I am a member of a research team that is collaborating on a University of Southern Maine Digital Humanities (DH) project with support from the Maine Economic Improvement Fund (MEIF). The team is made of three faculty members from the departments of Art, English and History; each faculty member is directing an individual project that models how the humanities can come together with information technology to address the topic, Culture, Commerce and the Environment in the Arctic and New North Atlantic regions.
Recent travels to Iceland and Greenland provided me with information and experiences that led to the development of THE MOVING TIDES. The project addresses the following research questions: How do changes in the Arctic impact my home in the Gulf of Maine? How can the changes be internalized and visualized to tell the story of climate change and sea level rise? What are the psychological implications of environmental change? In what ways can symbolism and metaphor help communicate the realities of the change? How do we work together to balance business interests with environmental and cultural awareness? As Arctic futures are being shaped, it is important to ask, who is creating the narrative?
Maine is in a unique position to create new relationships with the North Atlantic and Arctic. During the fall of 2016 the U.S. State Department chose the city of Portland to host the Arctic Council forum. This is due to Maine’s geographic location in the northeast corner of the United States. Maine, along with the state of Alaska, is now considered to be a bookend to the Arctic, and it has become the home of the Icelandic shipping company, Eimskip. The company’s move to Portland has been catalytic in building commercial relations between Maine and Iceland.
These are exciting new developments, and the University of Maine System (UMS) is responding. The Arctic Futures Institute (AFI) has been established by the Center for Oceans & Coastal Law of the University of Maine School of Law, the Climate Change Institute of the University of Maine, and the World Ocean Observatory. In the summer of 2018 AFI hosted the Arctic Summer Institute which addressed issues surrounding Arctic law, science and policy. This summer AFI is hosting the South Greenland Workshop to explore issues impacting South Greenland as a case study for future work in Greenland and the Arctic. Additionally, the University of Southern Maine is establishing a North Atlantic Institute to generate economic, cultural and educational connections between Maine and the upper North Atlantic.
MEIF has provided significant support for exploring how the arts, literature and history can contribute to Maine/North Atlantic exchanges, thereby building cultural capitol and fostering economic prosperity in the region.
Jan Piribeck – Professor of Art – University of Southern Maine janp@maine.edu