April 2017 – Jane Austen & the Arts

My idea of good company…is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.

And what good company we had! SUNY Plattsburgh’s “Jane Austen & the Arts” featured a spectacular group of gifted scholars from around the world, promising students, and engaging members of the general public! The scholarly value of the conference was clear: we heard expert analyses of Austen’s use of portraiture, paintings, landscape design, theater, music, ballet, letter writing, ekphrasis, religion, fashion, reading, Alexander Pope, marginalia, law, and, yes–even artlessness!

On top of that, we experienced brilliant (and memory-making renditions) of musical adaptations of Austen’s novels and listened to skilled discussions of film adaptations of Austen’s novels. By the time I got to the English Country Dance and certainly as I toured the Kent-Delord House Museum, I felt I had walked back in time.

Thanks to all who participated in making “Jane Austen & the Arts” a splendid success, including my devoted colleagues, without whom this conference could not have been as rich.

Below are some photographs of conference highlights. If you have photographs, please send them to me. Mine, for the most part, are limited to the English Country Dance, though I managed to capture Hope Greenberg wearing one of her gorgeous Austen-era gowns.

Let us continue these productive and delightful conversations! Feel free to comment below.

Hope Greenberg discussing and displaying Austen-era fashion.