Exeter, NH (March 13, 2007)—Phillips Exeter Academy welcomes Columbia University professor and lecturer of French and Romance Philology, Dr. Priya Wadhera ’90, as its 13th Harkness Fellow to visit on Friday, March 30, 2007. Dr. Wadhera’s visit is a part of the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Harkness teaching.

While on campus, Dr. Wadhera will address the student assembly on the benefits of learning a foreign language in the Harkness model, and visit students and faculty in several foreign language classes. Currently, she serves as a full professor and director of The Maison Francaise of Columbia University, the oldest French cultural center established on an American university campus. Founded in 1913, it is a meeting place for students, scholars, business leaders, policy-makers and all persons seeking a better understanding of the French-speaking world.

Wadhera earned her B.A. in comparative literature and French, and her M.A. in French from Bryn Mawr College. She attended Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris on a fellowship, before earning a M. Phil., and a doctoral degree in French and romance philology from Columbia University. Afterwards, Wadhera joined the foreign language department at Columbia as an instructor of elementary French.

Harkness teaching and learning began 75 years ago with an educational experiment that placed 12 students and one teacher around an oval table, and remains the hallmark of Exeter’s educational philosophy to this day. Philanthropist Edward Harkness, Principal Lewis Perry and a group of senior faculty together transformed almost every aspect of school life and influenced secondary school education throughout the country. The Harkness plan offers a generous opportunity for dialogue and the ability to hear the voice of each student. The Harkness table places students at the center of the learning process and encourages them to learn from one another.

For the rest of the school year, lectures, exhibitions and visits from a distinguished group of Harkness Fellows will be a part of the celebration for this historic Harkness milestone. Many of the featured guests are alumni/ae, who will each spend several days on campus attending classes, meeting with students and faculty, and giving talks.

For more information, please call Rick Schubart at (603) 777-3589 or visit the website's Harkness page. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call (603) 777-4330. For more information on other events, contact the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309, or visit the Academy website at http://www.exeter.edu/.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931. In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds. The diverse student body comes from approximately 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and 26 foreign countries.