News

  • Race, Violence, and Form in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

    December 22, 2023

  • Teachers holding "Night Walks" booklets

    Dickens in Columbus

    December 22, 2023

    Charles Dickens didn’t make it to Columbus, Ohio, during his American tours, but he visited Columbus by proxy at the annual NCTE (National Council of the Teachers of English) conference this past November.

  • Frances Laskey

    Dickens, Virtually

    December 22, 2023

    Last winter, I registered to attend the Dickens Universe in person, and I was, of course, looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. But then the hip happened. An arthritic hip suddenly got a lot worse, and I realized that the hills of Santa Cruz (and the dorm beds) were not going to happen. Luckily, there was a way I could still participate—the Virtual Universe!

  • Berenize Marcelo Amezcua

    The Dickens Project's First Intern

    December 22, 2023

    Meet Berenize Marcelo Amezcua, our accomplished intern selected through UC Santa Cruz's Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program! Berenize, a junior double-majoring in education and Spanish studies, is learning invaluable professional skills while supporting and expanding our Dickens Day of Writing program.

  • John Jordan, Trude Hoffacker, and Tricia Lootens

    Remembering Trude

    December 22, 2023

    “Trude certainly made an impact on all of us—a true model of generosity and love of learning. I always looked forward to hearing from the co-teachers of her small discussion group, who invariably appreciated how she taught her fellow participants how to be the best students for one another.”

  • photo of "Havisham!" cast

    Hannah Baumgarten's World Premiere "Havisham!" February 7 & 8, 2024

    December 18, 2023

    'Great Expectations' is one of British master Charles Dickens’ most beloved novels, and the character he created for it of Miss Havisham is one of his most famous. Dance NOW! Miami Artistic Director Hannah Baumgarten will reimagine her in a world premiere dance theater piece, Havisham!, on February 7 and 8 at North Miami Beach’s iconic Ancient Spanish Monastery.

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    The 43rd Annual Dickens Universe: A Review

    September 14, 2023

    Reviewing the 43rd Annual Dickens Universe, retired teacher Beth Penney highlights the community this annual week-long event creates from the traditional farce to facing history and a loving farewell to dear friend and dedicated Universe attendee Trude Hoffacker.

  • Bench next to a statue with cherry blossoms overhead

    Welcoming Sungkyunkwan University to the Consortium

    April 20, 2023

    The Dickens Project is excited to announce that Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) will be joining the consortium, with a special interview from Ji Eun Lee, Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at SKKU. Once a graduate student attendee at the Dickens Universe, Professor Lee speaks on returning as faculty, advice for graduate students, and this blooming partnership.

  • Winter Graduate Conference

    April 20, 2023

    A review of the annual Dickens Universe Graduate conference, where scholars from across the nation connected academically and personally by engaging in small-group intensive workshops centered on selected graduate student papers.

  • Person annotating a book with an open computer in front of them

    Dickens Day of Writing

    April 20, 2023

    This February students from four schools across the nation participated in the second annual Dickens Day of Writing where they read "Night Walks", a short, semi-autobiographical essay by Charles Dickens, and created personal and critical essays on the piece.

  • Photo of Susan Dillon, president of the CATE Central Branch with two high school students

    Dickens Project honored with the 2023 Award of Merit from the California Association of Teachers of English

    March 28, 2023

    The California Association of Teachers of English award recognizes the Dickens Project’s long history of outreach and partnerships with high school students and teachers.

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    Beyond the Universe

    October 28, 2022

    Since 2006 the Project has co-hosted, with the Dickens Society, a panel every year at the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual conference. These panels share cutting edge research and typically consider Dickens (and other 19th century authors) in ways that relate to current issues and trends both in academia and in the world outside.

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    Supporting the Dickens Project's LitLabs and Day of Writing Programs

    October 27, 2022

    The Dickens Project has invited high school students and teachers from Los Angeles together for a week of intensive study at the Dickens Universe summer conference for many years. Help The Friends of Dickens Project expand this opportunity to local high schools in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito counties.

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    How Toni Morrison Helps My High School Students Understand Dickens

    October 24, 2022

    This article explains how Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' (1987) has become an important intertext for Charles Dickens's 'Great Expectations' (1860–61) in the author's high school teaching. It suggests that the reading practices of nonexperts, along with unconventional text pairings, may help Victorianists fruitfully rethink disciplinary boundaries and field borders.

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    "This Pagan Festival"

    October 24, 2022

    Queen Victoria was not alone in celebrating. The Victorians enjoyed Halloween traditions familiar to us today as well as traditions not at all familiar.

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    Renée Fox Inaugurates the Friends Faculty Fellowship

    October 24, 2022

    Friends of the Dickens Project President Michael Stern interviews Professor Renée Fox about her forthcoming book, her research interests, and the new Friends Faculty Fellowship program.

  • Photo of Makiko Morikawa, Barbara Keller, and Helena Michie c. 1997

    Getting to Know the Women Behind the Dickens Universe’s Beloved Tradition

    October 24, 2022

    A very brief history of afternoon Victorian Tea at the Dickens Universe.

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    Report on the 41st Dickens Universe

    August 24, 2022

    Beth Penney, who is a Friends of the Dickens Project board member, reports on the 41st Dickens Universe.

  • Renée Fox, Helena Michie, and Sharon Aronofsky Weltman

    New Normal

    August 15, 2022

    The conference itself is both familiar and unfamiliar. The redwoods are there, and the deer, although there are more wild turkeys and no foxes. The place smells the same, of cedar and rosemary and—perhaps you only imagine this—faintly of the ocean with its shock of aquamarine you as you move from the woods to open ground.

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    Nineteenth-Century African American Literature Recommendations

    August 6, 2022

    Further reading: a list of Nineteenth-Century African American Literature, including selected writing of Frances E. W. Harper, nineteenth century mixed-race heroine fiction, and some other African American literature recommendations, including a handful of short stories that have only very recently been made available to contemporary readers!

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    Dickens Universe Returns to Campus

    August 4, 2022

    An article by UCSC's Dan White about the Dickens Universe's successful return!

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    How the (Dickens) Universe Changed My Life

    July 13, 2022

    A special article about the joys of the Dickens Universe and its role in changing lives

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    Meet the Hunters

    July 13, 2022

    An introduction to Tim Clark and Ron Blumer, who are the organizers behind the Dickens Project's yearly auction

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    Dickens Universe 2022 to Feature 'David Copperfield' and 'Iola Leroy'

    July 13, 2022

    An announcement for this year's Dickens Universe, which runs from July 24-July 30

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    Local Educators Launch New Writing Program for High Schoolers

    July 13, 2022

    An article about the Dickens Project's new writing program, the Dickens Day of Writing