Speaker Series: “Translating the Second Sex”

The library is proud to announce the first talk in the Spring 2019 Speaker Series – Explorations in American Culture.

In honor of International Women’s Day two remarkably accomplished women, Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, will be talking about their new, critically-acclaimed English translation of Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex,” sixty years after its initial publication.

Both women are professors, political activists, writers and intellectuals who have worked together on an astonishing variety of projects. They met while attending Douglass College (Rutgers University) in the 1960s and have been friends and working partners ever since. They have both lived in France for over 40 years, teaching literature and American civilization and writing English grammar and other books for French speakers. In the 70s, they both studied and got degrees in linguistics, one at the university of Vincennes, and the other at Nanterre, in Paris. They both had long and active teaching careers at Sciences Po. They’ve published a series of grammar books, “My English is French”; a video series, “Magic English” for children; “Focus on American Democracy” explaining the American system of government, and several French cookbooks on American food. They also pursued many translation projects, from French to English, covering topics such as social science, art, and feminist writings.

This talk is free and open to the public. No reservations necessary, but seating is limited. The Speaker Series has been made possible with the support of the Embassy of the United States of America, France.