Â鶹APP 2024-25 Convocation, the ceremonial beginning of the academic year, will welcome new and returning students, celebrate the institution’s achievements, honor Rising Scholars, include a student and a faculty speaker, and launch this year’s academic theme, Indigeneity. Part of Â鶹APP academic theme activities includes the adoption of a single theme-related book. This year it is Night of the Living Rez by renowned author, Morgan Talty, who will be delivering the keynote address.

Mr. Talty is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation. He is the author most recently of the debut novel Fire Exit, which was recently longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s 2024 First Novel Prize. His debut short story collection, Night of the Living Rez, won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Sue Kaufman Prize, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the New England Book Award, the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Honor, and was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, and The Story Prize.

His writing has appeared in The Georgia Review, Granta, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, Narrative, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. Talty is an assistant professor of English in Creative Writing and Native American and Contemporary Literature at the University of Maine, Orono, and he is on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing as well as the Institute of American Indian Arts. He lives in Levant, Maine.

UMA is proud to welcome Mr. Talty to our convocation stage on September 20, 2024 from 3–5 pm at the Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Dr., Augusta, ME. A limited number of copies of his recent books, Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit, will be available for purchase onsite. The public is invited to attend.

Organized by Sarah Hentges, Professor of Transdisciplinary Cultural Studies
Sponsored by the DEI Council (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and WICCD (Women Invigorating Curriculum and Cultivating Diversity)

Each year our academic theme provides opportunities for students to more deeply engage in a topic and its related issues. This year’s theme of Disability Visibility inspires student engagement through the promise of an inclusive experience in a variety of ways. Students with both visible and invisible disabilities are often frustrated by their experiences at UMA—from their selection of “other” on disability accommodation forms to language that, for instance, asks everyone to rise for a specific ceremonial occasion. At graduation, students in wheelchairs are unable to cross the stage with their peers and neurodivergent students are often expected to conform to the learning experiences of inflexible professors. These experiences might not be much different than it is at other institutions, but at UMA we can do better.

Critical Disability Visibility: Interdisciplinary Praxis Toward Disability Justice provides an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and administrators to learn from experts and engage in dialog toward a better understanding of the depth, complexity, and intersectionality of disability/ability and the work that has been done, and continues to be done, by disabled, queer, femme, and BIPOC leaders in the Disability Justice and Healing Justice movements.

“Minor Matters: Disabled Youth, Care, and Technologies of Shame”

Sarah Cavar, UC Davis

Tuesday, January 31
Noon to 12:50

This presentation will consider ageism/youth rights and disability and the politics of “dependence,” ownership, and subordination under an increasingly digitized neoliberalism. Cavar draws from a variety of examples that point to the effects of globalized, instantaneous social media and the scope of this exploitation, querying the “autism parent” social media account, the figure of the “mommy blogger/vlogger,” and the January 2021 Twitter “Bean Dad” phenomenon. Lastly, drawing on their ongoing work in the areas of transMad liberation, they will point toward possibilities for reclamation, reinvention, and resistance for Bean Kids.

Cavar is a writer, editor, and PhD student in the Cultural Studies graduate group. Their current scholarship explores trans(/)Madness, digital cripistemologies, and gender/diagnostic anarchism, among other ways of knowing beyond the psychiatric gaze. Informed by these interests, Cavar writes original poetry, prose, and hybrid writing. Their critical/creative writing can be found in Electric Lit, Bitch Magazine, Santa Fe Writer’s Project, and others, and published their most recent chapbook, BUGBUTTER, with Gap Riot Press in 2022. They are editor-in-chief at Stone of Madness literary magazine, and Founding Editor of swallow::tale, a Mad literary press.

“Care as Defiance: Re-Framing the Classroom as Mad, Queer Love Space”

Shayda Kafai, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Tuesday, February 14
Noon to 12:50

Care as praxis severs the oppressions that regulate us in the classroom; as seedling, as growth, care in the classroom creates generative, transformative openings. Framed as what the Queer Futures Collective calls “thoughtfeelings,” I explore how bell hooks’ lessons of care and love provided me with the frameworks to re-imagine the classroom Madly, queerly. I weave hooks’ rendering of the classroom as a place of freedom with Disability Justice principles, particularly sustainability, interdependence, and wholeness to ask, how might care as defiance reinscribe the classroom as accessible for all our bodyminds?

Dr. Shayda Kafai is a queer disabled femme of color educator-scholar-speaker committed to exploring the many ways we can reclaim our bodyminds from intersecting systems of oppression. Dr. Kafai focuses on disability studies, disability justice, queer studies, art-making, and body politics. She is also an art-maker with her partner, Amy Campos. Together they are the founders of CripFemmeCrafts, a body-positive, feminist/queer/POC/disability empowerment store.

