USM will be highlighting environmental concerns throughout the year in a series of educational events, many of which will be organized and run by students. The events are being held under the auspices of the Provost’s office, which has dubbed this year’s convocation “Environmental Sustainability.” The convocation’s keynote speech will be given by Bill McKibben, a prominent author in the field of Sustainability. It will be held on Thursday, Nov. 6 in the Luther-Bonney Auditorium.
Convocation is a biannual event that brings nationally recognized speakers to USM and features events throughout the year that are usually free for USM students to attend. The last convocation’s theme was “Diaspora: Meanings of Home.”
“Convocation is a coming-together over the year that allows us to interact around a single theme and provides a basis for people to engage in intellectual discussion outside of the traditional classroom setting,” said Joe Wood, the University’s Provost. Associate Professor of Business Nancy Artz suggested the sustainability theme last year, after Wood fielded the question to faculty and staff listservs. Wood said that the idea met with overwhelming and spontaneous support from other staff members and that no other suggestion was seriously considered.
The convocation’s steering committee is co-chaired by Artz and Donna Bird, the director of the Center for Teaching. That committee is responsible for distributing the $20,000 dollars provided by the Provost’s office and organizing the many events that will be held in the course of two semesters.
Many of the events are being organized and run by USM students. Christina Agro, an environmental sciences major, is in charge of a workshop taking place on Wednsday, Oct. 8 that is meant to train USM students in teaching the creative use of non-recycled material to young children.
“We’re working with the Creative Resource Center on Forest Ave,” Agro said. “The idea is to go into daycares and classrooms, and teach them what it’s like to reuse and recycle.” The convocation’s website lists seven students on the steering committee. Greeley said that students have been more involved in this convocation than they traditionally are, and that he hopes this signifies a trend toward more student involvement in this and other University events.
Other events include movie screenings, informative workshops, discussion panels and field trips. Upcoming events in Portland and Gorham include a workshop by Dudley Greeley meant to teach strategies for reducing energy-wasting practices in the household. That will be held on the Portland campus from 12-1 p.m. in the Woodbury Campus Center, room C on Wednesday, Oct. 1. It will be given at the same time in Gorham the following day in the Presidential Dining Room in the Brooks Student Center. On Friday, Oct. 3 there will be a trip to the Chewonkie Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine. The event is free, including transportation from the Woodbury Campus Center in Portland.
The Lewiston-Auburn campus will host a number of workshops and discussions on Wednsday, Sept. 24 from 1 to 9 p.m.
For more information, visit the convocation’s website at http://www.usm.maine.edu/prov/convocation/.
John Bronson can be conacted at [email protected]