosmic adventures for all ages through the the school year. Public showings are offered on weekends (free to UMaine students) and private star shows can be arranged for workshop, class, family and summer camp occasions.
The Jordan Observatory, a small, domed building next to the Memorial Union, houses an eight-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope and several smaller instruments that students can use to view many of the wonders in the sky. Astronomy students use the facility for studies on weeknights, and student volunteers operate it on weekends for the general public.
Founded in 1967, the Canadian-American Center is one of the leading institutes for studying Canada in the United States, and is a National Resource Center on Canada. 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 science, natural sciences, and professions; publishes Canadian-American Public Policy, a referred series of occasional papers focusing on contemporary issues in U.S.-Canada relations; operates Canadian-American Center Cartography; and directs outreach programs to state, regional and national audiences which include Canada Week, the Summer Teachers Institutes, and international conferences.
Establishing the Canadian-American Center at UMaine reflects both local and national needs. At the local level, ties between Maine and Canada are long-standing and varied. Although part of New England, the state of Maine is virtually surrounded by the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. And, almost half of the state’s population has ancestral roots in Canada. Economic connections, from energy to tourism are close, and environmental issues frequently demand international cooperation.
The Canadian-American Center coordinates an extensive program of undergraduate and graduate education leading to:
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
Doctor of Philosophy in History with a concentration in Canadian History
The Canadian-American Center is located at 154 College Avenue, in an historic wooden former faculty’s home, which prior to that housed members of one of UMaine’s first fraternities.www.umaine.edu/canam
The Maine Folklife Center (MFC) founded by folklorist Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, was organized in 1992 from the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History and the Northeast Folklore Society both founded by Ives in 1958. The Center’s mission is to enhance our understanding of the folklife, folklore, and history of Maine and Atlantic Canada, encourage appreciation of the diverse cultures and heritage of the region, thereby strengthening and enriching our communities. To fulfill this mission the Center collects-primarily through the use of recorded interviews-preserves, studies, and disseminates information about the region’s history and traditional cultures. MFC houses the nationally distinguished Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History. This collection of several thousand audio recordings of oral histories and musical performances, plus thousands of photographs, documents such subjects as the traditions of the Maine lumberwoods and river drives, women’s folklife, coastal and maritime occupations, and textile folk arts and artists. MFC publishes the scholarly monograph series Northeast Folklore and the semi annual newsletter, Maine Folklife. The Maine Folklife Center is located in South Stevens Hall, 581-1891. More information may be found on our website: www.umaine.edu/folklife.
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 (V/TTY) 207/581-1084 or 800/203-6957, or website: www.ccids.umaine.edu.
The Women’s Resource Center (WRC), a program of the Division of Lifelong Learning, 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 under represented career fields, gender equity programs for college students and staff as well as for pre-college girls and educators, and organizes educational programming and actions supporting reproductive rights. Leadership, skill development and research opportunities are available to University of Maine undergraduate and graduate students who are work-study eligible. 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. |
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