Facilities and Centers

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

Raymond H. Fogler Library, Maine’s largest research library, is a foundation for intellectual pursuits and information literacy at the University of Maine. The library owns 3.6 million print volumes, 1.6 million microforms, and provides access to more than 893,000 e-books, 130,000 online serials, 370 online databases, and 195,000 media titles. Through the library’s catalog, students and faculty may borrow print and non-print materials from libraries around the state. Other materials may be requested from the library’s Interlibrary Loan Department, which provides access to materials held by participating libraries around the world.

Fogler’s Reference and Information Literacy Department is the central location for information literacy instruction on campus. Librarians are available for both individual and classroom instruction. Through the Reference Department, patrons have access to librarians who can provide research consultations and subject-matter expertise across the different areas of study at UMaine. Research support is available in-person, over the phone, online at library.umaine.edu/ask-a-librarian, and through the live chat feature available on every page of the library’s website.

Special Collections at Fogler Library maintains an extensive collection of published bibliographical, historical, and descriptive works on Maine, as well as literary titles by Maine authors. These documents provide extensive insights into Maine cities, towns, counties, people, and institutions. The department also houses rare books and University of Maine publications and records.

Fogler Library is the regional depository for federal government publications and an official depository for Canadian federal and Maine state government publications. The library is also the designated State Research Library for Business, Science, and Technology, and is the only Patent and Trademark Resource Center in Maine. A small collection of Fogler Library material focused on marine sciences is located at the Darling Marine Center, in Walpole, Maine.

Please use the library’s web site http://library.umaine.edu/ to access the catalog, online resources, DigitalCommons@UMaine, and other collections. The site also gives detailed information on library services, subject guides to research, departments, collections, hours, and contacts. The general telephone number for the library is 207-581-1666.

University of Maine Museum of Art

The University of Maine Museum of Art, located at 40 Harlow Street in Downtown Bangor, has five galleries which feature changing exhibitions (new shows every four months) of primarily modern and contemporary art, as well as frequent rotations of the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The Museum Collection consists of nearly 4,000 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 Lord Hall Gallery

Along with the Department of Art, the gallery is located on the mall of the University of Maine in the historic Lord Hall. The gallery hosts six exhibitions each year including work by invited artists, faculty and students. For further information, please call 207.581-3245 or visit our website at https://umaine.edu/art/lord-hall-gallery-page/.

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 Museum features four 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 Holiday Market. 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 campus, provides educational opportunities including access to courses that meet UMaine’s general education requirements, bachelor’s and graduate degrees, professional development certificate programs and workshops, a vibrant conference and institute portfolio, and cultural community programs.

Academic courses and degree programs are delivered live, online, or via videoconference technology. A state-of-the art telecommunications and climate controlled facility, with high tech biology and chemistry labs, art studio, 125-seat auditorium, and comprehensive conference center, the Hutchinson Center serves as an educational and cultural hub for the midcoast community and is home to one of the largest Senior College programs in the state.

Along with being an outreach Center of the University of Maine, the Hutchinson Center provides conference, institute, workshop, and event planning services, professional development programming, full academic advising and student support services, and community educational outreach programming to local K-12 schools throughout Waldo and Knox counties.

The mission of the Hutchinson Center is to broaden access to the University of Maine’s academic degree programs and services, lifelong learning opportunities, and professional and career development experiences using innovative approaches that increase synergy among University of Maine System entities, University of Maine departments and divisions, and that engage a wider Maine community.

For further information: umaine.edu/hutchinsoncenter, 80 Belmont Avenue, Belfast ME 04914, 207.338.8000/800.753.9044.

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:/umaine.edu/pagefarm/

Collins Center for the Arts

Opened in 1986, the Collins Center for the Arts is a cultural and artistic centerpiece for eastern and northern Maine. The CCA presents world-class performances appealing to diverse interests and age groups. Each season brings a wide variety of performances, including Broadway tours, nationally-known comedians, legendary musicians and singers, renowned dancers, family shows, live theatre, and much more. The 1,435 Hutchins Concert Hall provides the perfect venue to see your favorite events. The John I. and Elizabeth E. Patches Chamber Music Series brings some of the finest instrumental and vocal chamber musicians in the world to Orono, Maine. The Collins Center is home to one of the largest broadcast screens in Maine, where they present two exciting broadcast series: The Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning “The Met: Live in HD” and “National Theatre Live,” broadcasting 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 orchestral masterworks for thousands of fans. The Collins Center is also the perfect place to see arts education in action with performances presented by UMaine’s School of Performing Arts ensembles. Additionally, the Collins Center plays hosts to a number of campus and community events, including performances, lectures, rallies and public forums. For more information about the CCA’s performances and events, visit www.collinscenterforthearts.com.

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 (DMC) is the University of Maine’s marine laboratory. Located in Walpole, on the shore of the Damariscotta River Estuary in midcoast Maine, just 100 miles south of the Orono campus, the DMC is a full-service field station with diverse marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats in the immediate area. The mission of the DMC is to connect people to the ocean by generating and sharing knowledge of coastal and marine ecosystems and the human communities that are part of them. The DMC welcomes scientists and students from UMaine and around the world and is the year-around home to more than 40 faculty, staff, and students. The 182-acre campus includes over one mile of waterfront, 3 miles of trails, two flowing seawater laboratories for culturing marine organisms and conducting scientific observations and experiments, an aquaculture lease site, and analytical laboratories with a wide variety of state-of-the-art instrumentation. The DMC also has a fleet of coastal research vessels, oceanographic sampling gear, classrooms, and a marine library. It hosts UMaine’s scientific diving program, one of the oldest and largest in the state. Housing, meal service and conference space are available for researchers, class field trips, and scientific and educational workshops. In addition to supporting university research and education, the DMC also actively engages with fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs, and other marine industry professionals and community members through collaborative research, workforce development, and business incubation programs.

The DMC is closely associated with UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences (SMS), and hosts courses for the SMS as well as for allied environmental science, ecology, and engineering units, among others. During the fall semester, undergraduate students immerse themselves in field and lab-based learning through UMaine School of Marine Sciences’ Semester-by-the-Sea (SBS). SBS includes field-intensive courses in topics such as oceanography, marine ecology, and scientific diving. Intensive short courses for graduate students, postdocs, faculty and professionals are offered at the DMC in the spring and summer, and independent research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students are available year-around. More details on these opportunities are available at https://dmc.umaine.edu/.

Emera Astronomy Center

The Emera Astronomy Center on Rangeley Road opened in 2014 as Maine’s largest and most advanced astronomy facility and is home to the Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium, the Jordan Observatory, and the Clark Telescope. 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 are offered on Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons, and additional shows are scheduled for special events. Private programs can be arranged for school classes, private groups, birthday parties, family groups, and more. Tickets for public shows are available on the website.

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. The Clark Telescope is in a separate roll-off roof building adjacent the Jordan Observatory and houses the 8 inch historic Alvin Clark refractor. Public observing nights are staffed by planetarium and student staff. 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 it is open on weekends for the general public. For more information visit the Emera Astronomy Center or to book tickets for planetarium programs see the web site: http://astro.umaine.edu

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. 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 produces a journal, podcasts, and other materials focused on the region’s cultures and people. The Center, which also houses a library, media production facility, and seminar room, is in South Stevens Hall on the Orono campus. Our phone number is 207-581-1840. 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 represent diverse disciplines and engage in a broad range of initiatives that enhance the quality of life for individuals with developmental and other disabilities. 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, autism, child care, health, employment, housing, transition, mobility, 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 Disabilities 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: call Maine Relay 711, or visit the CCIDS website: www.ccids.umaine.edu.