“Raging From Inside: How Academics Can Dream Toward the Abolition of the Academy”

Helen Rottier, University of Illinois at Chicago

Thursday, March 2
Noon to 12:50

This presentation will examine what we know about academic ableism and explore the presence of “another university” as well as the prefigurative potential of dreaming strategies for learning, knowing, and sharing knowledge outside of academia. Attendees will gain short-term and long-term action steps towards dismantling academic ableism and connecting to the vital knowledges that have been shut out of our institutions.

Helen Rottier is a PhD candidate in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her work focuses on academic access, ableism, and the experiences of disabled students and scholars in post-secondary education, with special attention to disabled knowledge production and dis-epistemologies. Helen is a research assistant and instructor in the Department of Disability and Human Development at UIC. She has a BS in Psychology and Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MS in Disability and Human Development from UIC.

“I Am Going Home!”: Abolitionist and Freedom-Making Practices in Dementia Units of Nursing Homes”

Hailee Yoshizaki-Gibbons, Hiram College

Thursday, March 23
Noon to 12:50

This presentation analyzes how temporality influences the care relationships between old women with dementia and the immigrant women of color employed to care for them in dementia units of nursing homes. Yoshizaki-Gibbons argues that old women with dementia and immigrant women of color care workers are engaged in freedom-making and abolitionist practices that “rage against the machine” by resisting and unsettling the dominant temporalities that constrain or restrict care. Specifically, the care dyad rejects a politics of isolation and disposability, which are key to carceral systems, by giving time to and making time for one another. These gifts of time represent a divestment from institutional and state power and control, and an investment in relationships, care, and community.

Dr. Hailee Yoshizaki-Gibbons is an assistant professor in biomedical humanities. She received her Ph.D. in disability studies with a concentration in gender and women’s studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Yoshizaki-Gibbons’s research employs an intersectional lens to examine the ways gender, race, class and immigration status mediate the lives of old and disabled people and those who care for them. As a scholar activist, Yoshizaki-Gibbons advocates for greater inclusion of old and disabled people, particularly those with dementia, in society.

Photo of Reginald Dwayne Betts by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

The 20th Annual Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival at UMA will feature Reginald Dwayne Betts, “2021 MacArthur Fellow, award winning author, poet, lawyer, and outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform” as its keynote poet for an in-person event* at the Kennebec Savings Bank Fireside Lounge on April 29, 2022 at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm).

This event is free and open to the public, however,. For those who do not wish to attend in person, the event will also be .

The participation of Betts, as well as other festival programming, will connect the Plunkett Poetry Festival to Â鶹APP academic theme: Race and Social Justice. Betts’ most recent work is largely concerned with effects of incarceration, including homelessness, drug abuse, domestic violence, as well as fatherhood and the possibilities of grace and love. As a man who experienced the criminal justice system as a teenager and transformed his life upon his release, Betts does more than write exemplary verse, he has lived a life that speaks to redemption, attending law school and working in public defense and advocacy.

This Plunkett Poetry Festival event will also recognize those selected to receive awards in the annual Student Poetry Contest, which invites University of Maine System undergraduate students and Maine high school students to submit poems for recognition.

*In accordance with University of Maine System COVID-19 protocols in place at this time, face coverings are required for anyone attending events in UMS facilities.

Panel Discussion – April 22, 2022

A Panel Discussion on Literature and Social Justice will be held on Friday, April 22, from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Panelists will include Julie Bouwsma; Samaa Abdurraqib, Poet and Maine Humanities Council Educator; Jaed Coffin, memoirist and essayist; and Joseph Jackson, poet and director of Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition. This event will be held via Zoom. Those interested in attending should

About the

The Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival, held in April each year, was established in 2002 to honor the memory and accomplishments of Terry Plunkett, an English professor at the Â鶹APP for nearly thirty years. An outstanding teacher and mentor to many students, Terry was also co-editor of Kennebec: A Portfolio of Maine Writing, an annual magazine published by the university from 1977-1992 and distributed free throughout the state. Many Maine writers first saw their work in print in Kennebec, thanks to Terry’s encouragement and guidance.

A poet and fiction writer as well as a teacher and editor, Terry helped organize and direct the Maine Poets Festival, a hugely popular celebration of poets and poetry, which ran from 1976-1983 at UMA, the College of the Atlantic, and the Maine College of Art.

His son, Duff Plunkett, also a poet, was a champion of the arts in general and the Plunkett Festival in particular. He sat on the organizing committee for 17 years, where he brought his signature wit, creativity, and ingenuity to the festival program. In Portland, Duff was a mainstay at readings and a supporter of both developing and celebrated poets. He worked as an international economist, traveling extensively around the globe, especially in Africa. Fluent in at least eight different languages, Duff’s cultural breadth was extensive.

