This year marks the 50th anniversary of the double album The Beatles — commonly referred to as The White Album, because of its cover. And Monmouth University in West Long Branch will host an academic symposium on the album, Nov. 8-11.

Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn will be the keynote speaker, and the symposium will have the theme of “Producing an Enigma for the Ages.”
Information is also available a monmouth.edu/MCA/WhiteAlbum.aspx. Potential subjects suggested on the university’s website include “The Beatles and 1960s History,” “The Beatles and Politics,” “The Beatles and the Music Business,” “The Beatles’ Musical Influences” and “The Beatles’ Musical Legacy.”

Released on Nov. 22, 1968, The Beatles was the band’s longest and most musically eclectic album, ranging from the gentle ballads “Julia” and “I Will” to the wildly experimental “Revolution 9.” Some of its best known songs include “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Blackbird,” “Dear Prudence,” “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” and “Birthday.”