Philosophy Symposium Discusses "The Future of Love and Marriage

SALISBURY, MD---Perhaps Donna Reed had the answer: twin beds in the master bedroom. Fifty years ago, Donna embodied the role of women with her home cooking and housekeeping in high heels. Yet eras close. Donna has been escorted to late night TV, dethroned by Mary Tyler Moore whose glorious reign was ended by a gum-smacking mother of three, named Roseanne. In the midst of an ever changing society, now with dual incomes households and same- sex marriages, men and women are striving to define gender roles as we march into the new century.

On Saturday, April 8 in Salisbury State University's Devilbiss Hall Auditorium, two nationally recognized speakers address gender roles and how they promote or inhibit relationships. The topic of this year's 20th annual Philosophy Spring Symposium, "The Future of Love and Marriage," features Sandra Bartky, a distinguished philosopher and feminist from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Bartky is author of Femininity and Domination and editor of Revaluing French Feminism: Critical Essays on Difference, Agency and Culture. She will be joined by Tom Digby, a respected philosophy teacher from Springfield (MA) College and editor of Men Doing Feminism.

An afternoon panel responds to the morning lectures and steers the course of the public discussion. Seated on the panel are Dr. Jim McCallops from SSU's History Department, Dr. Suzanne Osman, a professor of psychology at SSU, and Katie Kirby, a current graduate student in philosophy at Fordham University and an SSU alumnas.

The morning session begins with a continental breakfast at 9 a.m. and talks are scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Lunch is available at the Commons at noon. The afternoon session begins at 12:45 p.m. and concludes around 2:30 p.m.

The public is cordially invited to attend both sessions. The symposium is sponsored by the Philosophical Society and the Philosophy Department at SSU, along with SSU's Fulton School of Liberal Arts and the Bellavance Honors Program.

For more information contact the SSU Philosophy Department at 410-334-3407.