For more information, disability accommodations, or to request the related materials to review before the event, please contact Sarah Hentges at sarah.hentges@maine.edu.

February 10—Slavery in the American Criminal Justice System

The documentary, 13th explores Section One of 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution which states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Sharon McMahon Sawyer (Justice Studies) will lead a discussion where we will discuss 13th and the relationship between this Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States and our current American criminal justice system.

February 17—Race & Racism After Genomics in U.S. Biomedicine

In this talk professor Kate Darling (Social Science/Sociology) discusses some of the ways that the molecular revolution has shifted concepts of race and ancestry among scientists, clinicians, and lay people. Race science has a long history in biomedicine. In our discussion, we’ll think through the ways we know race and racism in contemporary biomedicine.

February 24—Social Determinants of Health

Vickie Ireland (Nursing) will lead the discussion as we examine structural racism and poverty and how this contributes to inadequacies in health and wellness. We will also relate this information to rural populations and discuss Social Determinants of Health within the state of Maine.

March 3—Race and Social Justice in Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal”

Lisa Botshon (English) will lead a discussion on the short story “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison, which was first published in Horizon magazine in 1947. A slightly revised version of this short story became Part I of Ellison’s most famous work The Invisible Man, which came out in 1952. We will be reading this piece in conjunction with a Danforth Gallery show on The Invisible Man by Portland photographer Séan Alonzo Harris.

March 10—Art and Social Justice

Join Amy Rahn (Art) and special guest, Portland photographer Séan Alonzo Harris, as we discuss his work as well as his Danforth Gallery show on The Invisible Man. Harris’s work has been named by Maine Magazine as one of the “60 Most Collectible Artist in Maine” and has been featured by USA Today, LL Bean, Yankee Magazine, and Harvard Radcliffe Magazine, among others. He teaches Maine Media Workshops and a variety of collaborative, community-driven projects with nonprofit organizations. More information about .

March 24—Race and Social Justice Issues with Climate Change

Dr. Kati Corlew (Social Science/Psychology) will present research and implications regarding the human dimensions of climate change, with a particular focus on social justice, racial minorities, indigenous populations, and developing nations. Please be prepared to contribute to the Q&A and discussion session that follows.

March 31—Panel Discussion: New Mainer’s Public Health Initiative

Readings/Resources: please review New Mainers Public Health Initiative

Susan Baker (Biology) will chair this panel as Abdulkerim Said, director of New Mainers Public Health Initiative will talk about his work. Abdulkerim is a former student and UMA graduate. Jusuf Abdi, a local PA and UMA grad as well, may be willing to join him.

April 7—Penobscot Nation and Tribal Law

Judge Eric Mehnert and Magistrate Judge Rhonda Decontie will be joining us to share their experience and expertise concerning their work with the Penobscot Nation Tribal Court.

April 21—What Do You Stand For?

Justin Michael Williams argues that we are often fighting against racism when it is more productive to fight for the world that we imagine and envision. Sarah Hentges (American Studies) will lead this discussion as we consider how we move forward, as individuals and as a UMA community, and as a nation.

Readings/Resources: Justin Michael Williams, “Ending Racism: How to Change the World in One Generation”

April 28—Poetry for Social Justice: Reginald Dwayne Betts’ Felon

In anticipation of Reginald Dwayne Betts’ keynote reading at the Plunkett Poetry Festival on April 29, Noel Tague (English) will lead this session as we read and discuss his collection of poems, Felon. During class we’ll spend some time reading the poems aloud, connecting to earlier discussions in the semester about mass incarceration, and thinking about how poems can function as vehicles of resistance and change. We’ll also set aside some time to experiment with erasure poetry during class.

For more information, contact Sarah Hentges at sarah.hentges@maine.edu and/or talk to your advisor to see how these classes fit into your overall major program.

JUS 315: Tribal Law

The instructor for this course is Judge Eric Mehnert of the Penobscot Nation Trial Court, who developed a unique Wellness Court model, based on restorative justice principles and native healing practices. The Wellness Court deals with the aftermath of generations of systemic trauma and does an excellent job at restoring people to full participation in their community.
This is a completely different model from our usual court system. If you have an interest in social justice, substance abuse rehabilitation, child and family welfare, Native American culture, or cultural awareness, this course is for you!

HTY 321: US Immigration History

The history of immigration is central to both American history and evolving ideas of what it means to be an American. In this class, we will examine immigration history through several lenses, including social histories of diverse ethnic groups, evolving legal policies, waves of refugee and asylum seekers, and the shifting place of the “immigrant” in the American national imagination.

