Humanities at Wellesley College

03/25/2026

A reminder that you are warmly invited to the Davis Museum’s symposium, Imagining Museums: The Next 150 Years of Stewarding Art at Wellesley, which begins tomorrow. You can find the full schedule here. The Wellesley French House is co-sponsoring the panel “Malraux in 2175,” which will take place tomorrow, Thursday, March 26, 1-2:30pm, in Tishman Commons. The panel will be in French, though a simultaneous English translation will be offered. We hope to see you there!

02/25/2026

Greetings from the Wellesley College French House! We invite you to join us in welcoming Julian Jackson for his talk entitled “France on Trial: The Case of Philippe Pétain” on Wednesday, March 11th at 5pm in the French House (33 Dover Road, Wellesley, MA) and will be in English.

Julian Jackson is emeritus professor of French History at Queen Mary University of London. He has written widely on the history of twentieth century France ranging from the period of the 1930s to the 1960s. His books have been widely translated and won many literary prizes. His most recent publications are: A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle (2019), France on Trial (2023) and De Gaulle, la France et Le Monde, with Alya Aglan (2025). He is currently writing a study of André Gide.

Again, this event will be held on Wednesday, March 11th at 5pm in the French House (33 Dover Road, Wellesley, MA) and will be in English. Refreshments will be served beforehand. We hope you will join us for what promises to be an engaging talk.

02/18/2026

Warm greetings from the Wellesley College French House. Please join us tomorrow at 5pm at the French House as we celebrate our colleague in the Department of French, Francophone & Italian Studies, Marie-Cécile Ganne, who recently published her debut novel, Scent of a Truffle.

Marie-Cécile Ganne is a French-born writer, painter, and professor whose life bridges two worlds: the ancient rhythms of the Dordogne Valley and the creative hum of Boston’s art scene. Raised in a village nestled between the Lascaux caves and Rocamadour, she grew up painting with her grandmother and hunting truffles with her grandfather on misty winter mornings. Prof. Ganne holds a Ph.D. from Boston University and teaches French language and literature at Wellesley College. When not writing or teaching, she can be found in her SoWa studio in Boston’s South End. Scent of a Truffle (2025) is her debut novel. It won the 2025 People’s Choice Award from The Readable Feast, a program of The Food Voice.

This event will be held tomorrow, Thursday, February 19th at 5pm in the French House (33 Dover Road, Wellesley, MA) and will be in English.

09/09/2025

A beautiful week of sunny weather ahead! We're delighted to have the campus humming with activity after summer break and are looking forward to many events this semester!

05/16/2022

The Department of French & Francophone Studies is very proud and delighted to see our amazing French Major, Dominique Mickiewicz, recognized for her admirable accomplishments.

Dominique Mickiewicz ’22 came to Wellesley thinking she was going to study international relations, and she surprised herself by sticking with it: “I normally changed my mind a lot. I was really ready to explore, but the major was a good fit.”

11/16/2020

Please join us tomorrow, Tuesday, November 17th at 2:30 p.m. EST for Crystal M. Fleming's talk "On The Illegibility Of French Antiblackness: Notes From An African American Critic".
Please register using the link below.

11/09/2020

Please join us on Thursday for Tyler Stovall's talk "White France? Freedom and Race in the Modern Republic" 2:30 pm EST. Please register in advance.

10/26/2020

The Department of Classical Studies is pleased to welcome author, Madeline Miller. Her two best-selling novels offer familiar stories through new perspectives, putting the reader into an intimate dialogue with famous figures from Greek mythology.

In The Song of Achilles, she explored the prideful hero of the Trojan War and his grief for his companion Patroclus, inspired by Homer and later Greek authors who recognized the warriors' romantic relationship. Her second book put the focus on the “witch” who plays a pivotal role in the Odyssey and draws together numerous ancient traditions to tell the full story of the goddess Circe.

Miller will discuss how she transformed these Greco-Roman personas into characters that feel relevant to contemporary readers. She will tell how her own training in classical languages and literature informs her adaptations, and reflect on the enduring significance of mythic narratives.

Register to attend via Zoom:
Topic: Madeline Miller, Talking Back to Myth
Time: Oct 28, 2020 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register to attend via Zoom: https://wellesley.zoom.us/j/91806437441?pwd=cEpXUEY2TjdUZS9IdVFURytjeDRqZz09

11/13/2018

In A Litany for Survival, her first solo show in Boston, Alexandria Smith, assistant professor of art at Wellesley, captures the dual nature of contrasting identities. The exhibition is on view until January 27 at Boston University’s Stone Gallery.

Smith explores the idea that African-Americans live with two coexisting identities: One is in the open, a persona that is plainly seen by the world; the other is unconsciously hidden just below the surface. It is a survival technique for African-Americans navigating the larger culture around them. (The show’s title comes from the poem of the same name by Audre Lorde.)

“I myself am a Gemini,” Smith told The ARTery, WBUR’s art and culture team. “I think a lot about two identities and what that means in terms of how you present yourself in different scenarios to different people. And so, I guess my own personal experience was a huge inspiration subconsciously, without me even realizing it, for this new body of work.”

In her solo exhibition at Boston University, Alexandria Smith, assistant professor of art at Wellesley, explores the idea that African-Americans live with two coexisting identities: one a persona that is plainly seen by the world and the other unconsciously hidden, below the surface.

11/13/2018

The Newhouse Center for the Humanities will be screening Wang Bing's Three Sisters on Thursday evening at Collins Cinema. A discussion with Wang Bing will follow the screening.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1546571008775745/

09/17/2018

We joined a consortium of colleges and universities that promotes the Humanities. More will be posted soon!

The New England Humanities Consortium (NEHC) promotes intellectual collaboration, interdisciplinary exchange, and innovative educational programming.