Vermont Humanities

The Many Meanings of Maple

Man giving a talk in a bike shop
Speakers Bureau
Image of postcard of maple syrup gathering
Image Credit: “Gathering Sap at a Maple Sugar Camp, Vermont.” Photograph by Detroit Publishing Co., c. 1906. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Public Domain.

This presentation examines the many meanings of maple sugaring. Maple is enormously important to Vermont’s economy, ecology, and heritage. Champlain College professor Michael Lange will discuss sugaring ethnographically, based on over five years of research among sugarmakers all over the state, to learn from them what sugaring really means to Vermont.

Rather than discussing the practical aspects of sugaring, such as how to tap a tree or how an evaporator works, his talk focuses on how and why maple has become so important to Vermont’s identity, and how and why it helps us shape who we are as Vermonters.

Special Arrangements

Projector, screen, and computer or device to read a USB flash drive

Available in correctional facilities.

Questions?

Contact Jacob Pelletier at jpelletier@vermonthumanities.org.

About the Presenter

Talks by Michael Lange

Man giving a talk in a bike shop

The Many Meanings of Maple

Michael Lange discusses maple sugaring, focusing on why maple has become so important to Vermont’s identity, and how it helps us shape who we are as Vermonters.

Vermont Humanities*** June 29, 2016