Bryn Mawr's annual Family Weekend provides opportunities for parents of current students to learn more about the College through innovative programming, social events, tours, and much more.
Family Weekend 2017 Schedule of Events
Friday, Nov. 3
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Registration in the Campus Center
- Stop by the Information Desk to pick up your nametags, the program and other information for the weekend.
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Academic Classes to Visit (see complete list at Registration)
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Coffee Hour
- Mingle with faculty, staff and students at a much beloved tradition at the College while enjoying morning refreshments. Great Hall.
10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Bryn Mawr and Beyond, sponsored by LILAC
- As the culminating event for the LILAC summer funding recipients, this networking session provides the opportunity for students to share their internship experiences with the Bryn Mawr community. Family members are invited to talk one-on-one with the students to get their perspective on their summer internships. Discover the depth and breadth of internship opportunities. Great Hall.
11 a.m. to noon: Campus Tour — Architecture of the College
- Students from the Growth and Structure of Cities program will highlight the most architecturally and historically significant buildings on campus and will detail the evolution of spaces since the founding of the College. Tour departs from Campus Center Plaza.
Noon to 2 p.m.: Lunch on your own
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Faculty Talks
The faculty talks are modeled after the popular TED talks. In each session, you have any opportunity to hear from two of our faculty, presenting for 15 minutes each, with ample time for questions and answers.
Why Bryn Mawr is Hiring a Specialist in Children's Literature, or, How Professor Schneider Changed Her Mind by Bethany Schneider, Associate Professor of English
This year Bryn Mawr's English Department will be hiring a specialist in Children's and Young Adult Literature. This is an exciting departure for the department, and Professor Schneider will describe how the acquisition of a 15,000 volume, world-class collection of books spanning many centuries spurred us on to this decision, and invite you to share in our excitement about what this field will bring to the college. She will also describe how learning about this field has expanded her own scholarship.
Building Inclusive Classroom Communities in Times of Tension by Alison Cook-Sather, Mary Katharine Woodworth Professor of Education and Director, Teaching and Learning Institute
In the context of an increasingly complex world fraught with a variety of tensions and divisions, how can we create classrooms that support meaningful learning for students who bring a wide range of experiences and perspectives? Drawing on her dual role as professor of education and director of our Teaching and Learning Institute, and on Bryn Mawr students’ and faculty members’ insights gathered through a research project supported by an Arthur Vining Davis Foundations grant, Professor Cook-Sather will talk about how we can build classroom communities that constitute both challenging and supportive learning environments for a diversity of students.
Dalton 300
3:15p.m to 4:15 p.m.: Presentation on Digital Learning
- Learn from our colleagues in Library and Information Technology Services (LITS) about the ways technology is impacting student learning. Dalton 300.
4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.: Reception with President Cassidy and Dean Walters
- Mingle with the President, Dean of the Undergraduate College, members of the faculty and members of the Dean’s office in the Main Lounge of the Campus Center.
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Dinner in the Dining Halls
- Join your student for dinner in Erdman or New Dorm dining hall, compliments of Dining Services. Free to family members; however, tickets are required.
7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Movie Mania: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
- Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. College Hall 224.
7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Shakespeare Performance Troupe presents A Winter's Tale
- Enjoy our student thespian group perform a classic Shakespeare tale. Rhoads Dining Hall.
7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Pulso Latino Showcase and Lessons
- Watch our BiCo Latin Dance Troupe, Pulso Latino, demonstrate their dances and then join in as they give lessons to the audience. Salsa anyone? Campus Center Main Lounge.
7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Art Club Mixer
- Join the Art Club for a hands-on sampling of the crafts taught during our Community Art Nights, which are held weekly in Arnecliffe Studio. Arnecliffe Studio.
7:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m.: Riot Antigone Sitzprobe
- Enjoy a sing through of the score of the upcoming fall theater production, Riot Antigone, prior to starting technical rehearsals. Riot Antigone is a rock ‘n roll, Riot Grrrl inspired response to Sophocles’ Antigone. Hepburn Teaching Theater, Goodhart.
Saturday, Nov. 4
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Registration and Coffee
- Stop by to pick up your nametag and registration packet. Campus Center Main Lounge.
