Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial

On October 10-12, CELIA, an Ohio Center of Excellence that fosters collaborative education, leadership and innovation in the arts, hosted a celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice. The event, titled Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial, featured public lectures by internationally-recognized experts on Jane Austen and British literature from universities around the country. These included Laura Vorachek from the University of Dayton, Sean Silver from the University of Michigan, James Mulholland from North Carolina State, Marilyn Francus from West Virginia University, Robert Markley from the University of Illinois, Devoney Looser from Arizona State University, and Janine Barchas from the University of Texas-Austin.

In addition to Devoney Looser’s keynote lecture that resembled a TED-Talk for die-hard Jane Austen fans,  guests enjoyed The Elizabeth Harden Plenary Lecture, featuring Janine Barchas,"What Jane Saw: An Example in Digital Humanities."  Barchas’s innovative website, whatjanesaw.org, carefully reconstructs an art exhibit that we know Jane Austen herself attended in 1813. A groundbreaking project in the digital humanities, this website reveals to us not only what the art exhibit looked like, but also how its placement of portraits of famous people, such as actresses and royalty, craftily cultivated Regency celebrity gossip that Barchas believes influenced Austen’s novels.

CELIA’s celebration also featured research presentations on topics such as Jane Austen and globalism, and Pride and Prejudice in the twenty-first century. Those attending the event enjoyed an English tea service, a staged reading of a theatrical adaptation of Austen’s novel, a display of posters highlighting Wright State’s undergraduate student research, and an exhibit sponsored by Wright State University Bookstore. The event concluded with an elegant Regency Ball at Memorial Hall in downtown Dayton. Hosted by local re-enactors and members of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Tom and Toni Tumbusch, the Regency Ball introduced guests to Jane Austen’s world.  They listened to the music Austen enjoyed, learned to dance that she danced, tasted food that she would have loved, played the card games she would have played, and learned more about Regency England from Wright State student-designed informational brochures. 

The event proved to be not only fun, but also both innovative and groundbreaking. Conceived by CELIA’s first fellowship winner, Crystal B. Lake (Assistant Professor, Department of English), Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial sought to bring together undergraduate research, international-experts, and local members of the community interested in the literary arts. Additionally, the event emphasized collaboration between units at Wright State University, encouraging faculty from the Departments of English, Music, History, and Theatre, Dance, and Motion Pictures to work together to develop programming that would enrich Wright State’s educational mission and showcase the research and performance expertise based in the College of Liberal Arts. “I couldn’t have been more thrilled about how the event turned out,” Lake said. “The entire three days proved to be an exciting opportunity for Wright State’s College of Liberal Arts and for CELIA to chart new territory in imagining how innovative research and creative work in the humanities can enrich our mission and communities.” Lake, who recently won Wright State University’s President’s award for Early Career Achievement, also commented on how important CELIA’s new Fellowship program has been to her. “I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to participate in CELIA’s humanities think-tank,” Lake said. “There’s no other Fellowship Program out there quite like this one, and I’m excited to see what CELIA does next.”

Visit CELIA’s website for more updates on this innovative and unique Center of Excellence.