WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.-Preeminent scholars and critics in the field of photography will gather at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute on Saturday, November 19 for "The Meaning of Photography," a Clark Symposium open to the public. The symposium has been organized by the Clark's Research and Academic Program and is convened by Robin Kelsey of Harvard University and Blake Stimson of the University of California at Davis. It takes place from 9 am to 5:30 pm. Cost is $25, $15 for students and members of the Clark, and free for Williams College students and faculty. For reservations by phone, call 413-458-0524. A registration form and additional information can be found under Research and Academic Program on the Clark's website, www.clarkart.edu.

In recent years interest in the history of photography has grown enormously, and it is now part of many art history and visual studies programs. But are the histories of photographs to be written like the histories of paintings or sculptures or etchings, or, if not, how might we write them? Do different kinds of photographs demand different methods or does this assumption itself already dilute the authority of interpretation and the significance of the object? Should photography even be held apart as a discrete historical category?

This symposium will bring together distinguished historians and critics Jonathan Crary of the University of Columbia, Carol Armstrong of Princeton University, Geoffrey Batchen of the City University of New York, Sally Stein of the University of California at Irvine, Mary Ann Doane of Brown University, Benjamin Buchloh of Harvard University, in addition to Kelsey and Stimson, to tackle these issues and discuss the current state of the history of photography as a field. During the lunch break, attendees will have the chance to view some of the most important objects in the Clark's significant and growing collection of early photographs.

Following the symposium, a reception will be held at the Williams College Museum of Art, affording attendees a chance to view highlights of WCMA's rich and diverse photography collection.