Symposium explores evolving roles of women in America

February 27, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Professor Stephanie Coontz will visit the University of Florida March 13 for a symposium titled “The Feminine Mystique at 50,” focusing on her groundbreaking research into the history of family policy and women’s activism in America.

She will discuss her book, the highly acclaimed “A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s,” in a 2:30 p.m. roundtable discussion in Ustler Hall atrium and during a public lecture at 6 p.m. in Pugh Hall titled “Madmen, Working Girls, and Desperate Housewives: Women, Men and Marriage in 1963 and 2013.” The evening event will also include a reception and book signing. Parking is free.

Coontz is a professor of history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

At 1 p.m. March 8, Coontz will be featured on WUFT 89.1’s weekly book program, “Conner Calling,” for a live, call-in discussion of her work. Contact the radio show at 352-392-8989 or e-mail fmcalling@wuft.org.

This symposium is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research. It is co-sponsored by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, the Department of English, Philip Wegner, Marston-Milbauer Eminent Scholar Chair, the George A. Smathers Library, the Journal of Family Issues, and Gainesville Women’s Liberation.

For information about this event or the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, please call 352-392-7168, contact Tamarra Jenkins at tamjenk04@gmail.com and visit http://oral.history.ufl.edu/.