Following three highly successful retreats in Massachusetts, Radcliffe is expanding its "Intellectual Renewal" weekend seminars across the country, announced Tamar March, dean of Radcliffe Educational Programs. In addition to a fourth Massachusetts seminar to take place on Cape Cod this month, weekends in Scarborough, Maine (June), and Santa Fe, N.M. (October), are scheduled.

Intellectual Renewal weekends are four-day seminars primarily -- but not exclusively -- for women in leadership positions. The weekends are intensive, intellectual experiences designed to return participants to their careers with new ideas and stronger perspectives on their roles as leaders.

"These intensive seminars allow leaders from all walks of life to rediscover classical writing and ideas, and apply them to today's complex world," said March.

Prior to the weekend retreat, each participant is provided with a compilation of classical readings including Plato, Machiavelli, Margaret Mead, M.C. Bateson, Dostoyevsky, Thoreau, and others. Each reading is selected to facilitate reflection and discussion of the moral, ethical, and intellectual dimensions of leadership and social responsibility.

Intellectual Renewal weekends are led by Barbara Hill, former president of Sweet Briar College and a senior fellow at the American Council on Education in the Center for Leadership Development in Washington, D.C.

Weekends also feature well-known guest moderators, such as columnist Ellen Goodman and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman. Laura Liswood, president and CEO of the American Society for Training and Development, will be the guest moderator in Scarborough, Maine, this June.

Depending on location, tuition ranges from $1,500 to $1,700 and includes housing, meals, and reading materials. Leaders of non- profit organizations and others for whom fees may be prohibitive can discuss sliding-scale options with Radcliffe administrators.

In May, Radcliffe will host a reunion on campus for past Intellectual Renewal participants.