Bates students present "Celebrating Places We Call Home: Stories From Lewiston-Auburn"

Bates College students enrolled in Literature and the Environment will present the results of a semester-long project, Celebrating the Places We Call Home: Stories From Lewiston-Auburn, a series of interviews conducted with 15 Lewiston-Auburn residents about places that have particular meaning for them, at 5 p.m.Friday, April 7, in Chase Hall Lounge on Campus Avenue. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Taught by Jane Costlow, professor of Russian, the environmental studies course explores a cross-cultural perspective on literature and the environment. Students read a broad range of novels and poetry about individuals’ strong connections with place and community. “I wanted the Bates students to understand that those connections with place also exist in Lewiston-Auburn, where we have our ‘elders’ with stories to tell and wisdom to share.” Many of the Lewiston-Auburn residents interviewed for the project discussed places where they spent much of their childhood.

The two-hour presentation, to which all those interviewed have been invited, will be made in the form of posters. The taped interviews ultimately will be housed in the Lewiston and Auburn public libraries as well as Bates College Special Collections. “Hopefully, they will be resources in the future for people interested in the history of the area,” Costlow said.