Media Coverage

The article "Science and Culture: Journal entries, maps, and photos help ecologists reconstruct ecosystems of the past" recently posted by PNAS, includes the work of Loren McClenachan, the Elizabeth and Lee Ainslie Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies. The article mentions her 2017 study, in which "her team used 18th-century British nautical charts to estimate changes in the coral reef area in the Florida Keys," and a project where her students "asked historical societies in Maine for images of a seaweed called rockweed but came back empty-handed." McClenachan advised her students to ask for tourists pictures instead, and noted, "When going to archivists, ecologists need to be careful how they frame the question," PNAS said.

[caption id="attachment_41974" align="alignright" width="104"] Photo courtesy of Garry Mitchell[/caption] Garry Mitchell, deemed “an excellent painter,” was included in a Portland Press Herald art review about Maine's 2018 arts scene. Mitchell, associate professor of art, topped the list for what reviewer Daniel Kany called "his elegant and poignant show at Speedwell Projects." The show "was a lesson in how to begin to take on political subjects," he wrote. "It was impressive on many levels."  

An article by Aaron Hanlon, associate professor of English, was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education Dec. 7. Titled "Lies About the Humanities—and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," Hanlon outlines four categories of what he says are "bad theories about the humanities," including "the humanities are 'noncognitive' and humanities professors push left-wing ideas on students." In the end, Hanlon sees it as a failure of people "actively distorting and maligning" the work of humanities professors, and he asks for an end to the misrepresentation. "When you malign and misrepresent what scholars do, you’re punishing students."