Hot off the Press! ~ JASNA Persuasions On-Line Vol. 34, No. 2 Spring 2014

A special issue of Persuasions On-Line is now available for reading, free to all!

As we usher in spring, we are pleased to announce the release of Persuasions On-Line, Vol. 34, No. 2, a collection of essays on “Teaching Austen and Her Contemporaries.” This issue, which is freely accessible on our website, furthers JASNA’s commitment to fostering the study and appreciation of Jane Austen’s works, life, and genius. Relatively little has been published on teaching Jane Austen, and the articles in this edition expand on that important area of Austen scholarship.

Many thanks to Persuasions Editor Susan Allen Ford and Co-Editors Bridget Draxler (Monmouth College) and Misty Krueger (University of Maine) for developing this unique issue.

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You can view the issue here: http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol34no2/toc.html

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Table of Contents:

Editors’ Note Bridget Draxler, Misty Krueger, and Susan Allen Ford

Discovering Jane Austen in Today’s College Classroom Devoney Looser

Teaching Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey as a “Crossover” Text Misty Krueger

Teaching Two Janes: Austen and West in Dialogue Daniel Schierenbeck

Taking Emma to the Street: Toward a Civic Engagement Model of Austen Pedagogy Danielle Spratt

Teaching to the Resistance: What to Do When Students Dislike Austen Olivera Jokic

“Hastening Together to Perfect Felicity”: Teaching the British Gothic Tradition through Parody and Role-Playing Andrea Rehn

Teaching Jane Austen in Bits and Bytes: Digitizing Undergraduate Archival Research Bridget Draxler

Jane Austen Then and Now: Teaching Georgian Jane in the Jane-Mania Media Age Jodi L. Wyett

Dancing with Jane Austen: History and Practice in the Classroom Cheryl A. Wilson

Contributors’ Syllabi

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c2014 Jane Austen in Vermont; text and images from JASNA.org

3 thoughts on “Hot off the Press! ~ JASNA Persuasions On-Line Vol. 34, No. 2 Spring 2014”

generalgtony | March 24, 2014 at 5:35 pm

Deb, I have read a couple of the above articles now. I am a little concerned at the desperation of some academics to find ways to get their students to engage with Austen.
Knowing the historical background, reading other novels from the same period, making comparisons with novels from different periods to ascertain how the concept of the novel has developed, is all good.

However some of the methods discussed are, to put it bluntly, NOT a study of English literature.

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- Janeite Deb | March 25, 2014 at 8:35 am
  
  Well, you are way ahead of me Tony – I haven’t read any of the essays yet! But even before doing so I know that I will likely disagree with you! – for a better response, you will have to wait for me to do my homework… so stay tuned!
  
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generalgtony | March 25, 2014 at 11:45 am

Ha! ha! I know you won’t agree with me, Deb.

It is concerning that students studying at undergraduate level find it difficult to, engage with a book without being influenced ,primarily by popular culture.
I had an experience with Brideshead Revisted a few years ago. I had preconceptions about it and for some reason thought it was about the upper classes and bound to be frivolous and then I read it. I discovered what a powerful novel it is.
. I think once you actually read the real thing all the other baggage,and preconceptions fall away. Undergraduates should have a wide experience of reading novels by the time they get to university before they start a degree in English literature anyway. To entice them with all sorts of tricks seems rather sad.
The written essay is still paramount. A well written essay engages with people everywhere. It provides viewpoints backed with evidence, balanced and weighted and should always be the gold standard of a good education. Discussion groups, roll play and on-line interactions should be subordinate to the essay. They can inform and help provide ideas but the essay should be the final thing.

Tony

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