The Global Jane Austen: Celebrating and Commemorating 250 years of Jane Austen Event
- Time:
- Date:
- 2025-07-10 00:00:00 2025-07-12 00:00:00
- Venue:
- University of Southampton
Event details
Austen scholars and enthusiasts are invited to the University of Southampton, Hampshire, for a conference commemorating Austen’s birth in the year 1775, in the port city that was Jane Austen’s home from 1806-1809.
Conference Programme
We are happy to share the programme which is available for download here:
You can now read the abstracts of papers that will be presented. They appear in alphabetical order of presenter’s surname.
You can also browse the concert programme .
The conference is co-organised by the Universities of Southampton and Stirling.
Austen scholars and enthusiasts are invited to the University of Southampton, Hampshire, for a conference commemorating Austen’s birth in the year 1775.
In 1976, Juliet McMaster introduced an edited collection of essays resulting from a bicentenary birthday celebration for Austen in the following terms:
To celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in October, in Western Canada, is no doubt to be guilty of a comic incongruity. But as though to compensate for the misdemeanor, the papers delivered at the conference have a common and exact focus on period and locale.
50 years after the bicentenary conference at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, the scholarly landscape of Austen studies has changed. Where many monographs and edited collections of essays still maintain an ‘exact focus on period and locale’, research informed by book history, the material, archival and linguistic turns in literary criticism, postcolonial studies and adaptation theory (among others) has flourished in the intervening decades. The ever-expanding corpus of adaptations, sequels and prequels has proven fruitful territory for a consideration of Austen’s reception, in its broadest sense. Austen’s transformations into other languages and into other cultures make her a Global author.
Image: A 1765 de l'Isle globe, showing top view. Collection of the Minnesota Historical Society, with silhouette of 'L'Aimable Jane' (NPG 3181) superimposed. Both images reproduced under the Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 4.0.
Explore Jane Austen's Southampton
The Sarah Siddons Fan Club will be leading a walk that coincides with the Global Jane Austen Conference: 'Jane Austen & Southampton Spa.' The walk includes a visit to the historic God's House Tower , used as a debtors prison during Jane Austen's time and now an arts & heritage centre.
You can join the walk on one of two days. Please follow the links below for more information and to book tickets.
Jane Austen & Southampton Spa: July 9
Jane Austen & Southampton Spa: July 12
Discover more about Jane Austen and her Southampton circle at the Sea City Jane Austen Exhibition .
Our venues
To make it easier for you to find precise locations, we've included a link to the What3Words reference.
Find out more about What3Words
Main Conference venue
The Conference takes place in Building 58 (Murray Building) on our Highfield Campus. Please use the entrance closest to the Turner Sims.
The What3Words is neat.shapes.cool .
Evening Concert venue
The evening concert takes place at the Turner Sims , which is next to the main venue on our Highfield Campus.
The What3Words is harp.began.ritual .
Glen Eyre Halls
If you have pre-booked accomodation at Glen Eyre halls, you will need to check in at the Glen Eyre reception.
The What3Words for the reception is candy.clip.atom .
Dining
The vibrant dining scene spans distinct neighborhoods, each offering its own hidden gems.
Find out more about the city's dining hotspots through the following links to the Visit Southampton website:
Transport
Parking
Car parking is available at our Gower Building .
The What3Words is bridge.expect.cheese .
By air
Heathrow Airport
Transport links from Heathrow Airport
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick airport by coach and bus
By train
See times for South West Trains from Waterloo
See times for Southern Trains from Victoria
By coach and bus
See times for National Express coaches
See times for local Southampton busses
By taxi
You can find taxi ranks across the city, including at the railway station and the airport. You can also book a car via Uber.
Southampton taxi rank locations
Find out about Uber taxis in Southampton.
Accommodation
Many of the major chains have locations in the city centre. These include:
There's also a variety of independant hotels including:
If you prefer self-catered accomodation, try Charles Hope Apartments in the city, or search Air BnB .
Other booking sites that can refine searches depending on requirements include:
Booking.com
Expedia.co.uk
Hotels.com
Call for papers
Our call for papers is now closed. For reference, you can download here:
The Global Jane Austen Call for Papers
Thank you
We are grateful for the support of:
The Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities (SIAH)
The British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS)
The Society of the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP)
The Southampton Centre for Nineteenth-Century Research
