“It is fatal for any one who writes to think of their sex.” So claims Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own. Woolf ’s provocative claim raises important questions. Women writers from Jane Austen to Charlotte Brontë to Doris Lessing to M.F.K. Fisher have had to contend with the fact of “their sex”; does that fact matter to their work?

Join Symposium Chair Lisa Rodensky ’84, assistant professor of English, and other Wellesley faculty for Symposium 2008 as we explore poems, essays, and novels written by women in the 19th through 21st centuries. We will consider the common questions these texts raise about female identity, morality, and artistic form, as well as those that distinguish these works as uncommon, as works of art.

Summer Symposium offers a unique opportunity for alumnae and guests to take advantage of Wellesley’s most treasured resources: its beautiful campus, its state-of-the-art facilities, and most of all, its faculty. If you are unable to join us for the full week, consider coming for a one- or two-day program. Coming to reunion 2008? Begin your Wellesley celebration a few days early at Symposium!

Click here for a detailed schedule of events.
Click here for a list of faculty presenters.

2008 Symposium Rates

Fees cover all meals, lectures, and activities

The deadline for registration is May 23, 2008.

For more information about Summer Symposium, contact Special Programs at 781-283-2438 or specialprograms2@alum.wellesley.edu.