New Radcliffe Lecture Series To Be Broadcast by Public Radio

A new lecture series run by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study will be broadcast next month by at least 20 public radio affiliates across the country. Using satellite technology to transmit audio recordings, noncommercial stations from California to Mississippi will provide listeners an opportunity to hear six lectures sponsored by the Radcliffe Seminars and Radcliffe’s Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies.

The series, titled “Feminisms and the Practice of Democracy,” features lectures by prominent public intellectuals including Harvard Law School professor Lani Guinier and Brandeis sociologist Dessima Williams, among others.

“Our partnership with the Public Radio Satellite System will allow people all over the country to hear some of today’s leading public intellectuals,” said Laura Roskos, director of the program. “While many universities are pursuing distance learning on the Internet, we’re teaming up with existing radio stations to capture thousands of listeners in a wide variety of media markets.”

Some of the affiliates that will broadcast the series include KPFK in Los Angeles, WFSU in Tallahassee, and WNED in Buffalo. So far, 20 radio stations have committed to broadcasting the series. Where these stations are affiliated with universities, like WMEB in Orono, Maine, faculty are planning to use the lectures to teach relevant courses. Other stations plan to wrap local programming, including call-in segments, around the lectures.

Established in 1992, Radcliffe’s Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies brings together faculty and graduate students from six Boston-area colleges and universities to advance women’s studies through team-taught, interdisciplinary seminars held at the Radcliffe Institute.

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is a scholarly community where individuals pursue advanced work across a wide range of academic disciplines, professions, and creative arts. Within this broad purpose, the Radcliffe Institute sustains a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender, and society.