Eminent Scholars from 55 International Institutions Convene at Wellesley

Wellesley College will host the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, an international conference that brings scholars from 55 academic institutions across the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom.

The conference, which will take place November 8-10, is organized by Hélène Bilis, assistant professor of French at Wellesley College, and the keynote address will be given by Ann Blair, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at Harvard University and eminent specialist of early modern European intellectual and cultural history.

The Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies (SE-17) is a dynamic international community of scholars committed to the research and teaching of all aspects of 17th-century French culture and history. Over the course of the international meeting, scholars will share their latest research and discuss the 17th century in panel presentations. SE-17 will publish the proceedings in the peer-reviewed journal Cahiers du dix-septième: An Interdisciplinary Journal, which appears bi-annually.

The event will feature talks presented by eminent scholars from many of the world’s leading academic institutions, including: Brown University, Boston College, Brandeis University, University of Saskatchewan, Baylor University, Oklahoma State University, the University of New Orleans, Paris IV Sorbonne, and Stanford University. Talks will cover three themes:  Censorship/La Censure; Dreams/Les Rêves; Honor and Shame/L’Honneur et la honte, and range in subject from “Dreams, Politics, and Prophecy in the Age of Louis XIV” to “Honor, Shame, and the Making and Breaking of the Female Hero in Seventeenth-Century French Theater.”

In addition to the conference talks, several cultural offerings will accompany the event to include:

• A special display of the Margaret Clapp Library’s rare books and manuscripts pertaining to the 16th and 17th centuries.
• A demonstration of the hand printing press in the Book Arts Laboratory hosted by Wellesley’s Book Arts Program.

Sessions will be conducted in English and French. Learn more about The Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies.