External Posts

In a special Q&A feature story by Politico, Assistant Professor of Government Nick Jacobs and Professor of Government Dan Shea were interviewed about the key findings of their trending book The Rural Voter, including how Democrats need “authentically rural” candidates if they’re going to win in rural areas in 2024 and beyond.

In January 2024, Professor of Art Véronique Plesch led a group of 20 Colby-connected people to Sicily for a type of "Alumni Jan Plan."  Titled "Sicily, Crossroads of Cultures: Art, Architecture & Cuisine," the 13-day trip "entailed a near-circumnavigation of the island of Sicily to explore its many treasures and extraordinary range of cultures," according to Bruce Drouin '74, who instigated the trip.  Plesch lined up an itinerary with sites (a staggering number of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List) that retraced the many cultures and artistic styles that left their mark on the island: Phoenician, ancient Greek and Roman, Jewish, Byzantine, Muslim, Norman, Gothic, Romanesque, Mannerist, and Baroque—all the way to 20th- and 21st-century contemporary art. Plesch also took the group to a winery,  an artisanal chocolate maker, and a hillside olive oil maker.

PRINT and Art Daily highlighted the Colby Museum's new exhibition and Special Collections archive of the popular arts publication Esopus. In the piece, the magazine’s founder Tod Lippy referenced  Colby’s “fantastic Special Collections,” and how he hopes the archive will inspire all kinds of creative activity.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Alison Bates, in partnership with Karp Strategies, has been selected to conduct critical research on offshore wind in Maine. According to Maine Governor Janet Mills's Energy Office Newsletter, their project will create a baseline inventory of socioeconomic data pertaining to Maine’s fishing communities.

Professor of Government Daniel Shea worked with U.S. News & World Report on a story about older citizens and voting. He noted that voters undergo a cost-benefit calculation about the value of voting and how for older Americans the cost is lower because they’re aware of current events, have time, and “know how the voting process works.”

Provost and Dean of Faculty Margaret McFadden contributed to a story in Forbes about how the number of undergraduates pursuing more than one major is on the rise. In the article, she noted that an unusually high number of Colby students—39 percent—pursue an additional major, and she also provided a great example of how a second focus helped one graduate secure a job.

Local media covered the debut of the Gordon Center’s first original work, ‘Of This Place,’ directed by Matthew Cumbie, Visiting Assistant Professor of Performance, Theater, and Dance. The two-night sold-out performance included full-circle involvement from Colby and the Waterville community

Media outlets such as Forbes, Maine Public, Portland Press Herald, and Maine Biz covered Colby’s reception of a $50 million financial aid donation from the Lunder Foundation, marking one of the largest gifts in Colby’s history.

The poem "Facebook Status," by Professor of English and Creative Writing Adrian Blevins, was the featured poem Feb. 6, 2024, on the podcast The Slowdown, which creates a short episode that includes a poem every weekday. Host Major Jackson introduced "Facebook Status" by saying, "Today’s poem hilariously explains why our internet connections are like electrical wires that thread the night, connecting all of our lives." Blevins's poem came from her new collection of poetry, Status Pending, from Four Way Books.