Note from the Director, C. Kurt Dewhurst

July, 2003

Center Director Dr. C. Kurt Dewhurst

Greetings from the Great Lakes Culture Program. The Program continues to grow and link both scholars and the public interested in the diverse cultures of our region. Work is underway on a number of new projects and and activities for 2003-2004. I want to invite you to join the GCLP Interest Group listserv to receive regular updates and our newsletter, CURRENTS, to keep you updated on Center activities.

On August 8-10, the second annual Great Lakes Folk Festival will take place in East Lansing, MI. This major festival will showcase the rich cultural heritage of the region and the nation through music, dance, crafts, storytelling, games, and food. It will feature living museum exhibitions, hands-on activities, and it will be a celebration of the multi-cultural life in our region. The festival is a partnership project of the Michigan State University Museum and the Great Lakes Culture Program with major funding from the City of East Lansing, Michigan State University, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the Michigan Humanities Council. You are invited to attend this exciting free festival. For more program details, visit the GLCP web site.

I want to invite you to attend our first GLCP annual thematic conference, on Great Lakes Maritime Culture. It will be led by Dr. Gail Vander Stoep, a member of the GCLP Steering Committee. Designed to appeal to scholars, teachers, and the general public, it will include lectures. wonderful GL maritime musical performances, GL maritime foodways, as well as workshops and curriculum resource sharing. The conference will take place in Cleveland on September 19-21, 2003. Details on registration and program are available here on our GLCP website. All of our GLCP advisors are invited to attend the annual business meeting during this meeting.

The GLCP is also pleased to announce the appointment of our latest GLCP Fellows. We have awarded fellowships to support research projects at the Newberry Library and at Michigan State University. See the website and the next issue of Currents for the profiles of the Fellows and their projects. The GLCP is working with the MSU Library to partner on a number of presentations by GLCP Fellows and researchers as part of the MSU Library Colloquia Series. These lectures/presentations will be posted on the GLCP web site calendar. Planning is also underway on new classes at MSU on Great Lakes Culture in a number of departments. A new sophomore seminar will debut this fall developed by Dr. Anita Skeen in cooperation with the Center Director and Steering Committee. This is part of an effort to create a specialization in Great Lakes culture. Plans are also underway for a new "MSU Brown Bag Lecture Series" featuring the research of GLCP advisors starting in September of 2003.

I always enjoy hearing from others with interests in Great Lakes culture. One of the goals of the GLCP is to develop more institutional partnership projects so please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or reactions.

--C. Kurt Dewhurst, Ph.D. Director, Great Lakes Culture Program