I will also have the chance to address a few of these different public communities, including the Southern Highlands branch of the Jane Austen Society of Australia and participate in numerous other events.

Tonight, I head to Sydney, Australia and will subsequently travel to Auckland, New Zealand. During this trip, I will meet with academics, artists, writers, and activists who are working with and through Austen to engage various publics.

This trip was a tremendous experience and has transformed how I understand Austen’s cultural function and deployment amongst different public communities around the world. I am so very grateful.

In Dubai, I spoke with Laaleen Sukhera, editor of and contributor to Austenistan (2017) and Maán Jalal, novelist and journalist for The National ( https://t.co/y7aU6oxkq6).

In addition, I was fortunate enough to interview the brilliant writer Mahesh Rao, author of Polite Society (2019) and meet with the amazingly talented Mayank Austen Soofi (@thedelhiwalla/www.thedelhiwalla.com).

I also had the distinct pleasure of offering a public lecture on Jane Austen and Masculinity at Ambedkar University and interacting with several undergraduate and graduate students.

Dr. Meenakshi Bharat (Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi), Dr. Ritika Singh (Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi), Dr. Mandakini Dubey (Ashoka University), and Dr. Saikat Majumdar (Ashoka University).

and working with Austen’s narratives to engage diverse public communities. I had the opportunity to speak with and learn from Dr. Usha Mudiganti (Ambedkar University, Delhi), Dr. Sambudha Sen (Shiv Nadar University),

Last month, as part of my work on the Jane Austen and the Future of the Humanities project ( https://t.co/iFGIlHHSNH), I traveled to Delhi and Dubai to meet with writers, artists, and scholars who are engaging with Austen

I am excited to share the first full episode of The Jane Austen and the Future of the Humanities podcast ( https://t.co/enw4HtfkvL). You can access direct links to the episode on my website ( https://t.co/ePvexCgsNC) and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

I am very appreciative of Lehigh’s support of my scholarship and am looking forward to continuing to learn from all the brilliant and gracious individuals who have agreed to speak with me and share their ideas.

You can learn more about my schedule on my website and see my previous and upcoming interviews ( https://t.co/ePvexCh0Da).

Tonight, I depart for India and Dubai where I will interview a series of writers and scholars; I will also have the opportunity to speak at a few universities and events during my travels.

Last month, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Nikki Payne ( https://t.co/0kSdolE2j2) in Maryland and Uzma Jalaluddin ( https://t.co/I4SkLQg6A1) in Ontario.

You can learn more about the podcast here ( https://t.co/hB9UxoOOsG) and listen to the preview episode here ( https://t.co/vSdfTpcSuW) and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

I am deliberately starting this work in 2025, the year in which we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth.

These interviews will help me to generate a podcast, a documentary film, a public-facing monograph, and an edited volume of writings authored by my collaborators.

As part of this work, I will be interviewing writers, artists, academics, and others around the world who work with and through Austen to reach different audiences.

This multiyear, public-facing project is an attempt to leverage the narratives, ideas, and popularity of Jane Austen to communicate the importance and experiences of the humanities to diverse audiences, especially various public audiences.

January 5, 2025 Last spring, I was awarded a Faculty Innovation Grant by the Lehigh University Office of the Vice Provost for Research to support my new project, Jane Austen and the Future of the Humanities( https://t.co/iFGIlHIqDf).