In this last event in Jane Austen & Co's Race and the Regency series, acclaimed Austen scholar Devoney Looser (Arizona State University) will explore the significance and extent of the extended Austen family's connection to the West Indian slave trade. This event will be followed by a public Q&A.

Reading Austen with today's secondary and undergraduate students brings both challenges and opportunities. In this talk, Juliette Wells (Goucher College) suggests practical strategies for engaging diverse young readers with Austen and encouraging productive conversations about hot-button topics. Perfect for anyone interesting in bringing Austen to new audiences and younger generations. A Q&A will follow the talk.

Gretchen Gerzina (University of Massachusetts Amherst) talks about the representations and realities of black women living during the nineteenth century.

In the sixth event of our Race and the Regency series, Damianne Scott will be talking about the representation of Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton and how diverse casting decisions can make an important impact in Jane Austen adaptations and other depictions of the Regency. This event will last about 90 minutes. A public Q&A will follow the talk.

Jane Austen & Co. is pleased to welcome Lyndon Dominique (Lehigh University) for the fifth talk in our Race and the Regency series. Professor Dominique will be discussing the 1808 novel, The Woman of Colour. According to Broadview Press, this anonymously published novel “is a unique literary account of a black heiress’ life immediately after the abolition of the British slave trade. Olivia Fairfield, the biracial heroine and orphaned daughter of a slaveholder, must travel from Jamaica to England, and as a condition of her father’s will either marry her Caucasian first cousin or become dependent on his mercenary elder brother and sister-in-law. As Olivia decides between these two conflicting possibilities, her letters recount her impressions of Britain and its inhabitants as only a black woman could record them.” You do not need to read the book to participate in this lecture, but if you like to purchase a copy, modern print and e-book editions are available through Broadview Press and major online booksellers. A public Q&A will follow the talk.

Jane Austen & Co. presents our fourth event in our "Race and the Regency" series. In this talk by Professor Robert Morrison (Queen's University), we will explore some of the most important Black women and men of the Regency era, including Mary Prince, Robert Wedderburn, Paul Cuffe, and Thomas Molyneaux. It will examine their role in contemporary debates about slavery, emancipation, protest movements, and human rights, as well as the ways in which Bridgerton both illuminates and ignores these debates. An audience Q&A will follow the talk.

Jane Austen & Co. presents the third event in our Spring 2021 series, "Race and the Regency." Professor Patricia A. Matthew (Montclair State University) will discuss the links between the abolition movement, sugar, and the depiction of Black women in the Regency period. This talk will be followed by an audience Q&A.

A chat with Ibi Zoboi, author of "Pride" (2018), a contemporary YA remix of "Pride and Prejudice" that is set to be adapted into an HBO series.

Professor Danielle Christmas (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) will discuss the historical connection between the Mansfield decision and Jane Austen's novel, "Mansfield Park." The first in Jane Austen & Co.'s "Race in the Regency" series.