Gender and Enlightenment:
Modern Languages to host interdisciplinary symposium

February 2007—An interdisciplinary symposium on the cultural legacy of the Spanish 18th century will draw faculty and students from other campuses, including the University of Valencia in Spain, to the Texas State campus April 10.

See the symposium poster and schedule

Organized by the Texas State Department of Modern Languages, the symposium will also feature participants from the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Departments of Modern Languages, English, History, Philosophy, and Music presenting papers on “Gender and Enlightenment: The Eighteenth Century Debate and Its Legacy.” The symposium—8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.—is free and open to the public. All sessions will be held on the 7th floor of Alkek Library, in the Southwestern Writers Collection. Co-sponsors include the College of Liberal Arts, the Graduate College, the Center for Multicultural and Gender Studies, the Mitte Honors Program, and the Texas State Parents Association. The conference has been made possible by matching funds from the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Mónica Bolufer Peruga, a cultural historian from the University of Valencia in Spain, who will deliver a lecture on “Gender and Theories of Civilization in Travel Narratives of Spain,” at 2 p.m. Dr. Bolufer's research has concentrated on women in 18th-century Spain—for example, how women have been represented in the Enlightenment, their modes of writing and speaking, their concepts of intimacy, their lives in the private and public spheres, the process of modernization in Spain, and Spain’s cultural relationship to other European societies. Dr. Bolufer has published numerous books and articles internationally on gender and the Spanish 18th century.

Other participants’ papers will focus on gender and the legacy of the Spanish 18th century as reflected in marriage, music, drama, painting, poetry, and philosophy.

”The symposium will foster interdisciplinary communication and collaboration among the academic community and students on research on gender and 18th-century history and culture,” said Dr. Catherine Jaffe, Professor of Modern Languages and symposium organizer. “It will also increase awareness of the Hispanic tradition in an area of broad concern for understanding trans-Atlantic history and cultural relationships: the Enlightenment and its contribution to current debates on the meaning of gender and women's role in society.”

More information is available by contacting the symposium’s organizer, Dr. Catherine Jaffe, Professor of Modern Languages at cj10@txstate.edu or (512) 245-2492.