9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.: LILAC Open House
- Come and see what the Leadership, Innovation, and Liberal Arts Center (LILAC) has to offer. Meet the team members from Career & Professional Development and Civic Engagement, and learn about the resources available to your students that will prepare them to become effective, self-aware leaders in their chosen life pursuits. Campus Center 202.
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.: Meditation 101
- Join Associate Dean Michelle Mancini to learn about the benefits of mindfulness meditation. It lowers stress, increase immune system function, improves academic performance. Come discover the efforts to promote regular mindfulness meditation on campus and practice a few forms yourself. Common Room, Goodhart.
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.: Campus Tour — Campus Buildings and Landscape
- Join Director of Facilities Services Nina Bisbee and Associate Director for Grounds Dawn DiGiovanni, on a walking tour of campus. Learn the history behind Bryn Mawr’s iconic Collegiate Gothic buildings and the influence Frederick Law Olmsted and others had on the development of the campus landscape. Tour departs from Campus Center Plaza.
9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.: LILAC Session — Learn by Doing: Internships, Externships, Praxis
- LILAC offers experiential learning opportunities for students within the curriculum and outside the curriculum, during the academic year, on semester breaks and during the summer. In this session you will hear from students who have participated in our Externship Program, in Praxis courses and in the LILAC summer funded internships. The panel will be moderated by Katie Krimmel, Associate Dean of LILAC, and Jennifer Prudencio, Associate Director of Employee Relations and Internships. Campus Center Main Lounge.
10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.: Perspectives from the President: Innovation at Bryn Mawr
- President Cassidy will share stories and examples of curricular and co-curricular innovation at the College. Great Hall.
11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Lunch in Erdman Dining Hall
- Join your student for lunch in Erdman. Free to family members; however tickets are required. If you registered in advance, tickets are in your registration packet. Otherwise, please ask for tickets at registration.
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Offerings to Athena in Great Hall (make a wish for your student)
- Laugh a little while admiring our students’ offerings to Athena, and then consider adding a wish for the Mawrter you love.
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Tours and More (concurrent sessions)
Tours (all tours limited to 20 guests; pre-registration required)
Museum of the American Revolution — Unfortunately, this tour is now FULL.
- Accompany Professor of History Sharon Ullman for a tour of Philadelphia's newest historical entry at the Museum of the American Revolution. Discover how the American Colonists became Revolutionaries and ultimately faced the immense task of creating a nation founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Depart from Pembroke Arch at 1 p.m. Tickets are required prior to boarding the bus.
Barnes Foundation — Unfortunately, this tour is now FULL.
- Accompany Adjunct Professor at Tyler School of Art, Amy Haavick-Mackinnon (Ph.D. ’13) for a visit to the renowned Barnes collection. Dr. Albert Barnes invented the popular antiseptic Argyrol at the beginning of the 20th century, and with his fortune he eventually acquired one of the greatest collections of post-Impressionist art in the world (180 Renoir, 70 Cézanne, 60 Matisse, 50 Picasso, et al.). Basing his educational theory on John Dewey’s philosophy of the everyday experience of beauty, Barnes installed his works of art in unique wall ensembles so as to make visible the universal language of form, color, line, and shape of the cultures of the world from Europe and the Americas to Asia and Africa.
Depart from Pembroke Arch at 1 p.m. Tickets are required prior to boarding the bus.
— and More
1 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Games with the Bryn Mawr Owls
- Join BMC's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for an afternoon of fun for the whole family! The event will feature fun games, led by athletes from all 12 of our varsity sports, and one of a kind BMC athletics prizes. Bern Schwartz.
1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. (concurrent sessions)
Faculty Talks
The faculty talks are modeled after the popular TED talks. In each session, you have any opportunity to hear from two of our faculty, presenting for 15 minutes each, with ample time for questions and answers.
Sex in the Citadel of Science by Michelle Francl, Professor of Chemistry
Close your eyes and imagine a scientist. Did you see a guy in a white lab coat with wild hair? Most people do. Why do we have a hard time seeing women as scientists? How do our images of scientists and science subtly affect the conversation around critical issues, from climate change to genetic modification?
