en English
af Afrikaanssq Albanianam Amharicar Arabichy Armenianaz Azerbaijanieu Basquebe Belarusianbn Bengalibs Bosnianbg Bulgarianca Catalanceb Cebuanony Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)co Corsicanhr Croatiancs Czechda Danishnl Dutchen Englisheo Esperantoet Estoniantl Filipinofi Finnishfr Frenchfy Frisiangl Galicianka Georgiande Germanel Greekgu Gujaratiht Haitian Creoleha Hausahaw Hawaiianiw Hebrewhi Hindihmn Hmonghu Hungarianis Icelandicig Igboid Indonesianga Irishit Italianja Japanesejw Javanesekn Kannadakk Kazakhkm Khmerko Koreanku Kurdish (Kurmanji)ky Kyrgyzlo Laola Latinlv Latvianlt Lithuanianlb Luxembourgishmk Macedonianmg Malagasyms Malayml Malayalammt Maltesemi Maorimr Marathimn Mongolianmy Myanmar (Burmese)ne Nepalino Norwegianps Pashtofa Persianpl Polishpt Portuguesepa Punjabiro Romanianru Russiansm Samoangd Scottish Gaelicsr Serbianst Sesothosn Shonasd Sindhisi Sinhalask Slovaksl Slovenianso Somalies Spanishsu Sudanesesw Swahilisv Swedishtg Tajikta Tamilte Teluguth Thaitr Turkishuk Ukrainianur Urduuz Uzbekvi Vietnamesecy Welshxh Xhosayi Yiddishyo Yorubazu Zulu
COVID-19 Program Updates

Semester 61

Semester 61

Semester Students Share Art and Experiences with their Families

By in Semester 61 on
No Comments

On the 16th and of November, Maine Coast Semester students hosted a family weekend to show our relatives the amazing work that we have made here and to offer a glimpse of what everyday life is like on Chewonki Neck. Students and staff put together activities and events for visiting families. One of the biggest events that we organized was the art show. As a student in Sue West's class, Art and the Natural World, I knew about the art show for a few weeks in advance.  I didn’t know was just how Read More

Solos: Alone Together

By in Semester 61, Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, Chewonki Neck on
No Comments

Leading up to solos, I knew I had a lot of questions about what the weekend would bring out in me. Would I have a revelation? Would I come back a new person? Would I sleep at all? When applying to Maine Coast Semester, solos were one of the program features I found especially enticing. Solos at Maine Coast Semester are a chance for students to venture beyond the campus and out into the woods to spend 1-2 nights alone. Being from San Francisco, it's not very often that you have the opportunity to Read More

Welcoming Poppy

By in Farm, Livestock, Semester 61, Chewonki Farm on
No Comments

The dining hall was buzzing with the usual lunchtime energy, tables full, people excited for the gorgeous meal that lay before them. Our leader of the day got up to tell us what was for lunch, said a quote and then turned the stage over to Lisa, one of the farmers. It was Lisa’s turn to give the food fact, a tidbit of information at the beginning of every meal that tells us something about our food, farm, or kitchen. Today’s food fact, however, was out of the ordinary. She gave a big smile and Read More

Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities with Tracy K. Smith, United States Poet Laureate

By in Semester 61 on
No Comments

As I waited for her to enter, I scanned the room. Living at Maine Coast Semesters close-knit boarding school, these were the first strangers I had seen in two months. It was odd to enter a new community and test my newfound sense of self in the context of larger society. Sitting in the public library of Lewiston, Maine, listening to Tracy K. Smith, the United States Poet Laureate, I felt out of place and at home all at once. Students and faculty from Maine Coast Semester had the amazing Read More

Sawing Off the Limb on Which It Perches

By in Uncategorized, Education, Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, Semester 61 on
No Comments

In the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Biodiversity, there is a sign bearing the words of biologist Paul Ehrlich: “IN PUSHING OTHER SPECIES TO EXTINCTION, HUMANITY IS BUSY SAWING OFF THE LIMB ON WHICH IT PERCHES.” Writer Elizabeth Kolbert references this sign in her book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Copies of the book are scattered across the tables as ten Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki students begin their Environmental Issues class. Teaching Fellow Drew Read More

A Rock Star of the Written Word

By in Uncategorized, Semester 61 on
No Comments

Maine Coast Semester 61 students and their teachers from the Literature and the Land class had the honor of hearing the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States, Tracy K. Smith, give a reading in Lewiston last week. It turned out to be even more than they expected. Smith, who became Poet Laureate in 2017, is journeying across the United States to lead a project she calls “American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities.” At the Lewiston Public Library, she read some of her own Read More

The Purpose of Paddling

By in Semester 61 on
No Comments

Before coming to Chewonki, I mostly thought I understood what it would be like. I meticulously read emails and avidly asked questions to those who had come here before me. I was expecting a plethora of things; new friends, academic rigor, like-minded peers, and an outdoor experience I craved living in the city of New York. What I wasn’t expecting was that I, in fact, could never have understood what Chewonki would be like for me and my semester. When I try to describe Chewonki to my friends and Read More

From Sauerkraut to Sketch-up, Connecting to the Natural World through Craft

By in Uncategorized, Semester News, Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, Semester 61 on
No Comments

The study of human ecology, or the relationship between humans and the natural world, is an important thread that runs through all aspects of Maine Coast Semester. In last week’s human ecology seminars, students explored our relationship to technology and sustainability through the lenses of energy, farming and food systems. Looking at philosophies ranging from technological futurists to back-to-the-landers, students discussed everything from electric cars to Wendell Berry, horsepower to Read More

The Stories of James Francis, Penobscot Nation Historian

By in Semester 61 on
No Comments

Before I came to Chewonki, the fact only I was sure of was that I was going into a new, unfamiliar environment. One experience which became one of my first-week highlights was listening to our Friday night speaker, James Francis.  James is a historian from the local Penobscot nation and came to teach us about his tribe’s culture and how the beautiful coast of Maine was shaped by Native American culture. I have to admit, when we were told we were having a Friday night speaker, I wasn’t super Read More

Finding Your Place, and Yourself, on the Penobscot River

By in Maine Coast Semester in the World, Education, Wilderness Trips, Semester News, Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, Semester 61 on
1 Comment

Thinking back to when I first arrived at Chewonki, I am amazed at how much I have learned in such a short time. We’ve only been here for five weeks, but already I feel like a new person. Chewonki has taught me to truly appreciate the natural world around me. It no longer feels strange to be told to go sit in the woods and observe for an hour-- it feels normal. It’s shocking how little I knew about my surroundings before I arrived. I feel a much stronger connection to the land I live on and my Read More