Drawing record crowds, Siting Julia, a day-long symposium hosted by the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard explored three sites of Julia’s life: Post–World War II Paris; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and national television.

Rather than regale you with a play-by-play of the day, I’ll instead share the four most wonderful things about Julia that I took from this symposium:

Her Personality 

Keynote speaker Laura Shapiro (author of Perfection Salad, Something from the Oven, and Julia Child) recounted what Paul Child called “Juliafication” — the phenomenon by which Julia’s warmth and attention lit up those around her. While many speakers discussed Julia’s caring, generosity, and sense of humor, Dana Polan (professor of Cinema Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and author of Julia Child’s “The French Chef”) credits Julia’s personality for her success on television. And Lisa Abend, TIME correspondent in Spain, argues that we have Julia to thank for transforming food into entertainment.

Her Love of Learning

Julia was the eternal student. Alex Prud’homme (Julia’s grandnephew and coauthor with her of My Life in France) spoke of how even at the age of 91, Julia was planning her next project — from learning to butcher in Chicago to teaching children to cook. He also discussed how seriously Julia approached recipe writing; each recipe is a short story full of comfort and wisdom.

Michela Larson, a longtime restaurateur in Cambridge and Boston, told of Julia counseling one of her cooks, saying one does not have to go to culinary school to learn about food. The experience of cooking, working with food and under noted chefs, carried just as much weight with her. Julia’s own commitment to learning influenced her belief that cooking can be taught, a tenet central to her books and television shows.

As a student in the MLA in Gastronomy Program, I am indebted to Julia’s lifelong love of learning as it helped to spawn the program in which I now study.

Her Moderate Approach to Food

While Julia is often heralded for her focus on fresh ingredients, her ideas on food were far ranging, often diverging from those currently endorsed by foodies and alternative food movement advocates. For example, she found organic food elitist, thought McDonald’s French fries and Burger King hamburgers were the best, argued we ought not to worry about GMOs, and supported MSG. One of her favorite snacks, Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers, was served at the reception following the symposium. Julia did not see the point in vegetarianism, and according to Jane Thompson, who equipped Julia Child’s television kitchen and came to know her well, Julia once told her hair dresser,

I’m a card carrying carnivore. I eat anything and everything in moderation.

We would all do well to live by her mantra of moderation and openness to new experiences.

Her Contributions to Women’s Issues

Keynote speaker Laura Shapiro, argued that Julia Child taught Americans to not belittle women in their domestic roles, and that her legacy is how she created a new way to be a woman that included a kitchen. Dorothy Shore Zinberg, an astoundingly well-rounded academic who was one of Julia’s Cambridge friends and neighbors, also discussed Julia’s contributions to women’s issues. She contended that Cambridge was a ripe environment for Julia the person, Mastering the Art of French Cooking the book, and The French Chef the TV show because Cambridge was a town full of unemployed and underemployed women with PhDs who cooked and loved food as an intellectual outlet.

Julia Child began cooking on television the same year that Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique. Both women stand as key figures engaging in women’s issues, albeit in different ways. As artifacts of an amazing woman, Julia Child’s books, papers, and television shows now tell us the story of a woman who found her destiny and chose to fulfill it in the kitchen. So often credited with elevating food in America, Julia also elevated cooking and the women who do it.

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Can’t get enough Julia? Here’s more:

• YouTube videos of the Siting Julia symposium will soon be available on the event website.
  

  Image from the Schlesinger Library

• Visit the Siting Julia: A Julia Child Centenary Exhibit on view in the Schlesinger Library’s from Friday, September 21, 2012 through Friday, March 22, 2013.
  • You can also explore the Papers of Julia Child online here.

• The Boston University Metropolitan College Programs in Food, Wine & the Arts will celebrate Julia Child’s centenary over the course of two festive evenings – Tuesday, October 2 and Wednesday, November 7. Visit the program website for further details.

• Mark your calendars for Harold McGee’s October 30 lecture, “Julia Child and Kitchen Science in Cambridge.”