The 2012 AGM will be held October 5-7 at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott Hotel. The theme--
“Sex, Money and Power in Jane Austen’s Fiction”--will enable potential speakers to focus on three subjects of continuing interest to Jane Austen throughout her six novels, as well as the juvenilia and the later fragments (
Lady Susan, The Watsons
and
Sanditon
). It is also a theme particularly and powerfully associated with the host community, New York City. The conference coordinators are Nili Olay and Jerry Vetowich. The following is a synopsis of current status.
Program: Chair, Kerri Spennicchia
Plenary Speakers: The four plenary speakers have all accepted the engagement, and contracts have been signed. These speakers are:

Anna Quindlen:
Carol Medine Moss Keynote Lecturer

Dr. Cornel West:
JASNA North American Scholar

Sandy Lerner:
Grant
Distinguished Plenary Speaker paid for by Joan Pawelski

Daniel James Cole:
Distinguished Plenary Speaker paid for by Joan Pawelski
Grant
More information on our distinguished speakers can be found on the 2012 AGM website (see below).
Breakout Speaker Selection: Chair, Dr. Juliette Wells, Associate Professor of English at
Manhattanville College. Calls for papers were issued in the Spring and Summer 2011 issues of
JASNA News, as well as on the main JASNA website ( http://www.jasna.org
).
Special Interest Sessions: These include the following:

Francis Morrone, architectural historian, will speak about Brooklyn in the time of JA on
Wednesday evening at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Thomas DeLeo will speak on Thursday morning about the history of fans in the Regency era.
 Marsha Huff, a Past President of JASNA, will lead an “AGM 101” session on Thursday afternoon for first-time AGM attendees.


Gary Mitchner, Regional Coordinator for the Dayton Region and past JASNA Board
Member, will lead a session on Thursday afternoon entitled “The Real Jane Austen: Sex,
Money and Power,” which will be open to the public as an outreach venture.

Valerie Peterson, author, will lead a Book Publishing Panel on Thursday afternoon.

Sheryl Craig, JASNA Board Member and Editor of
JASNA News
, will lead a session about Regency-era economics on Thursday afternoon.

Juliette Wells, 2012 AGM Breakout Session Selection Chair, will lead a session entitled
“How to Prepare a Successful Breakout Proposal.”

Declan Kiely, of The Morgan Library & Museum, will speak on Friday morning about
The Morgan’s collection of JA letters and manuscripts.

Rachel Brownstein, Professor of English at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate
Center, will moderate a panel on Saturday afternoon entitled “Young Scholars Panel:
Fresh Faces and New Thinking
, ” featuring Alice Villasénor (JASNA Board Member),
Juliette Wells, and Gillian Dow (Chawton House Library).

David Wondrich, liquor historian, will lead a post-banquet lecture session Saturday evening regarding libations during the Regency era.
Performances:

Lynn Marie Macy, playwright, will stage a reading on Thursday evening at The Morgan
Library & Museum. This event is a joint venture with The Morgan.
 A musical evening with Julianne Baird, soprano, will take place on Friday. Baird’s program will be based on Jane Austen and her music.

A post-AGM concert by the Vassar College Women’s Chorus will include choral works commissioned from two composers specifically for this AGM.
Exhibitions:

The Morgan Library & Museum will have at least one case of Austen-related writings on view during the AGM. Attendees will be able to view the writings before the Thursday evening performance, as well as at any time before or after the conference.

Abbey Cash, President of the Fan Association of North America, will put on display a collection of Regency-era fans to complement Thomas DeLeo’s lecture on fans (see above).
Post-Conference Dinner: There will be a post-conference dinner at the Plymouth Church of the
Pilgrims in Hillis Hall. The venue is historical (Abraham Lincoln prayed there), and Hillis Hall has beautiful Tiffany windows. The dinner will follow the Vassar College Women’s Chorus performance.
Workshops:
Dance workshops seem to be very popular; over 200 people signed up for dance lessons in Fort
Worth. Therefore we plan four dance sessions led by Beverly Francis.
Planning for other workshops is in progress.
Tours: We plan both walking tours and bus tours. Francis Morrone will lead three walking tours plus a full-day tour in the Hudson Valley. There will also be standard tourist-type tours.

Finance: Treasurer, Laurie Morison
We are hoping to keep the registration cost to $300 for early registration and $325 for late registration. Final food pricing will be negotiated during the first week in October. We do not expect registrations to cover expenses and are raising funds to cover the shortfall.
Hotel:
The Brooklyn Bridge Marriott is centrally located. The hotel is in a charming area within walking distance of Borough Hall, the Courts in Cadman Plaza, the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Metro Tech Center. It is also a short walk to Brooklyn Heights. Transportation to
Manhattan and all of its tourist sites is readily available. This is a very large hotel, and the attendance at the AGM will not be limited by banquet or plenary session seating restrictions. It is our intention to limit the registration to a size that we feel will allow people to enjoy the AGM, however.
Michele Eggert (Conference Director), who has been employed at numerous AGMs, will assist us.
Website:
The 2012 AGM website is http://www.jasna.org/agms/newyork . At this point the following pages are active:

Welcome

Theme

Plenary Speakers

Hotel

Host City
We are confident that the richness of the theme will serve to create a great conference.
We look forward to welcoming JASNA to New York City.
Submitted by Nili Olay and Jerry Vetowich, Co-Chairs, 2012 AGM
The Jane Austen Society of North America - New York Metropolitan Region
Nili Olay and Jerry Vetowich Conference Coordinators | jasna2012@gmail.com
| 212-666-9170 | www.jasna.org/agms/newyork