Where's All the Soft Evidence? by Pedro Marenco, Associate Professor of Geology
Associate Professor Pedro Marenco is part of an international team of scientists looking for exceptional preservation of Earth's earliest animals in Mongolia. To date, the first animals to evolve are known only from simple impressions left on the seafloor after the animals died. Recently-discovered fossils of soft algae in ~600 million year old rocks provide hope of finding the earliest animal fossils with exceptional preservation of soft tissues, giving us more insight into their biology.
Dalton 300
Student Life — Choosing a Major
- Join Dean Judy Balthazar and members of the senior class for a discussion of the roles that the major might play in a student's program and how out-of-classroom opportunities might enhance academic work. Students will reflect on their experiences choosing a major, finding complementary internships and volunteer opportunities, and planning for life after graduation. Carpenter 21.
Student Life — Study Abroad
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Join Assistant Dean and Director of International Education Theresa Cann and students for a panel presentation of the many exciting opportunities for studying abroad. Students will speak about how their experiences studying outside the United States shaped their academic, personal and professional goals. College Hall 110.
2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.: (concurrent sessions)
Faculty Talks
The faculty talks are modeled after the popular TED talks. In each session, you have any opportunity to hear from two of our faculty, presenting for 15 minutes each, with ample time for questions and answers.
#Mathematics4Life by Erica Graham '04, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Life is the ability to grow or change, science is the study of the natural world via experiment and observation, and mathematics encompasses the science of change. Professor Graham will discuss the connection between mathematics and the life sciences, with an emphasis on health and disease.
Art Worlds of South Asian Cloth by Sylvia Houghteling, Assistant Professor of History of Art
While the current trend in "global art history" is to study the trade in commodities like textiles to the far-flung reaches of the world, this talk reveals that we can learn rich lessons — historical, economic, literary, and aesthetic — by looking up close at the early modern circulation of fabrics throughout South Asia's diverse regions.
Dalton 300
Student Life — Preparing for Careers in the Health Professions
- Join Assistant Deans Gail Glicksman and Raima Evan for information about how students prepare for careers in the health professions and the assistance provided by the college. Carpenter 21.
4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.: (concurrent sessions)
Demonstration Cooking and Presentation
- Come taste and learn some of the secrets of Bryn Mawr College's award-winning dining program. A chef will be on hand to present some signature items, answer questions and excite your taste buds with a tasting. Erdman Dining Hall.
Campus Tour —Traditions at Bryn Mawr
- Student guides from the Admissions office will show you the spaces and places on campus used for the major traditions of the College. Tour departs from Campus Center Plaza.
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: Dinner on the Main Line — see suggestions at Registration
7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Shakespeare Performance Troupe presents A Winter's Tale
- Enjoy our student thespian group performing a classic Shakespeare tale. Rhoads Dining Hall.
7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Student Ensembles Concert
- Enjoy our a cappella groups and chamber music groups in an evening of music. Great Hall.
Sunday, Nov. 5
9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.: Labyrinth Walk
- Walking the labyrinth quiets the mind and grounds the body. It prompts us to slow down as we follow the path as it turns in and out, toward and away from the Center. Jennifer Walters, Dean of the Undergraduate College, will offer a brief introduction and guide to the labyrinth as a tool for reflection. Labryrinth, adjacent to Rhoads Residence Hall.
10 a.m. to Noon: Brunch at New Dorm Dining Hall
Close out the weekend with your student with a delicious brunch in New Dorm Dining Hall. Reservations are required and the cost is $14 per family member; no charge for your student if on the meal plan. There is continuous seating from 10 a.m. to noon. New Dorm Dining Hall.
Noon to 1 p.m.: Flash Sale at the Bookshop
- Enjoy a discount based on your student’s class year at Bryn Mawr — a great way to conclude your weekend at the College!
A Few Other Things to Do
During your free time, you could ...
- Visit the Perry Garden at the site of the former Perry House
- Enjoy the farmer’s market in the town of Bryn Mawr on Saturday morning
- Explore the exhibition in the Class of 1912 Rare Book Room in Canaday Library: Beyond Boundaries: Feminine Forms
- Maintain your exercise routine at the Fitness Center in Schwartz Gymnasium