Themes for the Year
Commemorating 100 Years of Women invited many conversations. During academic year 2018-19, William & Mary explored many of the issues raised by the historic transformation from same-sex higher education to co-education.
- the character strengths, political coalitions, and historical contingencies that permit people to overcome cultural resistance and transform institutions;
- the challenges facing women (and others) who don't fit prevailing social norms;
- evolving ideas about women's bodies, women's brains, women's voices, women's art, and women's virtues;
- evolving definitions of "woman," "man," "family," "autonomy," "authenticity," and "power."
- the emergence of women in – and the impact of women on – the natural sciences, social sciences and computational sciences;
- the lived experience of coeducation: living, learning, working, and thriving in an intense, diverse academic community; and
- the impact of women students on William & Mary as an intellectual, social, architectural, and spiritual home.
