Harvard History | July 21, 2010

William James symposium in Cambridge and New Hampshire

An unusual symposium at Harvard and at James's summer residence this August will remember the life of the psychologist-philosopher.

"In the Footsteps of William James," a symposium on the legacy and uses of James's work, will unfold this summer over the long weekend of August 13-16 in New Hampshire and Cambridge. Timed to honor the centennial of James's death in August 1910, the event's first three days are set in Chocorua, New Hampshire, where the Harvard philosopher/psychologist, whose name graces the Center for the Behavioral Sciences, had a summer retreat. The symposium will feature interactive, informal seminars; prominent scholars will tell stories of James's life and explore the significance of his work. Participants may also take the event's title quite literally by hiking the very trails that James himself trod more than a century ago. Organized by the William James Society and co-sponsored by the Chocorua Community Association and Harvard's Houghton Library, the conference takes an unusual, multitextural approach, embracing not only scholarly speakers but New Hampshire storytellers, folk musicians, period music played by the Chocorua Cornet Band, and tours of James's summer and winter homes. On its last day, the program adjourns to Cambridge for more speakers, lunch at the site of the former James family home, and the opening of a Houghton Library exhibition on James.

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