Features

  • An illustration  depcits a hauntiong image of a figue wading in a lake.

    The Matter of Things

    Winter 2024

    Feature Story

    A novelist contemplates the beauty and impermanence of this world as she works to absorb the loss her of father.

  • An Artist Comes Home

    Winter 2024

    Feature Story

    Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And —the first retrospective of the acclaimed conceptual artist, cultural critic, and Wellesley ’55 alumna—is the debut exhibition at the newly reopened Davis Museum.

  • Illustration of a tree on a blue background with an incomplete rendering of a sapling growing in front of it

    AI’s Unanswered Questions

    Winter 2024

    Feature Story

    Wellesley faculty and alumnae are on the forefront of shaping how we coexist with AI—a space that has quickly become ripe for innovation, regulation, and deep thinking on ethics.

Also in this Issue

  • Alumnae Memorials

    Winter 2024

    Class Notes: In Memoriam

    Tributes to alumnae from friends and family

  • A photo portrait of poet and professor David Ferry in front of a crowded bookcase

    David Ferry

    Winter 2024

    Class Notes: In Memoriam

    David Ferry, Sophie Chantal Hart Professor Emeritus of English, died on Nov. 5, 2023, at 99. He taught at Wellesley from 1952 to 1989. David was an exemplary scholar and teacher, a giant of our faculty, a translator and poet of the highest order, and a major figure in American literature.

  • A photo portrait of Hoi-Fei Mok '10

    Blending Passions

    Winter 2024

    Class Notes: Profile

    Hoi-Fei Mok ’10 once saw themselves as someone with three separate interests: environmental science, social justice, and art. But now, Hoi-Fei, a self-described “artist, community organizer, and climate policy practitioner,” has found ways to bring these areas together.

  • A photo of Tonja Adair '92

    Design With Community in Mind

    Winter 2024

    Class Notes: Profile

    Tonja Adair ’92 is co-founder of Splice Design, an architecture firm with offices in New York City and Atlanta. During her time at the College, where she majored in architecture, Tonja learned the importance of active involvement in the community.

  • A portrait of Judy Rousuck '72 holding a small dog

    Canine Comforters

    Winter 2024

    Class Notes: Profile

    Please Write, the debut novel of Judy Rousuck ’72, is a daring feat of storytelling, consisting of letters exchanged between two dogs and “Grandma Vivienne,” the alter ego of a recently widowed artist.

  • A photo of Connie Whitman Baher '63 with her late mother

    A Daughter’s Care

    Winter 2024

    Class Notes: Profile

    For 13 years, until December 2022, Connie Whitman Baher ’63 coordinated her mother’s care. “For me, anybody who is a care coordinator is a caregiver,” Connie says.

  • Pages & Playlists

    Winter 2024

    New Works

    Recent publications by Wellesley authors

  • The cover of Holiday Country is an illustration depicting a Greek island with the figure of a woman swimming. toward it

    In Brief

    Winter 2024

    New Works

    Thumbnail reviews of new publications from the Wellesley community

  • The cover of The Claims of Life: A Memoir features a photo of Diana Chapman Walsh '66 in alumnae parade whites

    A Life in Leadership

    Winter 2024

    New Works

    At age 12, Wellesley College President Emerita Diana Chapman Walsh ’66 knew she would write a book someday, a beautiful book. That sense of clarity inspired her to write this thoughtful and honest look at her personal history—from childhood, her Wellesley education, marriage and motherhood, through her work as president of the College.

  • Candidate for Alumnae Trustee, 2024–30

    Winter 2024

    WCAA

    Susan Harmon ’67, of Seattle, has been nominated to serve a six-year term as alumnae trustee, from 2024 to 2030, succeeding Grace Toh ’83.

  • Photograph of Galen Stone Tower

    A Plan for the Future

    Winter 2024

    WCAA

    In pursuit of Wellesley College’s mission to provide an excellent liberal arts education to women who will make a difference in the world, the WCAA desires to integrate the organization into Wellesley College, effective as of June 30.

  • Andrea Sequeira, Gordon P. Lang and Althea P. Lang ’26 Professor of Biological Sciences, and Martina Königer, adjunct assistant professor of biological sciences, near some

    Reed All About It

    Winter 2024

    Window on Wellesley

    “The big, ambitious question is to try to understand the fundamental traits related to invasion success. But our more specific, tangible goal was to understand what varieties of phragmites are present on campus.”

  • Photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton ’69

    College Road

    Winter 2024

    Window on Wellesley

    Democracy summit to be held in April; Wellesley to stay test optional for up to five years; free laundry; the College welcomes robot overlords; Todd Nordgren is the new director of LGBTQ+ programs and service

  • Come to the Table

    Winter 2024

    Window on Wellesley

    Founded in 1904 in College Hall, is student-operated café located in the basement of Founders Hall, serving coffee, pastries, and a variety of cleverly named sandwiches.

  • Yoon Sun Lee, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor in American Literature, professor of English; Dan Chiasson, Lorraine C. Wang Professor of English; Martha McNamara, senior lecturer in art; Cord Whitaker, associate professor of English; and Eve Zimmerman, professor of Japanese

    Humanities Reimagined

    Winter 2024

    Window on Wellesley

    In January, the Mellon Foundation announced that it has awarded Wellesley $1.5 million for its proposal, “Transforming Stories, Spaces, Lives: Rethinking Inclusion and Exclusion through the Humanities.”

  • Illustration of a tree made of circles that call to mind the Earth

    World Building

    Winter 2024

    Window on Wellesley

    In November, President Paula A. Johnson announced updates on initiatives enabled by the $50 million joint gift from Lulu Chow Wang ’66 and Susan L. Wagner ’82, the largest in the College’s history, as part...

  • Photograph of Kristine Meader ’21 among the trees on campus, wearing a down jacket and red knit cap, using binoculars to look for birds

    Avian Adventure

    Winter 2024

    Window on Wellesley

    Kristine Meader ’21, a postbaccalaureate fellow with Wellesley’s Paulson Ecology of Place Initiative, enjoyed Friday morning campus bird walks this fall.

  • President Paula Johnson

    The Proof and Power of Our Alumnae

    Winter 2024

    From the President

    We want to integrate the WCAA into the College in a way that will give alumnae greater representation within College leadership, deepen partnerships between them and the College, and create new opportunities for collaboration.

  • Letters to the Editor

    Winter 2024

    Letters to the Editor

    Cover Lovers We were thrilled with the outburst of enthusiasm on social media for our fall cover story featuring Jasmine Guillory ’97 . Below are just a few of the many comments that appeared on...

  • Photo of a computer's CTRL key

    From the Editor

    Winter 2024

    From the Editor

    In December 2001, I was an editorial assistant at MIT Technology Review. I edited class notes, processed invoices, and listened to The Strokes’ album Is This It on repeat.

  • Tragedy in a Big Small Town

    Winter 2024

    Endnote

    I was cooking pasta in my Portland, Maine, apartment late on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 25, after a few hours trying to make progress on a dataset for a story on pharmacies. At 8:29...