The Newsletter of the Maine Humanities Council | Fall 2008

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• Letter from the Executive Director
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  Electronic or Print?
• HUMANITIES TOMORROW SOCIETY
• Esther Rauch on Reading and Discussion
• Face to Face with Lincoln
• India and Pakistan:
  The History Behind the Headlines
• Humanities Infra-
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• As Maine Grows...

A LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Maine Humanities Council brings people and ideas together to encourage a deeper understanding of ourselves and others, fostering wisdom in an age of information, providing context in a time of change.

It’s hard to avoid Abraham Lincoln these days...

His face is everywhere, with that trademark gaze of his, radiating its seriousness from bus shelters, televisions, newsstands and bookstore shelves.

Of course, 2009 marks Lincoln’s bicentennial—and that accounts for much of it. But at the same time, it’s hard not to notice his increasingly prominent role as a symbol of inspired leadership during a time of crisis. With the United States currently in two wars, a complicated and severe recession, as well as an historic moment of national transition, Abraham Lincoln just seems to make sense in 2009.

What can the humanities offer us during unsettled times? I always like to start any list of their benefits with a simple acknowledgement of the pleasure of a good book and a discussion. And while it could legitimately end right there, my list is much longer, and sooner or later it moves on to the way in which humanities disciplines can help people achieve a better understanding of the past, a clearer view of the present, and a more informed glimpse of the future.

That concept, of the humanities as a lens for analysis, lies at the heart of the legislation that established the National Endowment for the Humanities back in 1965. This legislation was part of the Great Society initiative, enacted during an earlier time of national stress caused by the Viet Nam War. The Endowment was founded on the belief that the arts and humanities can confer important civic benefits on a nation and its people.

With that in mind, we hope that you will find our contribution to this year’s busy Lincoln calendar valuable: on March 21, the Council, in collaboration with the Maine Historical Society, as well as the American and New England Studies Program at USM, presents a public symposium on the leadership skills of the 16th President (see article). We’ll have the iconic Lincoln, to be sure, but on that day we’ll go behind the eyes and under the hat to see how this 19th century leader can shed light on our situation today. I hope you can join us.

Erik Jorgensen
Executive Director