What Really Killed Jane Austen?

Day 7: Thirty days of Austen London, England (CNN) — It is a truth universally acknowledged — or nearly so — that Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice, died of a rare illness called Addison’s disease, which robs the body of the ability to make critical hormones. Katherine White doesn’t believe it. White, [...]

Plato’s Pop Culture Problem, and Ours

By ALEXANDER NEHAMAS Scratch the surface of any attack on the popular arts and you will find Plato’s criticisms of poetry. This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on a case that may have the unusual result of establishing a philosophical link between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Plato. The case in question is the 2008 [...]

Bride and Prejudice

Day 6: Thirty days of Austen Ridiculous, but immensely enjoyable. Jane Austen’s most enduringly popular story done as a Bollywood musical comedy, with Martin Henderson as Darcy, a callow American millionaire, and the ravishing Aishwarya Rai as the smartly alert Elizabeth Bennet figure, known here as Lalita, one of four highly nubile daughters living in [...]

The World of Jane Austen seminar 10/2/2010

Day 5: Thirty days of Austen Travel back in time with Jane Austen to 18th-century England and spend a day in the company of England’s favorite woman novelist. Learn about her world and her time, and immerse yourself in the finest novels produced by a woman writing in the English language. This daylong seminar, led [...]

Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice in the Middle East

Day 4: Thirty days of Austen Leave it to Turkish soap operas to conquer hearts and minds. As a result of the popular soaps (which by the way are watched not only by women but entire households), Turkey has carved out a strong place for itself on the Arab street. Thousands of rich Gulf Arabs [...]

Beautiful Minds: Jane Austen’s Heroines

Day 3: Thirty days of Austen Jay McInerney, novelist and ladies’ man, describes his serial crushes on Jane Austen’s heroines – and how they shaped his romantic life. We love Jane Austen through her heroines. Knowing so little about her, we worship her surrogates. And generally speaking, unless we are cranky scholars or celibate critics, [...]

The Great House: Chawton House Library

Day 2: Thirty days of Austen On 14 June 1814 Jane Austen, who was in Chawton, wrote to her sister Cassandra and included the following snippet of family news: “It appeared so likely to be a wet eveng that I went up to the Gt House between 3 & 4, & dawdled away an hour [...]

Roger Ebert: No Longer an Eater, Still a Cook

After losing his lower jaw to cancer, the film critic, who can’t eat, has written a cookbook that is an ode to the rice cooker. In those first few moments at the table, you try not to look at the empty place where his jaw used to be. You wonder how it feels to receive [...]

Elisabeth Lenckos talk at Chicago Humanities Festival

Day 1: Thirty days of Austen Jane Austen and the Body This program is presented in partnership with the Jane Austen Society of North America / Greater Chicago Region. Two Jane Austen aficionados join forces to plumb the many themes, undercurrents, and references to the body in Austen’s novels. Medical doctor Cheryl Kinney diagnoses “Austen-itis” [...]

The Humanities for Love, Not Money

Continuing education programs across the country are finding students increasingly focused on the arts and humanities, whether for new careers or to re-explore great authors. WHEN the renowned educators Mortimer J. Adler and Robert Maynard Hutchins first decided to expand their Great Books course beyond the University of Chicago’s walls, they recruited some of Chicago’s [...]

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