Winter Session
2025-01-15, 2025-01-16, 2025-01-17
Click here to view the full 2024–25 Academic Year Calendar.

God, Science, and Our Search for Meaning
2025-01-17 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-01-24 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-01-31 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Since the dawn of humanity, we have looked up to the skies in search of meaning. Even today, the mysteries of the cosmos inspire many of our most profound questions: Who are we? Why are we here? How did all of this come to be? God, Science, and Our Search for Meaning explores our oldest questions, offers exciting new possibilities, and unveils the startling interplay between science and religion as they both strive to illuminate our deepest mysteries.
Written and narrated by international bestselling author Dan Brown
Watch the trailer here!

Tickets for planetarium programs are $7 for Adults, $6 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $5 for children under 12. Click here to view our calendar.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 207.581.1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Cosmic Colors
2025-01-19 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-01-26 14:00 - 15:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
From northern lights to garden flowers, color fills our lives and “Cosmic Colors” explains how we use the rainbow to see, understand and explore our universe. Visitors learn more about the electromagnetic spectrum, the Northern Lights and get a tour of the night sky!
Tickets for planetarium programs are $7 for Adults, $6 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $5 for children under 12. Click here to view our calendar.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 207.581.1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Imagine Dragons Experience
2025-01-19 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-01-26 16:00 - 17:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
The Imagine Dragons Experience features a mix of music from Smoke+Mirrors, Evolve, Night Visions, and Origins set to stunning visuals and artistic interpretation. Experience a wild, auditory ride through one of today’s most seminal bands in a new way at Versant Power Astronomy Center!
Tickets are $9 for general admission.
Music programs may contain explicit lyrics, and are intended for adult audiences. All music programs may contain bright flashing lights and fast-moving images, which have been known to trigger seizures with those with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 207.581.1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Classes begin
2025-01-21

Center for Undergraduate Research Summer 2025 Fellowship Opportunity
2025-01-21 08:00 - 16:30 | Online
The Center for Undergraduate Research will open its Summer 2025 submission form.
The form will remain open until Monday, Feb. 18, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.
For additional information, click here.

UMaine Student Symposium 2025 Abstract Submissions Open
2025-01-22 08:00 - 16:30 | Online
To submit your abstract for UMaine’s Student Symposium, click here.
Submission deadline is March 14, 2025. No late submissions are accepted.

Dirty Dancing in Concert
2025-01-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Collins Center for the Arts, 2 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Join us for Dirty Dancing in Concert, the classic film’s first live film-to-concert experience.
Enjoy the digitally remastered hit film like never before on a full-size cinema screen, with a live band and singers performing the film’s iconic songs. With a soundtrack that marked a generation, Dirty Dancing in Concert promises to bring a thrilling new and unique experience to the 80s classic.
Directly following the film, the band and singers will throw an encore party that will surely take you back to the time of your life as you sing and dance along to your favorite Dirty Dancing songs.
Immerse yourself in the timeless romance and experience one of the most memorable movies of the past 35 years – now live!

Spring Semester Essential Kits
2025-01-24 11:00 - 15:00 | Student Wellness Resource Center, Room 145, 145 Memorial Union, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Create your own Spring semester essential kit, including fidget toys, pencils, journals, mints, and more!

Bangor Symphony Orchestra — Lunch & Learn
2025-01-24 12:00 - 13:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Join us on Friday, January 24th in the Astronomy Center at 12:00 noon for a Deep Dive! Led by Bangor Symphony Orchestra Music Director Lucas Richman and guest electric violist Martha Mooke, this session of Lunch & Learn will take a deeper look into Mooke’s work and the other works to be performed by the BSO on January 26th at the Collins Center for the Arts. We hope you will join us! Tickets are $25 and include light bites after the presentation.

All proceeds support the mission of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and the Versant Astronomy Center. Tickets may be purchased at the door, online, or by phone at 207.581.1341.

Full concert details are available at bangorsymphony.org/show/mozarts-jupiter.

Last day to add classes
2025-01-27

IMRC Center Tour
2025-01-28 09:00 - 10:00 | Innovative Media Research and Commercialization Center (IMRC), Stewart Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Join IMRC Center staff for a general tour of the facility’s event space, classrooms, common areas, audiovisual studios, and maker labs. The tour is anticipated to last approximately 45 minutes. Offered on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
Guests of any background, including UMaine students, faculty, and staff, community group representatives, business representatives, and members of the public may join a tour. Groups larger than 20, or individuals and small groups for whom the scheduled times are not convenient, please contact the IMRC Center to schedule an individualized visit. Register for a tour.

