Lafayette Women's Voices:
Reconnect • Rejuvenate • Redefine
Friday & Saturday April 7-8, 2006

RECONNECT
The demands of life can impact your ability to stay in touch—with mind, with body, with spirit. Reminisce with old friends. Make new ones. Challenge yourself. Rediscover your interests. Commit to a healthier you.

REJUVENATE
Step away from the daily requirements of life to rediscover your inner self. Get a massage. Take a yoga or exercise class. Practice meditation. Relax. Laugh. Return to your life invigorated and energized.

REDEFINE
Major life events often bring redefinition—student to employee, professional to mom, daughter to parenting parents, loss of a loved one, or caring for someone ill. Learn how others have navigated their life-defining moments. Share your experiences. Create new definitions. Help others do the same.

Return to Lafayette and reconnect with friends, classmates, the College, and yourself during this special weekend for women. Take a class led by a professor. Participate in a book discussion group. Get expert medical advice from leaders in the women’s health field. Learn how to lead a more balanced life. Have fun and experience Lafayette again!

Schedule

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Book Discussion Groups

SYNOPSIS: Lynn Fleming happily abandoned dusty Albuquerque to study art history in New York, but when her younger brother disappears she reluctantly answers their mother's summons and returns home. Although she soon finds Wylie among the eco-warriors for whom he's a philosopher king, she begins to realize how much else is still missing. Her memories of her late cherished father are compromised by her mother's relationship with a married man. And her fascination with two paintings her father left behind leads her to question everything she'd believed about her parents' marriage and, by extension, her own behavior. Meanwhile, her attempt to regain Wylie's affection is unsettled by her affair with one of his cohorts, even as the pranks they play -- in order to protect the landscape they see being violated all around them -- grow increasingly serious and then spiral out of control, putting everyone at risk.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Facilitated by Lois Hein P'96

SYNOPSIS: Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood -- the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers -- Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah -- the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that are to sustain her through a damaged youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate, immediate connection.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Facilitated by Diane Jakacki '86

SYNOPSIS: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Thus memorably begins Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of the world's most popular novels. Pride and Prejudice—Austen's own “darling child”—tells the story of fiercely independent Elizabeth Bennet, one of five sisters who must marry rich, as she confounds the arrogant, wealthy Mr. Darcy. What ensues is one of the most delightful and engrossingly readable courtships known to literature, written by a precocious Austen when she was just 21 years old. Humorous and profound, and filled with highly entertaining dialogue, this witty comedy of manners dips and turns through drawing-rooms and plots to reach an immensely satisfying finale.

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Presenters

Sandra Jarva Weiss - Already a healthcare attorney and mother of two, Sandra has now added the role of wife of a college president. She will share her path before Lafayette and what the transition to this community has meant for her.

President Daniel H. Weiss – On July 1, 2005 President Dan Weiss joined the Lafayette community as its 16th president. Previously he served in various roles at Johns Hopkins University ending as the dean of their Kreiger School of Arts and Sciences. Outside of academia Dan served as a consultant with Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc.

Lafayette Faculty
Susan Averett, Professor and Head of Business and Economics
Debbie Byrd, Associate Professor of English
Nina Gilbert, Director of Choral Activities and Music
Wendy Hill, Rappolt Professor and Chair of Neuroscience
Liz McMahon, Professor of Mathematics
Alix Ohlin, Assistant Professor of English
Robin Rinehart, Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Suzanne Westfall, Professor and Head of English

Workshop Presenters
Fran Derhammer, Lehigh Valley Hospital
Lois Hein P'96
Diane Jakacki '86
Sandy Kazinski '85
Lehigh Valley Hospital Staff
Anne Matlack '85
Courtney Matthews '91
Ellen Weiler '83

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Conference Highlights

• Expand your mind—Lafayette’s faculty will remind us what it is like to be a student again with a variety of master classes ranging across subject areas.
• Sandra Jarva Weiss—Already a healthcare attorney and mother of two, Sandra has now added the role of wife of a college president. She will share her path before Lafayette and what the transition to this community has meant for her.
• Reconnect with your mentor at a casual social on Friday night with faculty who helped shape our Lafayette experiences.
• Get Healthy—Leading physicians will offer advice on nutrition and exercise, keeping your heart healthy, menopause, and other women’s medical topics.
• Marcia Bloom Bernicat ’75—Having lived in India, Malawi, Barbados, and France, among others places, she will speak on the impact of her journeys and her perspective on women’s roles across cultures. Marcia is a mother of two sons and a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State.
• Join a book discussion on:
  The Missing Person by Alix Ohlin, Lafayette assistant professor of English
  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• Improve your life—Tool-oriented sessions on managing your finances, parenting your parents, using negotiation and communication, and nourishing yourself.
• Hear an update on Lafayette from President Dan Weiss.
• Ellen Weiler ’83—Entertain with Ellen, a quarter finalist in a Master Chef competition, and learn recipes, plating techniques, and food and wine pairings.
• Enhance your life balance by individualizing your own circle of wellness or participating in yoga, massages, meditation, and more.
• Become business savvy—Women entrepreneurs share their experiences and provide information on what to consider when starting your own business.
• Anne Matlack ’85—President of Thrive LLC and a life coach, Ann will facilitate workshops on leading a balanced life, and life after difficult times.

Our 2004 conference participants had this to say about their experiences:

“Fun, inclusive, and inspiring!”

“I loved having intelligent, adult discussions again!”

“Thank you—a re-energizing, reinvigorating, and grounding time.”

“One of Lafayette’s many strengths is the commitment of its community to enhancing the Lafayette Experience . . . the attendees, especially myself, will use what they learned as a springboard to be more proactive in their lives.”

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Registration Information

To register, complete the registration form. Complete forms and payments can be mailed to Women’s Voices, Council of Lafayette Women, 307 Markle Hall, Easton, PA 18042 or faxed to (610) 330-5707 (for credit card registration only). You will receive a confirmation letter upon receipt of your registration.

Please go to the conference registration table upon arrival on campus. The locations are as follows:
Friday, April 7 - Acopian Engineering Center lobby (formerly Alumni Hall of Engineering), noon – 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 8 – Hugel Science Center lobby (formerly Olin Hall), 8 – 10:30 a.m.

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Accommodations

Directions

Parking

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