Calendar of Events

Dark Matter Mystery
2026-05-12 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-13 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-15 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Dark Matter Mystery: What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of. This fulldome planetarium show takes you on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics. You will see why we know that Dark Matter exists, and how this search is one of the most challenging and exciting searches science has to offer. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground.

University of Southern Maine Men's Golf vs NCAA Division III National Championship - Hosted by Oglethorpe University
2026-05-13 07:30 - 10:30 | Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. / Mission Inn Resort & Club – El Campeon Course, Florida 48 10400, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, 34737, United States
University of Southern Maine Men’s Golf vs NCAA Division III National Championship – Hosted by Oglethorpe University

University of Southern Maine Women's Track and Field at Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier
2026-05-13 16:00 - 19:00 | Rock Island, IL, Rock Island, Illinois, United States
University of Southern Maine Women’s Track and Field at Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier
No Team Scoring

Lila: Life Cycles and Connections
2026-05-14 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-15 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-15 15:30 - 16:30, 2026-05-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Lila: Life Cycles and Connections-Join Lila on an epic 360° adventure through nature’s vast networks. Students shrink to a caterpillar’s size to witness photosynthesis and the water cycle before soaring as butterflies to explore the “Wood Wide Web” and global habitats. From microscopic soil to the treetops, Lila: Life Cycles and Connections transforms science into a breathtaking journey, proving that understanding these natural links is the first step toward protecting our shared home.

University of Southern Maine Men's Track and Field at Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier
2026-05-14 13:00 - 16:00 | Rock Island, IL, Rock Island, Illinois, United States
University of Southern Maine Men’s Track and Field at Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier

University of Southern Maine Men's Track and Field at MIT Final Qualifier
2026-05-14 16:00 - 19:00 | Cambridge, MA, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
University of Southern Maine Men’s Track and Field at MIT Final Qualifier

University of Southern Maine Women's Track and Field at MIT Final Qualifier
2026-05-14 16:00 - 19:00 | Cambridge, MA, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
University of Southern Maine Women’s Track and Field at MIT Final Qualifier

University of Southern Maine Baseball vs Babson College - 2026 NCAA Regional - Date & Time Change
2026-05-16 14:30 - 17:30 | Ed Flaherty Field, School Street 156, Gorham, Maine, 04038, United States
University of Southern Maine Baseball vs Babson College – 2026 NCAA Regional – Date & Time Change
Streaming Video: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6600615

University of Southern Maine Baseball at Rowan University - NCAA Regional - Game Four
2026-05-17 14:30 - 17:30 | Ed Flaherty Field, School Street 156, Gorham, Maine, 04038, United States
University of Southern Maine Baseball at Rowan University – NCAA Regional – Game Four
Streaming Video: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6600616

University of Southern Maine Baseball vs Babson College - NCAA Regional - Game Five
2026-05-17 18:00 - 21:00 | Ed Flaherty Field, School Street 156, Gorham, Maine, 04038, United States
University of Southern Maine Baseball vs Babson College – NCAA Regional – Game Five
Streaming Video: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6600618

University of Southern Maine Baseball at Rowan University - NCAA Regional - Game Six
2026-05-18 11:00 - 14:00 | Ed Flaherty Field, School Street 156, Gorham, Maine, 04038, United States
University of Southern Maine Baseball at Rowan University – NCAA Regional – Game Six
Streaming Video: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6600619

Little Draggy Adventure
2026-05-18 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-19 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-20 13:00 - 14:00
Little Draggy Adventure:
Do you know where the earth lives? What surrounds it? How far is it from the Earth to the Sun, and what makes our planet different from the others? Take a wonderful journey with a cheerful dragon Woody, who travels around the Universe in search of fantastic adventures.

Bilingualism & Heritage Language Maintenance: A Community Class with Dr. Jeanne Heil
2026-05-18 17:30 - 18:30 | Franco-American Collection — LAC, 51 Westminster St, Lewiston, ME, 04240, United States
The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine is proud to announce a free community class taught by USM professor Dr. Jeanne Heil. There is no fee for our programs, which are made possible by the Québec Delegation in Boston, Schooner Estates and the Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch.
This community class discusses the challenges and opportunities of the maintenance of minority/heritage languages. Particular attention will be paid to minority/heritage languages in Maine, including but not limited to French. A minority language is any language used by a subset of a population in a region, and both monolingual and actively bilingual regions can have minority languages. Minority languages that reflect a family or community identity–such as those used by children of immigrants–are often referred to as heritage languages. The four sessions of the class will present and layer various perspectives on heritage languages: cognitive perspectives, social perspectives, and educational perspectives. The result is a shared knowledge base that highlights both what’s at stake for bilingual families and what’s necessary for language maintenance.
Jeanne Heil is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern Maine. Originally from Ohio, she studied Hispanic Linguistics and Bilingualism at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she worked for nearly a decade in their bilingualism and code-switching laboratory. She has been a faculty member at USM since 2017, teaching courses on introductory linguistics, second language acquisition, syntax, research methods, and Spanish. In 2021, she received both USM’s Faculty Senate Honors for Excellence in Teaching and the President’s Award for Achievement, and she has mentored four Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program students between 2018 and 2024. Jeanne’s research examines cognitive and linguistic perspectives on bilingualism, including second language acquisition and heritage language acquisition.
To register for this class, follow this link, or email Anna at anna.faherty@maine.edu: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKGOdMtmybE5apVNwJzXbsyQxLxbHXLF_6TCkqlUO1wDiCSg/viewform?usp=publish-editor
For more information, or if you have questions about disability access or need to request disability accommodations, please contact the FAC archivist, Anna Faherty, at anna.faherty@maine.edu or by phone (207) 753-6545. Requests should be made as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for the accommodation process.

