Nearly 400 people are expected to attend the “Buddhist Women’s Conference: Living the Dharma,” to be held at DePaul University March 11, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Room 120.

The conference opens with registration at 8 a.m. The keynote speech, “The Dharma of Gender,” by Rita Gross, professor emeritus of religion at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, will be given at 9 a.m. Gross, the author of “Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis and Reconstruction of Buddhism,” seeks to answer such questions in her talk as: What went wrong with the visions of early feminism? Can Buddhist thought and practice help?

After Gross’s lecture, there will be 13 workshops on a variety of topics, including interfaith dialogue, anger, leadership, activism, haiku and yoga, as well as an afternoon plenary panel discussion from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The panel features Khenmo Drolma, abbess of Vajra Dakini Nunnery in Vermont; the Venerable Sudhamma Bhikkhuni, abbess of the Carolina Buddhist Vihara in North Carolina; and the Rev. Kyoki Roberts, director of the Zen Center of Pittsburgh. The conference will end with a closing ceremony from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Men and women interested in Buddhism are invited to attend the conference. The registration fee is $80 and includes lunch if registration is completed prior to March 10. Students and clergy are charged $40 for registration. For more information, including registration details, go to the conference Web site: www.dharmawomen.org .

The conference is jointly sponsored by the Buddhist Council of the Midwest and DePaul’s departments of philosophy and religious studies, the women’s and gender studies program, University Ministry and the Women’s Center.