Annual Conference Brings Together Community for Talks, Panels, Performances and More

Clear your calendars: It’s the Ruhlman Conference!

In this annual communal event taking place on Wednesday, April 29th, students present their work to an unusually wide audience. By providing an opportunity for public presentation of what is often a private, isolated activity, the Ruhlman Conference demonstrates that research can be part of the ongoing conversation in a community of scholars. The conference is made possible by the Barbara Peterson Ruhlman Fund for Interdisciplinary Study.

In keeping with the diversity of student interests and accomplishments, the Ruhlman Conference is open to a variety of presentation formats: papers, panels, posters, exhibitions, musical and theatrical performances, and readings of original work. This year’s program includes interactive presentations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Winter’s Tale, discussions of the full spectrum of biological chemistry research, short talks on novel human-computer interactions, and examinations of the U.S. trade system.

The Maurer Public Speaking Program is thrilled to announce that, as part of the day’s events, this year’s Ruhlman conference will include the awarding of the first Jacqueline Fowler ’47 Prize in Public Speaking.  The prize honors Fowler’s support of public speaking at Wellesley through her substantial contributions to the public speaking program established by Ann E. Maurer ’51 and her husband, Gilbert, in 2012. (Fowler is also a significant benefactor of the Davis Museum and supporter of the faculty.) The final round of judging for the prize will take place during the Ruhlman conference, and the finalists’ presentations will be available for live streaming.

The finalists are Sabrina Giglio ’15 (Reflections on Race and Gender in Contemporary Art, panel) Pendleton Hall West 212 , Elizabeth Kapnick ’15 (Freedom or Failure? An Arendtian Analysis of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011), Anne Ratnoff ’15 (La Mere Colonisatrice, La Mere Colonise: Writing the Mother in Three Autobiographical Novels of Marguerite Duras), Sonali Shastry ’15 (Cracking the Hackers: an Inside Look at the Effects of Security Leaks), and Maile Wong ’15 (Preschool Friendship Formation and Unilateral Friendship Outcomes).

Join us­ for a full day of communal learning.