Champlain College has created an international academic symposium and lecture series to celebrate the Quadricentennial of the discovery of Lake Champlain by Samuel de Champlain. The symposium will be held from July 2 - 5, 2009, and presentations will be free and open to the public. This, the only academic symposium to be offered as part of the region's Quadricentennial celebration, will be a kick-off event to the area's many activities.

The theme of the symposium, lecture series and an associated Web site is "When the French Were Here." Experts from France, Canada and across the United States will gather at Champlain College, a private college that was named for the lake that it overlooks from Burlington's Hill Section.

Samuel de Champlain explored and mapped the coasts of North America from Labrador to Panama and explored as far west as the Great Lakes as mapmaker to the kings of France. He established a trading alliance with Native Americans and founded the city of Québec in 1608. The next year, he accompanied a war party to the lake he named after himself in his 1613 memoirs, one of several books he authored.

The College is tapping into the history expertise of two of its professors, Willard Sterne Randall and Dr. Nancy Nahra, to create the Quadricentennial events. Both have researched and lectured on the history of the region and its inhabitants over the last decade. More recently, they've examined maps and texts in France and Canada. Randall also teaches a Vermont history course at the College and is a Pulitzer Prize nominated biographer.

"The lake is so much a part of what we are here in our region," Nahra said. "And through it, Samuel de Champlain's history collides with our own."

While exploring and mapping "New France" for King Henry IV of France, Champlain entered the lake from its northern tip, paddling in war canoes with Native American guides. He would later battle the Iroquois at Fort Ticonderoga, in the southern end of the lake, marking the first battle of the French-Indian War.

A lecture series by Champlain College's Willard Sterne Randall also illuminates Champlain's life and includes four offerings over the course of a year and a half. The first was "The Real Pocahontas" lecture delivered in October 2007. It set the scene for future lectures by depicting the real lives-not the fictional accounts-of Native Americans at the time that Champlain came to the New World.

On April 23, 2008, Randall delivers "Europe Discovers America," which puts the spotlight on Jacques Cartier and fellow French explorers who explored privately as business endeavors. Cartier was the first Frenchman to come to the New World and he made three voyages, looking for furs and gold. In 1534 he was the first to find Montréal, which was called Hochelaga at that time.

In October 2008, Randall lectures on "Champlain Discovers His Lake." It will include details on Champlain reaching Lake Champlain in 1609 and a description of the battle for Ticonderoga.

In spring of 2009, Randall wraps up the series with "When the French Were Here," which includes stories of the Marquis de Lafayette's visit to Burlington, Vt., in 1826, when he had a reception in a Hill Section home that is now called Grassemount.

Champlain College has also created a resource about Samuel de Champlain on the Internet. The Web-based resources at http://www.champlainquadricentennial.com/ include a history timeline and biography of Samuel de Champlain, maps, a call for papers for the symposium and teaching resources for schools and parents. Papers from the international symposium will also be made available online after the event.

The College is coordinating its activities with the Quadricentennial committees of the states of Vermont and New York and the City of Burlington, Vt.

Participants in the July 2 - 5, 2009, on-campus symposium will be able to book rooms in Champlain College's residence halls. Scholars are encouraged to bring their families because there will be many other activities to fill out the celebration. On the Fourth of July, for example, participants can join a chartered fireworks cruise on Champlain's lake.

History Experts: Champlain College experts can speak to the history of Samuel de Champlain and Lake Champlain's Quadricentennial.

Posted 02/14/08