ServSafe® Food Protection Manager Certification Class and Exam
2025-01-28 09:00 - 17:00 | UMaine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County, 75 Clearwater Drive, Suite 104, Falmouth, ME, 04105, United States
University of Maine Cooperative Extension can help you achieve your ServSafe® Food Protection Manager Certification. This nationally-recognized certification is for anyone working in the food industry, including non-profit organizations. UMaine Extension offers an 8-hour ServSafe® training using the latest ServSafe® Manager Book, 7th Edition Revised, and exam proctoring.
Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025 (Inclement Weather Date: January 29th)
Time: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Location: UMaine Extension Cumberland County, 75 Clearwater Dr., Falmouth, ME
Cost: $150 for course and exam, registration deadline Jan. 14, 2025

Yamato Drummers – Hito no Chikara: The Power of Human Strength
2025-01-29 19:00 - 21:00 | Collins Center for the Arts, 2 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
This renowned Taiko ensemble returns to the Collins Center for a dazzling night of traditional music from Japan. The sound of 40 different drums combined with intricate ensemble movement and spectacular costumes guarantee an unforgettable experience.
Join us at 6 p.m. for a pre-performance discussion with a member of Yamato!

Set Your Intentions: A Vision Board Workshop
2025-01-31 11:00 - 15:00 | Student Wellness Resource Center, Room 145, 145 Memorial Union, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Stop by the Student Wellness Resource Center to collage a mood board for the new semester!

Application for graduation filing deadline (May)
2025-02-01

Backyard Maple Sugaring Workshop
2025-02-01 09:00 - 14:30 | UMaine Cooperative Extension York County, 45 Kennebunk Road, Alfred, ME, 04002, United States
Join experienced sugarmakers for demonstrations and discussion on all aspects of making maple syrup, the sweetest gift of nature, in your own backyard!
In the morning, learn about identifying and tapping trees, collecting and boiling sap, and more. After a short break, join us at a local maple farm to look at their tubing systems and learn how you can set up this efficient sap collection method.
This program is sponsored and co-taught by the Southern Maine Maple Sugarmakers Association.
Morning Session: 9:00-11:30 a.m.
York County Extension Office, 45 Kennebunk Road, Alfred, ME 04002 (Directions)
Afternoon Session: 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Sugarhouse Tour and Discussion: 207 Tappers, 125 Dennett Road, Arundel, ME 04046 (Directions)
Registration is required: Register Here
Registration includes a copy of Rink Mann’s “Backyard Sugarin’: A Complete How-To Guide.”
For more information or a reasonable accommodation, please contact Jason Lilley, Assistant Extension Professor and Sustainable Agriculture and Maple Industry Educator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, at 207.781.6099 or 1.800.287.1471 or jason.lilley@maine.edu.

The Met: Live in HD – Aida
2025-02-01 13:00 - 15:00 | Collins Center for the Arts, 2 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Soprano Angel Blue makes her long-awaited Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for Michael Mayer’s spectacular new staging, which brings audiences inside the towering pyramids and gilded tombs of ancient Egypt with intricate projections and dazzling animations.
What is The Met: Live in HD Series?
The Metropolitan Opera’s Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning series, The Met: Live in HD, lets fans immerse themselves in opera up to 10 times a year. Up to 12 cameras capture the onstage drama, as well as the fascinating backstage action, and transmit it from New York City to the Collins Center for the Arts and other venues across the globe.
Learn before you go!
Please join us for free informational sessions, held prior to each opera. You’re invited to attend to learn about the upcoming opera and meet up with other opera fans. Whether you have been to a zillion operas or have never been – these sessions are for you!
Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 4:15 pm at Dirigo Pines
Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5 pm at Orono Public Library

Last day to drop classes for refund
2025-02-03

ORBITS: An exhibition of Tom Jessen, Isabelle Maschal O’Donnell and Ian Trask
2025-02-03 09:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-04 09:00 - 16:00 | Lord Hall Gallery, Lord Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
The University of Maine’s Lord Hall Gallery presents ORBITS, an exhibition featuring the work of three Maine-based artists who are invested in material re-use and sustainability: Tom Jessen, Isabelle Maschal O’Donnell, and Ian Trask from February 3 – March 14, 2025. A reception will be held on February 7, 2025 from 5-7pm. During the reception, six Maine-based poets will read ekphrastic poems which they wrote about the artwork in ORBITS. The reading will take place at 6pm. Participating poets include Matt Bernier, Monique Bouchard, Sylvia Godreaux, Annaliese Jakimides, Carl Little, and Leslie Moore. All events are free and the public is warmly welcomed.
The artists in ORBITS work with the excess waste that circulates around us every day including paper, textiles, and plastics. As these materials pass through their hands, they are transformed into artwork and given new life. The playful colors and forms used by Jessen, O’Donnel, and Trask function as a surprising counterpoint to the urgency of the issues they explore such as sustainability, waste, and consumerism. ORBITS brings awareness to material culture and our relationship to the things around us.
Jessen’s work begins with collection. He gathers cast away food packaging and cuts it into small strips, which are sorted by color. The paper strips are reconfigured into kaleidoscopic surfaces reminiscent of woven fabrics. O’Donnell gathers textile waste and manipulates it into quilt-like surfaces inspired by her surrounding in Maine. Her work stretches our notions of painting and the usefulness of materials. Trask bundles and wraps an assortment of materials bound for the landfill. The orbs he creates are suspended and clustered into new forms that belie their humble origins.
Questions can be directed to: diana.baumbach@maine.edu Additional information about the artists is available on their websites: tomjessen.com, isabelleodonnell.com, .iantrask.com and on Lord Hall Gallery’s Instagram, @umaine_lordhallgallery.

