This exhibit is brought to you by the students from Professor Carolyn Dever's Winter Term 2025 first-year seminar “Reading Jane Austen,” in collaboration with the staff of the Dartmouth Libraries. Have a look! Does anything seem familiar?
Young people navigating their uncertain futures in a rapidly changing world face major questions: What do I care more about, love or money? What about my parents’ expectations? Am I comfortable with all these social roles I have to play? What will happen to my reputation if I make the wrong decision? When does my privacy become creepy secrecy? Should I stay within the bubble, or strike out toward the horizon?
If these challenges ring a bell for you, you’re either a Dartmouth student, or you’re a character in a Jane Austen novel. Born 250 years ago, Austen (1775-1817) published six major novels.
We have featured four of those in this exhibition, works that revolutionized how we understand the complex inner lives of young women–works that display Austen’s keen satirical edge. Readers beware: Austen was a sharp, unsparing observer of human foibles. You might even wonder, is she making fun of … me?
Curatorial teams
Sense and Sensibility
Bel Kirby, Isaiah Harrison, Darci Rochkind, and Grace Winters
Pride and Prejudice
John Bubb, Gracie Kutz, Tilda Rieder, Addison Verrill
Emma
Savanna Degenhardt, Max Liedtka, Scarlet Niles, Eloise Taylor
Persuasion
Marilyn Beauvais, Sydney Grogean, Alejandra González Jaramillo, Ella Jacobs
With support from Carolyn Dever, Jay Satterfield, Laura Barrett, Sam Milnes, Deborah Howe, Ryland Ianelli, and Elena Cordova.