Rusty Rocket's Last Blast!
2026-05-19 10:00 - 11:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Rusty Rocket’s Last Blast: Join Rusty Rocket and his band of rocket rookies as they explore the solar system. Fly across Saturn’s rings, soar along a Martian canyon; delve deep into the solar interior!

Rosetta
2026-05-21 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-05-22 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-05-23 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Join the comet discoverer Klim Churyumov in the story about the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth. Meet the challenges of a 10 year long mission with Rosetta spacecraft and the “Philae” lander. Become the first one to find oneself on the comet surface!

"You Once Had An Aunt" opening reception
2026-05-21 17:30 - 19:30 | Art Gallery, 5 University Way, Gorham, ME, 04038, United States
Join the University of Southern Maine Art Galleries for the opening reception of You Once Had An Aunt, a solo exhibition by 2026 Artist-In-Residence Peter Bruun, at our Gorham Art Gallery.

This immersive exhibition brings together 100 paintings by Peter Bruun, inspired by the birth of his grandson and the absence of the aunt he will never know. An audio collage of voices weaves through the installation, offering reflections on grief, love, and memory. At the opening reception, representatives from Loose Ends Project and the Center for Grieving Children, whose missions align closely with the spirit of this exhibition, will share their work.

What: You Once Had An Aunt opening receptionWhere: University of Southern Maine Art Gallery5 University Way, Gorham, ME 04038When: Thursday May 21st, 2026 | 5:30 – 7:30 PMCost: Free

The gallery will be open 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Thursday May 21 through Saturday May 23, and by appointment by contacting 207-780-5409 or usmartgalleries@maine.edu.

Parking is available in our University of Southern Maine Gorham parking lots G3, G4 and G6 at a rate of $1.05 per hour. Additionally, the Portland METRO Husky Bus picks up/drops off about a 3-minute walk away from the entrance of the gallery.

Supermassive Black Holes
2026-05-22 15:30 - 16:30 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Supermassive Black Holes: Leading scientists in observational and theoretical studies of black holes and galaxies, industrial experts in cutting-edge big technologies, and professionals in science dissemination have been brought together to set up research projects which will combine the latest state-of-the-art observations, numerical simulations and innovative analytic tools to compare theory with observation, and shed light on the physics of black hole formation in the context of galaxy evolution. This planetarium show presents the environments of the black holes in an impressive and understandable way to the audience.

University of Southern Maine Men's Track and Field vs NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships - Hosted by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse - Paradis (SP): 4:00 PM
2026-05-22 16:00 - 19:00 | La Crosse, WI, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States
University of Southern Maine Men’s Track and Field vs NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships – Hosted by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Paradis (SP): 4:00 PM
No Team Score
Streaming Video: https://www.ncaa.com/event/4798

An Evening of Franco-American Stories
2026-05-22 18:00 - 19:00 | Franco-American Collection — LAC, 51 Westminster St, Lewiston, ME, 04240, United States
Join Bates College’s “Short Term Practicum in Community-Engaged Audio Storytelling” students for an evening of curated audio stories from the Franco-American Collection and recently recorded oral history interviews. Led by instructor Galen Koch, students in this practicum course learned how to conduct an oral history interview, research in existing archives, and work with a group to curate a cohesive exhibit of edited audio stories. Each student interviewed community members as recommended by Anna Faherty at the Collection and their interviews will join the archive as valuable first person accounts.

(CANCELLED) Rosetta
2026-05-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States

USM CubeSat Design Competition - Launch Day at UMF
2026-05-23 09:00 - 12:00 | University of Maine Farmington, 224 Main St, Farmington, 04938, United States
The culminating event of the 6th Annual University of Southern Maine CubeSat Design Competition will take place on Saturday, May 23rd, at the University of Maine Farmington. Middle & high school teams from across the state have spent the spring semester building CubeSats – small, cubic satellites. These CubeSats were designed to meet 1 of 4 engineering challenges (remote sensing, radiation shielding, seed drop, and cricket survival pod), and they will be tested at this event through a high-altitude balloon launch.
We’re excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our students this year!