Talk - Energizing Equal Access: Partnering on Research for Resilience in Maine Communities and Wabanaki Tribes
2025-02-03 15:00 - 16:00
The talk will be held virtually via Zoom and in-person at 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono.

Virtual attendance: Complete the registration form for Zoom connection information

Speakers:

Sharon Klein, School of Economics, UMaine

Caroline Noblet, School of Economics, UMaine

The way people respond to a changing climate and the way they use energy in electricity, heating, and transportation are often dictated by historical patterns, events, and situations beyond their control. People who have been historically marginalized or disadvantaged often do not have access to the same energy-saving technologies or approaches to climate resilience as others. In this talk, Sharon, Caroline, and their team will describe ongoing partnerships with Wabanaki government staff and citizen committees; citizens and local government officials from rural Maine communities; and many other communities, people, and entities across Maine and beyond. These multiple partnerships have a common theme: supporting community- and Wabanaki-driven climate and energy resilience efforts through research-based opportunities to address energy and environmental equity and justice.

Sharon Klein and Caroline Noblet are both Associate Professors in the School of Economics at the University of Maine and Mitchell Center Faculty Fellows.

Sharon is an interdisciplinary energy researcher and educator who uses methods based in engineering, environmental science, economics and other social sciences to engage students, citizens, governmental and non-governmental entities in understanding energy issues and making more sustainable choices. She is currently leading projects that use community-based participatory research to understand barriers, opportunities, and decision drivers to sustainable energy (renewable energy & energy efficiency/conservation) adoption for individuals, communities, and local and tribal governments.

Caroline is a behavioral and experimental environmental economist with a particular focus on how people process and use information. She is currently working on projects that examine the role of risk perceptions, choice architecture, valuation of the environment and environmental motivation in natural resource decision making. Sharon and Caroline both enjoy the Maine outdoors, and spending time with their children and dogs.

Recipe to Market Program
2025-02-04 09:00 - 12:00
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s popular three-hour workshop, Recipe to Market, covers the basics to take a favorite recipe or idea and start a food business. This workshop will introduce participants to important topics, such as an overview of the specialty foods industry, business basics to consider, and an overview of the product development process, licensing and regulations, and food safety concerns. This workshop is intended for individuals, entrepreneurs, and/or farmers interested in starting a home-based, specialty food business.

*This program does not cover herbal supplements, commercial processing (including dairy, meat, beverage, or juice manufacturing) or pet treats/foods.
Recipe to Market course instructors include:

Louis Bassano, Professor Emeritus of Cooperative Extension
Beth Calder, Extension Food Science Specialist, Professor of Food Science, and Director of the UMaine Food Testing Services
Jim McConnon, Professor Emeritus, School of Economics and Cooperative Extension, University of Maine

Minimum number of participants: 10*
Registration deadline is January 31, 2025.
Register here!
*We reserve the right to reschedule this program if the minimum number of participants has not been met.
Once registered, you will receive an email with a Zoom link a week before the class and an agenda and instructor handouts.
Please Note:
Registered participants will benefit from the flexibility of accessing the recording at a later date if they are unable to attend the in-person event. However, it’s important to note that the recording will be accessible for two weeks.
If you are a person with a disability and need an accommodation to participate in this program, please call Melissa Libby at 207.581.2788 or email melissa.libby1@maine.edu to discuss your needs. Receiving requests for accommodations at least 10 days before the program provides a reasonable amount of time to meet the request; however, all requests will be considered.

Careers In Outdoor Rec and Leadership
2025-02-04 10:30 - 13:30 | Memorial Union, North Pod
Looking to land a fun, outdoor-focused summer job? Stop by the North Pod in the Memorial Union on Tuesday, Feb. 4th from 10:30am–1:30pm to chat with representatives from top outdoor recreation organizations. Whether you’re interested in guiding, summer camps, or outdoor leadership, you’ll find plenty of opportunities. No need to dress up or bring application materials, come as you are and start planning your next adventure!
