Though we weren’t able to meet in-person for JASP this year, our faculty, graduates, and undergraduate students at UNC are keeping up the scholarship and excitement that are hallmarks of our programming. Led by Dr. Inger Brodey, undergraduate students in ENGL 235: Studies in Jane Austen prepared presentations on specific aspects of Jane Austen’s works and world. We’ve curated them here on our blog, in the hopes that they make the months until our program next June seem just a little shorter.
The third of four posts in our Summer Scholars Presentation Series, this installment features three presentations on Illness, Hospitality, and Letters (respectively) in Jane Austen’s novels and time, with additional Q&A from Graduate Research Consultant Anne Fertig.
A recurring theme in Jane Austen’s life and novels, illnesses often reveal much about the temperaments of her characters. UNC undergraduate Lauren Greenspahn goes a step further in her presentation, considering the differences between feigned and real illnesses, and their effects on Austen’s heroines.
Digging into the social norms and customs surrounding house visits in the regency era, UNC undergraduate Jacob Thomas contemplates the relationships between reputation and the length of a visit in Austen’s novels.
Comparing the writing styles of different male characters in Austen’s novels, this presentation from UNC undergraduate Khaki Loughran shows that you can tell a lot more than someone’s occupation from their handwriting.