The event, sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, is meant to foster discussion among graduate students of Romance studies from all over North America and provide them with a forum for presenting their research. A selection of the proceedings will be published in the department's graduate student academic journal Romance Review .
The conference begins at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, March 14 in the Thompson Room of Burns Library, with welcoming remarks by Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Patricia DeLeeuw and graduate student Daniel O'Sullivan, editor of Romance Review . Graduate students Cristiana Fordyce, Kinsley Hyland and Denise O'Malley will then lead a roundtable discussion on "Confession in the Middle Ages." At 4:30 p.m., Richard Kearney, a professor of philosophy at University College Dublin, will deliver the keynote address "Ethics and Narrative."
A concert of medieval vernacular song, performed by DuoLiveOak, will conclude the first day. It will take place at 8 p.m. in St. Mary's Chapel.
The second day of the conference will feature a series of discussions and plenary sessions focused on specific areas of Romance studies, such as French studies, Hispanic studies, and medieval Europe and Islam. These sessions - which will be held in Fulton Hall beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at about 5:15 p.m. - will spotlight work by graduate students from Boston College and other institutions.
All events are open to the public and free of charge.
- Sean Smith