Pen, Power, and Prophecy: A Symposium on the Literary Legacy of Margaret Atwood

To celebrate Margaret Atwood’s visit to Ocean County College, join a gathering of New Jersey scholars and students to explore the intersection of her fiction and our reality.

Panels include insights and reflections on the biological, environmental, and societal outcomes that Atwood examines in her award-winning works. The welcome and all panels will take place at the Grunin Center, Main Stage.

9:30 am Welcome and introduction

9:45 am-10:45 am Panel on Speculative Fiction
Texts include The MaddAddam Trilogy, The Robber Bride, Hag-Seed, Half-Hung Mary
Panelists Include:
Dr. David Bordelon, Professor of English, OCC
Dr. Jen Dellner, Professor of English, OCC
Dr. Christine Kephart, Assistant Professor of Writing, Rutgers University, School of Social Work
Dr. Pamela J. Rader, Professor of English & Director for the Center for Teaching & Learning, Georgian Court University

11:00am-12:00pm Panel on Reproductive and Human Rights – Special focus on The Handmaid’s Tale
Panelists Include:
Dr. Cynthia R. Daniels, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University
Lynn M. Paltrow, JD, Founder of Pregnancy Justice

12:30pm-1:30pm Panel on Environmental Sustainability
Texts include Oryx and Crake
Panelists Include:
Dr. Peter J. Jacques, Rechnitz Family/UCI Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and
Policy Department of Political Science and Sociology, Monmouth University
Dr. Jason Adolf, Endowed Associate Professor of Marine Science, Program Director of Marine and
Environmental Biology and Policy, Monmouth University

2:00pm-2:45pm Student Panel – Celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Handmaid’s Tale
Panelists Include:
Sabrina Watts, President of Sigma Kappa Delta and PTK (OCC Chapters), OCC student
Hunter Dolci, Editor-in-Chief, Seascape, Kean-Ocean student
Tristan Basile, SKD member, OCC student
Frida Islas, PTK member, OCC student

4:00pm-5:30pm A screening of Margaret Atwood: A Word after a Word after a Word is Power (2019) documentary
Gateway Lecture Hall

6:00pm Free screening of Margaret Atwood’s SOLD OUT Moderated Conversation
Gateway Lecture Hall

This event is generously sponsored by W.W. Norton Company and The Ocean County College Foundation.

Please note this event is separate from Margaret Atwood’s Moderated Conversation and she will not be in attendance for the symposium.