INT/HON 188: The Interdisciplinary Colloquium: Race and Social Justice

Spring 2022: Offered Thursdays from 4 to 5 pm (and online asynch “delayed viewing” section)
This year’s academic theme is Race & Social Justice. In this 1-credit spring course, students will learn about race and social justice from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Each week a different faculty member will present/lead discussion based upon an assigned reading, film, or other text. We will consider, for instance: literature/art/poetry, science, and social science approaches as well as health inequities, state violence, the prison industrial complex, identity and representation, embodiment, power and empowerment, and proactive and productive ways to work toward social justice. Students who are interested in earning 3 credits on the theme of race and social justice may choose to enroll in INT 389 in addition to INT/HON 188.
In short: each week for this class students will have a short reading or video to watch each week, a class meeting to attend (or recording to watch), and a post/reply or journal option or one-hour conversation group. A short final reflection will conclude the work for this course.

INT 389 (2 credits)

Topics in Interdisciplinary Studies: Race & Social Justice
Students who enroll in INT/HON 188 may opt to enroll in this 2-credit course, giving them 3 credits total. Students in this 2-credit course will be asked to engage in online discussion and to complete a paper/project on the theme of race and social justice to be presented at the UMA Student Research Conference on April 22, 2022. Offered asynchronous online.

AME/INT/WGS 430E: Embodied Social Justice: Racialized Trauma and Cultural Transformation

What does it feel like to be centered, grounded, and in your body? How does this state allow us to heal and hold space for others to heal? Embodied Social Justice is an interdisciplinary field/focus of study that combines and expands critical educational theories, critical race theories, and intersectional feminist theory along with trauma studies, transformative justice, Somatics, neuroscience, and so much more. In this course, we will explore theoretical foundations as well as embodied practices as we develop a deeper understanding of individual and structural transformation and empowerment. We will consider the role of the body in social and cultural movements, intergenerational and racialized trauma, compound and collective trauma, cultural appropriation, critical consciousness, and mind/body healing practices like yoga and meditation. 3 CR. Prereqs: any AME, INT, or WGS course OR permission of instructor.

]]> /news/explore-race-social-justice-for-credit-this-spring/ Thu, 21 Oct 2021 18:06:57 +0000 /?p=12953 … Read More]]> This spring students have several opportunities to dive deeper into the academic theme of Race & Social Justice through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary lenses. These courses are flexible and are open to all students and meet elective requirements in any program. They might also work as substitutes for a specific requirement (just ask!).

For more information, please contact Sarah Hentges at sarah.hentges@maine.edu.

INT/HON 188: The Interdisciplinary Colloquium

Race & Social Justice, 1 credit, real-time Zoom or asynchronous

Spring 2022: Offered Thursdays from 4 to 5 pm (and online “delayed viewing” section)

This year’s academic theme is Race & Social Justice. In this 1-credit spring course, students will learn about race and social justice from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Each week a different faculty member will present/lead discussion based upon an assigned reading, film, or other text. We will consider, for instance: literature/art/poetry, science, and social science approaches as well as health inequities, state violence, the prison industrial complex, identity and representation, embodiment, power and empowerment, and proactive and productive ways to work toward social justice. Students who are interested in earning 3 credits on the theme of race and social justice may choose to enroll in INT 389 in addition to INT/HON 188.
In short: each week for this class students will have a short reading or video to watch each week, a class meeting to attend (or recording to watch), and a post/reply or journal option or one-hour conversation group. A short final reflection will conclude the work for this course.

INT 389: Topics in Interdisciplinary Studies: Race & Social Justice

2 Credits, directed/independent work, taken in tandem with INT 188

Students who enroll in INT/HON 188 may opt to enroll in this 2-credit course, giving them 3 credits total. Students in this 2-credit course will be asked to engage in online discussion and to complete a paper/project on the theme of race and social justice to be presented at the UMA Student Research Conference on April 22, 2022. Offered asynchronous online.

AME/INT/WGS 430E: Embodied Social Justice: Racialized Trauma and Individual, Cultural, and Collective Healing/Transformation

3 credits, an advanced but accessible course that provides the opportunity to consider and practice embodied approaches to the topic.

What does it feel like to be centered, grounded, and in your body? How does this state allow us to heal and hold space for others to heal? Embodied Social Justice is an interdisciplinary field/focus of study that combines and expands critical educational theories, critical race theories, and intersectional feminist theory along with trauma studies, transformative justice, Somatics, neuroscience, and so much more. In this course, we will explore theoretical foundations as well as embodied practices as we develop a deeper understanding of individual and structural transformation and empowerment. We will consider the role of the body in social and cultural movements, intergenerational and racialized trauma, compound and collective trauma, cultural appropriation, critical consciousness, and mind/body healing practices like yoga and meditation. 3 CR. Prereqs: any AME, INT, or WGS course OR permission of instructor.

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