Events
Conference Organisers: Elise Hugueny-Léger,St Andrews University (esmh@st-andrews.ac.uk) and Imogen Long Leeds University (i.j.t.long@leeds.ac.uk)
The fact that 2008 marks the centenary of Simone de Beauvoir's birth allows us to reflect on the place of women intellectuals in contemporary French society. Even if we haven't seen the rise of a Beauvoir-like figurehead in the last twenty years who typifies the qualities of the intellectual, nevertheless, women have become increasingly involved in many different areas of intellectual life. Women have intervened in a range of domains: politics, culture, journalism, art, literature in a context which shows the growing interaction between the public and the private.
This conference seeks to establish a picture of the different types of women's interventions since Beauvoir's death; it will also evaluate the role of French and French speaking women intellectuals in France and beyond. Throughout the course of this conference, we will look at the reasons why women intervene in the public arena and by what methods, for example, through the means of political/militant associations, academia as well as more formal politics.
We hope, through this conference, to reappraise the link between engagement and women intellectuals and to consider the role played, and indeed, the role still to be played by women intellectuals in the sphere of culture, art, science, society and politics.
With the kind support of the French Embassy, the ASMCF and The International Journal of Francophone Studies - Taylor and Francis
ASMCF