I remain perpetually grateful for the opportunity to do this work.

I will also have the opportunity to speak at the University of New South Wales about our work in Sierra Leone, share films and research by Olivia Hauck, Brooke Erickson, and Christina Enodien, and receive valuable feedback.

As part of my visit, I am also extremely excited to meet with Aminata Conteh-Biger, Dr. Anthony Zwi, and other board members from the Aminata Maternal Foundation to discuss ongoing collaborations for the Mothers of Sierra Leone Global Social Impact Fellowship, co-directed by Dr. Fathima Wakeel.

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.

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

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).

Dr. Mandakini Dubey (Ashoka University), and Dr. Saikat Majumdar (Ashoka University). 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.

I had the opportunity to speak with and learn from Dr. Usha Mudiganti (Ambedkar University, Delhi), Dr. Sambudha Sen (Shiv Nadar University), Dr. Meenakshi Bharat (Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi), Dr. Ritika Singh (Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi)

Last month, as part of my work on the Jane Austen and the Future of the Humanities project, I traveled to Delhi and Dubai to meet with writers, artists, and scholars who are engaging with Austen and working with Austen’s narratives to engage diverse public communities.

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(wordpress.lehigh.edu/.../jane-aus...).

I am extremely excited to announce the publication of two recent book projects on which I was privileged to collaborate with the generous and brilliant Sarita Mizin.