• Keynote speakers will address “Creating Circles of Conversation – Women of the Academy, the Community and the Church”
• Faculty, administrators, students, staff, and others from area colleges invited to attend
• Conference coincides with 10^th anniversary of founding of College’s Women’s Studies Program

Providence, RI – Providence College will host the bi-annual conference of the National Association for Women in Catholic Higher Education (NAWCHE)  on June 11-12, 2004 on the College campus. The conference is open to faculty, administrators, staff, and students from Catholic and secular colleges and universities, and those otherwise interested in issues relevant to women in the academy, especially those issues unique to Catholic institutions.

Keynote speakers for the conference are Sister Linda-Susan Beard, co-founder of The Emmaus Community in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and associate professor of English at Bryn Mawr College ; and Dr. Ann Braude, director of the Women’s Studies in Religion Program and senior lecturer in the History of Christianity at Harvard Divinity School .

Also featured are four symposium tracks of panel discussions, workshops, and paper presentations examining various topics in the areas of administration and policy, women’s academic lives, research for women, and women’s studies programs.

Among the highlights of the conference will be an opening reception for an exhibit by acclaimed Providence artist Ruth Dealy in the College’s Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery on Friday, June 11 from 5-7 p.m. The artist’s gallery talk will take place at 6 p.m. The exhibit, “Face to Face,” is a series of Dealy’s self-portraits. Ranging in date from 1976 to 2003, the seven works consider the tension between the exterior and interior self and illustrate the artist’s search to render identity visually. 

Above: self-portrait by Ruth Dealy

The conference coincides with and celebrates the 10^th anniversary of the Providence College Women’s Studies Program, an innovative, interdisciplinary, academic field of study focused on analyzing the lives, achievements, and experiences of women, past and present, across the academic disciplines.  Founded by eight faculty members from eight different disciplines in the arts, sciences, social sciences, and humanities, the program today offers a minor in Women’s Studies, features 22 faculty members, and continually strives to  recognize and document the diversity of women's experiences across age, race, ethnic groups, and social class.

Founded in 1992, NAWCHE is comprised of faculty, administrators, staff, and students from Catholic colleges and universities nationwide. The organization encourages research on women's lives and the development of women's studies programs, and actively supports enhancing professional life for women at Catholic colleges and universities.

Information on the conference and on-line registration is available at www.bc.edu/nawche. Registration on site is available through June 11.

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