Borders and Borderlands: The Acadian Experience in Maine

FAIN: ES-50530-13

Maine Humanities Council (Portland, ME 04102-1012)
Anne Schlitt (Project Director: March 2013 to April 2016)

A three-week summer institute for twenty-five teachers on the history and culture of the French Acadian peoples of St. John Valley in northern Maine.

Borders and Borderlands: The Acadian Experience in Maine is an interdisciplinary professional development institute for 25 teachers, K-12, designed to explore the historical and contemporary concepts of borderlands – regions where political borders divide existing ethnic and linguistic communities – using the experience of French-speaking Americans of Acadian descent in northern Maine as a case study. Participants will analyze the history, culture, economy and geography of the vibrant upper St. John Valley borderlands region, and learn to conduct and interpret oral history studies - a uniquely Acadian approach to the preservation of their culture. After three weeks of academic study, teachers will witness the opening events of the World Acadian Congress, an international event that celebrates Acadian heritage. Institute personnel will include historians, French scholars, and literary specialists from Maine and Canada.