Fall Convocation 2009

Rebecca Walker is an award-winning author, speaker and workshop facilitator, known for presenting ideas about race, class, culture, gender, and the evolution of the human family that challenge ideological rigidity.

At Fall Convocation, she will focus on third wave feminism and identity while weaving her personal experiences into the larger discussion of racism, classism, homophobia and social change.

Rebecca's approach is incisive critique combined with heartfelt warmth. One of the original leaders of third wave feminism, Rebecca takes a non-partisan approach to identity politics. Whether exploring multiracial identity, culture and aesthetics, contemporary masculinity, or the divisiveness of contemporary politics, she believes that no matter how you look on the outside, lasting change begins with skillful discernment of social constructs, and openness to the personal truths of others.

Rebecca is the author of a number of books and published in a variety of essays and articles. They include:

To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism - Third Wave primer about the relevance of feminism to generations X and Y

Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self
Bestselling post-civil rights memoir, Winner of the Alex Award from the American Library Association

Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence - Memoir about feminism and motherhood, published to much productive controversy

One Big Happy Family
Described by Kirkus as "eye-opening and sometimes shocking, as it brilliantly explodes traditional notions about the nuclear family."

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12

9:15-10:00: Brunch with the Center for Public Service and Student Convocation Committee in the Alumni House

10:00-10:45: Visit WGS-120 and WGS-300

11:30-1:00: Fall Convocation and book signing in Christ Chapel

1:15-2:30: Lunch for invited guests in the Lyceum

3:15-4:30: Open Forum for all in CUB 260

HISTORY OF FALL CONVOCATION AT GETTYSBURG COLLEGE

Fall Convocation was initiated by a group of Gettysburg College students in the 1980s who were concerned that the campus did not gather often enough to engage in conversations around current issues. Today's Fall Convocation is a continuation of this tradition of students engaging in and advocating for change in our nation and world. Past speakers for Fall Convocation: