The Hispanism Colloquium 2020 will focus on literary and academic exchanges between Spain and the United States during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century by exploring the innovative projects and intellectual dialogue that created and fostered cross-cultural understanding.

Inspired by women's colleges of the Northeast United States, a group of pioneers, including Wellesley's professor of English, Katharine Lee Bates 1880, worked to establish the "International Institute for Girls in Spain" in order to bring a quality education to a long-underserved population.

Harvard University's George Ticknor—an influential scholar, book collector and literary historian—established the first canon for the study of Spanish literature in the United States. Meanwhile, his wife, Anna Eliot Ticknor, and daughter, Anna E. Ticknor, contributed in unique ways to the growing international dialogue.

Among the distinguished writers and academics who came to the United States to live and teach in the wake of the Spanish Civil War, Wellesley's Pedro Salinas and Jorge Guillén produced autobiographical writings that evolved significantly the longer they remained in their adopted home.

Panelists include Anna Caballé (Universitat de Barcelona), José Manuel del Pino (Dartmouth College), Carlos Ramos (Wellesley College) and Margery Resnick (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Generously supported by: Department of Spanish, Women's and Gender Studies Department, and Education Department; and with the collaboration of The Leslie Center for the Humanities at Dartmouth College.

Image Credit: Wellesley College Archives, Library and Technology Services
Image Caption: Four students in a dorm room in College Hall (1881)