Announcing the "Jane Austen & the Arts" conference at SUNY Plattsburgh, March 23-25, 2017. Submissions due September 1.

Jane Austen and the Arts (9/1/16; 3/23-25/17) Women’s Studies Group, 1558-1837: ongoing Announcing the "Jane Austen & the Arts" conference at SUNY Plattsburgh, March 23-25, 2017. Submissions due September 1. This interdisciplinary conference explores Jane Austen’s engagement with the arts. A gifted pianist who practiced daily, Austen famously used a metaphor from the arts to describe her writing as consisting of “little bits (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work with a fine brush.” Dance, song, piano-playing, theatricals, recitations, novel-reading, needlework, bonnet-making, landscape design and other arts suffuse Austen’s novels. Her characters either engage in the arts or are judged by their apparent failure to do so. Discussions of the role of the arts in structuring Austen’s novels, shaping her characters, or enriching her life are welcome. All sessions will be plenary sessions. Papers on Friday and Saturday will be given by faculty, but undergraduates and graduate students are invited to submit proposals for dedicated student sessions scheduled for Thursday, March 23. For more information, visit janeaustenandthearts.com. Women’s Studies Group, 1558-1837 The Women’s Studies Group: 1558-1837 is a small, informal multi-disciplinary group formed to promote women’s studies in the early modern period and the long eighteenth century.  The group meets roughly every other month and features two or three speakers.  The papers are followed by very supportive and informal discussion.  The group meets in Stewart House at the University of London, Russell Square, W1, from 2:00 to 5:00 on Saturdays.   Papers on any aspect of women's studies within this chronological period, in any field of scholarly or critical enquiry, are welcome.  Any topic connected with women as subjects, authors, characters etc is relevant.  Male writers writing about women or male historical figures who have a bearing on the condition of women in this period are also a potential topic.  Members and non-members, men and women, are invited to give papers.  Papers can be any length from 20 to 45 minutes, and can be formal or informal, or even work-in-progress.  Moreover, the group welcomes papers that have been given at another venue.