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Course instructor Dr. Barry Rodrigue conducting research in Jackman, Maine |
July 2006
Are you interested in learning about Franco-American history? Want to develop a greater appreciation for the diversity of French society on our continent? If so, you may want to consider a course USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College is offering this fall.
Franco-American Archival & Community Work consists of directed study and work in the Franco-American Collection at USM/L-A. The largest repository of Franco-American materials in Maine, the collection is home to a wide variety of letters, diaries, oral histories, scrap-books, maps, audio-recordings, photographs, dissertations and theses, books, and academic papers from the Androscoggin Valley, other parts of Maine, the Northeast, and from around North America. Students in the course will work on special projects with instructor Barry Rodrigue, Ph.D., who is the scholar attached to the Collection, and with Collection Coordinator Donat Boisvert. Much of this work will consist of a hands-on approach to learning, done by the students themselves. These projects will include locating and obtaining materials, their conservation and preservation, cataloguing and accessioning documents, as well as projects of public service and community outreach.
This course is part of the French North American Studies concentration offered through the baccalaureate program in Arts and Humanities at USM/L-A. This concentration, designed to develop an appreciation for the diversity of French society on our continent, builds on three central courses: French North America, a survey of the diversity of French society from Maine to Haiti and Capes to the Yukon; French Settlement in the Northeast, which examines the exciting dynamics of French settlement in our part of the country; and Cultural Fieldwork, which examines the methods that can be used to view, analyze, and present culture and society. Individual research is emphasized in these courses, such as investigating Lewiston-Auburn's heritage and the forgotten French communities in other parts of the State.
The three-credit course in Archival and Community Work (HUM 360) will meet Mondays, 9:00 - 11:30 a.m., beginning September 11. Registration is open through the first week of classes. Anyone interested is encouraged to call the College at 753-6630 for registration information. Dr. Rodrigue may be reached at rodrigue@usm.maine.edu. For more information about the Franco American Collection, please call 753-6545 or visit its website at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco.
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