44th Annual International Conference of the
Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies
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Smith College
Northampton, Massachusetts[b]
November 6-8, 2025
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Two small exhibits will be on display during the conference, one at the Cunningham
1-1:30 p.m.: General Registration and Coffee
1:30-1:45 p.m.: Welcome Remarks
Hélène Visentin, SE17 President, Professor of French Studies (Smith College)
1:45-3:15 p.m.: POWER, JUSTICE AND TYRANNY I
● John Boitano (Chapman University), Power, Justice and Tyranny in Pascal’s Pensées
● Valérie Dionne (Colby College), La juste colère de Médée
3:30-5:30 p.m.: EDUCATION OF WOMEN
Co-Chairs: Faith Beasley (Dartmouth College) & Deborah Steinberger (University of Delaware)
5:45-7:30 p.m.: Reception - Green Street Jazz Trio Neilson Library Skyline Reading Room
Friday, 7 November - Alumnae House Conference Hall
9-10:30 a.m.: CIRCULATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Co-Chairs: Benoît Bolduc (New York University) & Sanam Nader-Esfahani (Amherst College)
● Peter Sokolowski (Merriam-Webster), Vernacular Dictionary Origins in the Early 17th Century
10:45 a.m.-12 p.m.: CONTEMPORARY APPROPRIATIONS OF THE 17th CENTURY
1-1:30 p.m.: STUDENT POSTER SESSIONS
Student posters will be displayed in the Alumnae House Gallery
Co-Chairs: Mary Beth Allen (University of Connecticut) & Sara Harvey (University of Victoria)
● Rose Pruiksma (University of New Hampshire), Imagined Soundscapes in French Ballet Livrets
3:15-4:45 p.m.: TEACHING HISTORY THROUGH THEATRE
Co-Chairs: Camille Leclère-Gregory (Bryn Mawr College) & Anna Rosensweig (University of Rochester)
● Deborah Steinberger (University of Delaware), Staging the French Revolution
5- 6:30 p.m.: CLOSED WORKS-IN-PROGRESS WORKSHOPS I (Locations TBA)
Co-Organizers: Katherine Dauge-Roth (Bowdoin College) & Jean Leclerc (Western University)
● Mary Beth Allen (University of Connecticut)
● Stéphanie Beauval (University of Chicago)
● Laura Burch (College of Wooster)
● Caitlin Dahl (University of Tennessee)
● Anna Klosowska (Miami University)
● Ann Delehanty (Reed College)
● Maria Flynn (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
● Ellen Welch (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
● Toby Wikström (University of Iceland)
Representations and Knowledge:
● Therese Banks (Middlebury College)
● Matthew Senior (Oberlin College)
Saturday, 8 November - Neilson Library Browsing Room 8:30-9 a.m.: Light Breakfast
● Jeffrey N. Peters (University of Kentucky), The Air in Scudéry’s “De l’air galant”
10:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: CLOSED SESSIONS (Locations TBA)
Works-in-Progress Workshops II
(For a list of participants, go to page 5)
12:30-2 p.m.: Business Lunch / General Assembly (Open to all members)
2:15-3:45: ORALITIES AND ORAL TRADITIONS
Co-Chairs: Therese Banks (Middlebury College) & Michael Meere (Wesleyan University)
4-5:30 p.m.: POWER, JUSTICE AND TYRANNY II