This summer, the National Endowment for the Humanities is offering a unique 3-week professional development opportunity for K-12 educators called “Borders and Borderlands: the Acadian Experience in Maine and New Brunswick” (July 20-August 10, 2014). Applications for this competitive tuition-free opportunity are due by March 4 (with notification of accepted applications by March 31). Complete details are posted at: www.mainehumanities.org/borderlands.
Drawing on history, literature, culture and language studies, borderland and Acadian scholars from Maine and New Brunswick will guide participants in examining borderland theory as applied in the American Northeast; the history of the Acadian people; cultural phenomena such as Acadian folk music, local foodways, architecture and crafts; and ways in which the language and lifeways of the Acadians have enriched literature and influenced cultural identity on both sides of the border. You’ll gain knowledge through immersive lectures, site visits, and cultural experiences; gain transferable training in oral history collecting as well as have opportunities to contribute new material to existing archives; travel to, through, and within the Maine/New Brunswick borderlands; AND receive a generous NEH stipend to put towards expenses, including texts.
The final days of the Institute coincide with the Congrès Mondial Acadien 2014 (World Acadian Congress), a unique “gathering-in” of Acadian families from many countries that takes place every five years. In 2014, the event will be co-hosted by the borderland communities of Maine, Québec and New Brunswick
