A Community of Minds

With new funds forming a solid foundation, Radcliffe can begin to shape a genuine academic community out of its once-disparate parts.

Key to that vision is centralizing the research centers in Radcliffe Yard, so that scholars from all parts of the Institute can interact on a daily basis.

Discussions are underway regarding a possible move for the Bunting from its distant home on Concord Ave. to Byerly Hall when the undergraduate Office of Admissions and Financial Aid loses its lease in seven years.

Radcliffe leaders also say a single academic theme running through the Institute could give a shape and coherence to research. That theme would change every few years.

For instance, the Institute could adopt the Public Policy Center's focus on "work, family and the community," which has been the center's theme for the past five years, Director Paula Rayman says.

And projects like "Enterprising Women," a traveling exhibition planned by the Schlesinger Library, will give that focus national visibility.

The exhibition, which will travel to museums across the country, will follow a new collecting initiative to increase the library's holdings on the history of women in business.