• Students
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Community
  • QUICK LINKS
  • DIRECTORY
  • APPLY
  • GIVE
  • RENT
Hunter College
About
  • Overview
  • Focus on Campus
  • Mission
  • Strategic Plan
  • Leadership
  • Campus Information
  • Capital Projects & Planning
  • Contact Us
Academics
  • Approach
  • Provost
  • Schools
  • Majors
  • Honors & Scholars
  • Education Abroad
  • Advising
  • Research & Creative Works
  • Course Catalogs
  • Accreditation
Admissions
  • Overview
  • Undergraduate
  • Graduate
  • Course Catalogs
Student Life
  • Clubs & Organizations
  • Residence Life
  • Athletics
  • Dining On Campus
  • Community
  • Events
  • News
  • Libraries
Hunter College Schools
  • Arts & Sciences
  • Education
  • Health Professions
  • Urban Public Health
  • Nursing
  • Silberman School of Social Work
More Schools
  • Hunter College Campus Schools
  • Hunter College Continuing Education
  • Libraries
  • Students
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Community
  • Events
  • News
  • APPLY
  • GIVE
  • RENT
  • QUICK LINKS
  • DIRECTORY
News /

Hunter To Host Sylvia Plath Symposium at Roosevelt House on March 30

March 20, 2023
Share
Sylvia Plath Symposium

Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab announced today that in honor of Women’s History Month, feminist icons Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan will speak during the college’s daylong “Sylvia Plath Symposium” on March 30 at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute.

Steinem and Morgan will reflect on the poet and author at the conference’s evening session, at which award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant (“Wit,” “Angels in America”) will read from Plath’s poetry. In preceding sessions, a stellar roster of poets and scholars will explore Plath’s creative output and meaning for the feminist movement.

“It is a special privilege for Hunter College to host this extraordinary gathering of poets and activists to revisit and reinterpret the work of an inspiring and influential writer,” said President Raab. “Empowering young women has always been Hunter’s mission, and the college has produced some of the nation’s most celebrated female writers and activists — from Audre Lorde to Pauli Murray to Sonia Sanchez — making it a natural home for a gathering of this magnitude.”

Founded in 1870 by the visionary educator Thomas Hunter, Hunter College was a free, all-women public college training teachers. It was only the ninth school of higher education in the nation to accept female applicants. From its inception, Hunter College welcomed women of all races, religions, and backgrounds, and it has produced a long line of accomplished women — including scholars, educators, scientists, entrepreneurs, elected officials, artists, actors, and more.

Sylvia Plath is one of the essential authors of 20th-century American literature. The Bell Jar, her novel, is a coming-of-age classic; Ariel, her final collection of poems, is considered a masterwork; her Collected Poems won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. As eminent a writer as she is, her impact exceeds the literary world. Following her suicide in 1963, her work, championed by Ms. Morgan and Ms. Steinem (who was awarded an honorary degree by Hunter in 2006), became a touchstone in the women’s movement because of its unflinching female voice and its willingness to challenge patriarchal issues. Their interpretation helped expand Plath’s importance until she has become a cultural icon who continues to influence artists as diverse as Sharon Olds and Lana Del Rey.

The year 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of Plath’s death and the 90th anniversary of her birth. The symposium, conceived and produced by Plath biographer and Hunter Professor Paul Alexander, and sponsored by President Raab, will bring together an array of acclaimed authors and scholars to celebrate Plath’s life and work.

Topics to be covered will include an assessment of the importance of Plath’s work, forthcoming books by or about her, and the role her work played in modern feminism. All sessions are free and open to the public. For RSVP information, consult the Roosevelt House website after March 10.

Panelists appearing in three sessions during the day on March 30 include author Susan Cheever; Plath biographer Heather Clark; poet Mark Doty; Plath authority Amanda Golden; Hunter Professors Richard Kaye and Donna Masini; poet Honor Moore; poet Vijay Seshadri, Plath expert Peter K. Steinberg; and poet Eva Salzman.

Session 1: “The Work” (9:30 am – 11 am) will feature Golden, Steinberg, and Seshadri; Session 2: “Influences on Plath” (11:30 AM – 1 pm) will feature Cheever, Clark, and Kaye; and Session 3: “Poets on Plath” (2:30 pm – 4:30 pm) will feature Doty, Masini, Moore, and Salzman. The Keynote Event (6 pm) will begin with a reading of Plath poems by Ms. Chalfant followed by “A Conversation with Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem.”

See More Information
PreviousNext

Office of Communications
for media information and more
student with vaccination
Get Vaccinated

CUNY's vaccination policy requires all students to get vaccinated for all hybrid and in-person classes.

Read CUNY's FAQs

student watching online event
Hunter on Demand

Enjoy virtual lectures, discussions and readings by members of Hunter’s distinguished faculty.

Join Us

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flickr

NEWS SPOTLIGHT

May 18, 2023
Hunter College Art Professor A.K. Burns Wins Berlin Prize

Hunter College Associate Professor of Art A.K. Burns has received the prestigious Berlin Prize.

May 4, 2023
Hunter College Awarded $50,000 for its Work Fighting Anti-Semitism

NYC Councilmembers Dinowitz and Powers lauded the innovative campaign begun by President Jennifer J. Raab.

See All Spotlight News

EVENTS CALENDAR

Jun 1, 2023
What We Need to Know About the Asian American Experience

As Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month comes to an end, please join us for a discussion with leading policymakers and educators ...

Jun 8, 2023
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik - Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in Jewish ...

Please join us as Roosevelt House and Hunter’s Jewish Studies Center co-host a discussion of the new book Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in ...

See All Featured Events

HUNTER

Hunter College
695 Park Ave NY, NY 10065
212-772-4000

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flickr
  • ABOUT
  • ACADEMICS
  • ADMISSIONS
  • EVENTS
  • NEWS
Hunter College Schools
  • Arts & Sciences
  • Education
  • Health Professions
  • Urban Public Health
  • Nursing
  • Silberman School of Social Work
  • Arts & Sciences
  • Education
  • Health Professions
  • Urban Public Health
  • Nursing
  • Silberman School of Social Work
Our Other Schools
  • Hunter College Campus Schools
  • Hunter College Continuing Education
  • Hunter College Campus Schools
  • Hunter College Continuing Education
Hunter College Libraries
More Info
  • Bookstore
  • Contact Us & Feedback
  • Jobs
  • Public Safety
  • Roosevelt House
  • Student Housing
  • Space Rentals
  • Bookstore
  • Contact Us & Feedback
  • Jobs
  • Public Safety
  • Roosevelt House
  • Student Housing
  • Space Rentals
Public Information
  • Annual Security & Fire Safety Report
  • Consumer Information
  • CUNY Tobacco Policy
  • Enough is Enough
  • Focus on Campus
  • Annual Security & Fire Safety Report
  • Consumer Information
  • CUNY Tobacco Policy
  • Enough is Enough
  • Focus on Campus
CUNY
  • © 2023 Hunter College
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Terms