Growing Portland: Not Whether, but How

In the 400 years since European settlement, Portland has survived the ravages of war, invasion, pestilence, conflagration, and economic depression and recession. Once a renowned manufacturing, trade, and shipping center, it now enjoys what might be called a post-industrial renaissance as a vibrant center for the arts, education, entertainment, and banking, legal, and medical services; and is frequently cited as one of America’s best small cities. As a result, Portland is growing today and is positioned for more growth. The question, then, is not whether Portland will grow, but how well it will grow; or, how best to manage the growth that is now certain to come. Over the past six months Creative Portland, the Muskie School, the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Portland Society for Architecture have collaborated to explore these questions. We find that successful cities today offer vast opportunity for employment and upward mobility, accommodate diverse peoples of all incomes and social classes, and ensure the availability of shelter, affordable to all. We conclude, first, that Portland today faces not one but two great challenges, workforce development and housing. Second, if Portland is to sustain its current prosperity and fulfill its vital economic role for all Maine, it must grow its workforce, broaden its property tax base, strengthen its schooling, expand its public transit, and – most importantly – create more housing and commerce along major thoroughfares and in select neighborhood centers on and off the peninsula. Third, if Portland is to retain and expand its attractiveness as a city, it must pay careful attention throughout to the matter of good urban design, learning from other successful cities

Greater Portland Tomorrow: Choices for Sustained Prosperity

Greater Portland Tomorrow: Choices for Sustained Prosperity is an action plan developed with Maine Economic Improvement Fund (MEIF) support in response to the questions, what are the critical challenges facing the region for sustainable prosperity, and how may these best be addressed by USM and other important regional actors? The report provides analysis and recommendations in the areas of workforce development, quality of place, regional infrastructure, government fragmentation, and public communication

Business Education and the Liberal Arts: A Rhetorical Approach

The Oxford Handbook of Lifelong Learning is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of the theory and practice of lifelong learning, encompassing perspectives from human resources development, adult learning, psychology, career and vocational learning, management and executive development, cultural anthropology, the humanities, and gerontology. Individual chapters address the most relevant topics on the subject, including:- continuous learning as it relates to technological, economic, and organizational changes- developmental theories and research, models of lifelong learning, and the neurological bases for learning across the lifespan- examples of learning programs, tools, and technologies, with a focus on corporate programs and business education- international perspectives on lifelong learning and learning across cultures- assessment of learning needs and outcomeshttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/facbooks/1240/thumbnail.jp

Contributors: Lincoln’s election let our house divided. He tried his best to unify us again.

In the 1860 Republican National Convention, a dark horse candidate holding no elective office captured the presidential nomination, and despite being reviled by a large swath of the country, went on to victory in the general election, securing only 40 percent of the vote. Elected with a minority of the vote, Abraham Lincoln sought to unify a deeply fractured nation, going to extraordinary lengths to persuade those who opposed his election

Contributors: China’s rise doesn’t need to end with war against the United States

The liberal arts may be in decline on college campuses, but they are enjoying a resurgence in the White House, as its staff is reportedly reading Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian war, a 2,500-year-old account of the war between Athens and Sparta. The sudden interest in the ancient conflict has much to do with its parallels with the United States’ rivalry with an ascendant China. Athens’ rise in power stirred fear in Sparta, an established ruling power, and the two nations ultimately went to war. This dynamic of a rising power threatening the hegemony of a ruling power could lead the U.S. and China into what scholars refer to as the “Thucydides’ trap.