The 17th Annual Tanner Conference Highlights Liberal Arts Education Outside the Classroom
The Tanner Conference, now in its 17th year, celebrates the relationship between education in the classroom and the significant learning that can happen outside of it. The conference, which is held today, allows students, faculty, and alumnae to critically reflect on their off-campus experiences with—and for the benefit of—the broader Wellesley community. Conference presentations focus on the experiences of students and alumnae in internships, service learning, international study, and experiential study in courses, fellowships, and research conducted away from Wellesley.
Presentations will begin at 9:15 am in the Wellesley College Science Center and last until 4:10 pm. Throughout the day, attendees can enjoy breaks for meals, a performance by the Wellesley Guild of Carillonneurs, and a special session on Wellesley’s Sustainability Year.
Each year, the Tanner Conference draws participants from all academic disciplines. Altogether, this year 637 students participated in internship, fellowship, and international study programs in 68 countries.
“This year’s conference is particularly poignant in demonstrating and honoring the power of individual actions,” said Tanner Conference Committee co-chairs Joanne Murray '81, director of the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs and Lee Cuba, professor of sociology. “At this moment of such divisiveness and uncertainty, we take pride and reassurance in seeing Wellesley students—in every field and on every continent—redoubling their efforts for positive change.”
Presentations will be grouped by the following topics: Culture and the Arts; Empowerment of Youth, Women, and Families; Health and Medicine Beyond Borders; Identity, Community, and Global Citizenship; and Technology, Innovation, and Education.
Panels will include “Fake News, Programming Languages, and App Design: Wellesley Computer Science Research?”; “Global Public Health: Much More than the Doctor’s Responsibility”; “Working Around the Hill or Skirting the Swamp” (from the Wellesley in Washington Summer 2017 students); and “Grassroots Environmentalism: Mobilizing People Through Forestation, Farming, Faith and Feminism.”
From 12:30-1:30 pm, over the lunch break the Tanner Exhibition will be held on the second-floor catwalk area of the Science Center. The exhibition provides students the opportunity to learn about Wellesley’s international study, internship, and fellowship programs. Faculty and staff from Wellesley’s campuswide programs will be available to speak with students at that time.
The Tanner Conference was established in 2000 through the generosity of Wellesley College trustee emerita Estelle “Nicki” Newman Tanner ’57. The Tanner Conference website includes the full roster of events and descriptions of each session.
Christine Roberts ’19
