Academic Theme - University of Maine at Augusta

Since its inception in 1994, the University of Maine at Augusta theme has brought our communities together for numerous activities and programs. Beginning in 2006, an annual colloquium of faculty members has chosen the theme and a corresponding reading to share with other faculty, students, staff, and the larger community. We feature discussions in and outside of our classes and organize events in order to promote larger conversations about the theme. These events have provided a platform for multiple voices to be heard on such significant topics as health and social justice, economic values, and communicating in the 21^st century.

The 2011-2012 theme, revolution, was supported by an impressive array of events, including the dazzling convocation speaker Winona LaDuke, the composition and presentation of “revolutionary” music, and the development of a 12-credit integrated course that focused on revolutions in Latin America.

This year's theme is focused on food. Members of the UMA community will work to incorporate the theme in the classroom and through campus-wide programming. The theme, and its corresponding reading, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser, can be used as a catalyst for discussions on the significance of food cultures; food and capitalism; globalism and food; food and gender; nutrition; health; etc. We anticipate a film series, a project to bring greater food options to the UMA Bangor campus, and an undergraduate conference on the theme, among other events, will help amplify the importance of looking critically at food in the academy. We also hope to eat well.

Thanks to all the Colloquium participants this year: Sarah Hentges, Lorien Lake-Corral, Cynthia Dean, Connie Holden, Ann Blanke, Catherine Turcotte-Seabury, Jill Rubinson, Chelsea Ray, Vin Livoti, Seth Wigderson, Susan Baker, Rick Nelson, Ellen Taylor and Pete Milligan.

We look forward to breaking bread together and engaging in many stimulating discussions about food this year.

Sincerely,

Lisa Botshon
Colloquium Chair

Theme Book: Fast Food Nation

By: Eric Schlosser

Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate.

Theme Courses

Vin Livoti: ILS 250, ILS 150 both fall and spring

Ann Blanke: MAT 115 Statistics both fall and spring

Connie Holden: BIO 100 both fall and spring

Chelsea Ray: FRE 101, 102, 103, 203/204, 305/306

Cindy Dean: EDU 380 spring; EDU 390 fall + spring topics course

Lorien Lake-Corral: SOC 315 fall; SOC 370 spring; SOC 201 fall and spring

Kate Turcotte-Seabury: SOC 101 and 350 fall; SOC 201 fall and spring

Jill Rubinson: ENG 102 fall and spring

Seth Wigderson: HTY 104 spring

Pete Milligan: BIO 321 fall and spring

Susan Baker: CHY 117, BIO 110, Global Health, spring

Sarah Hentges: ENG 101, AME 306, ENG 489 (Race & Ethnicity) fall; WST 101 spring

Lisa Botshon: WST 301 and WST 101 fall; ENG 499 spring

Theme Events

Chris Bates will build an earth oven on the Bangor campus (fall)

UMA-Bangor Community Food Project (Sarah Hentges and Kim Lane) (fall and spring)

Film series (fall)

The inauguration of a theme-based course (spring)

Undergraduate theme-based conference on the Augusta campus (spring)

Quick Links

2012-2013 Academic Theme: Food

Theme Courses

Theme Events