Scholars Discuss Dickens at Pre-Bicentennial Conference 4/15

How will the works of Charles Dickens fare in the digital, global era? Will new film adaptations and neo-Victorian novels stoke interest in one of the world's greatest writers?

Those questions and others will be examined when leading Dickens scholars gather at the "Dickens on Broadway" conference on the eve of the bicentennial of Dickens' birth in 1812. It will be held on Friday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) with a break for high tea.

The conference features "The Comedy of Dickens," a performance by Michael Slater, emeritus professor of Victorian literature at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is an internationally known Dickens expert and author of a biography of the 18th-century author who gave the world A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, and other classic examinations of British society.

Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., president and CEO of NYIT and co-editor of the Dickens Studies Annual (DSA), will moderate discussions by scholars from universities around the world.

Sponsored by NYIT, Dickens Studies Annual, AMS Press, and The CUNY Graduate Center, the panel discussions will include:

Future Dickens - The extent to which Dickens will continue to be read by a lay audience and be studied in educational institutions, as well as the ways in which film adaptations and "neo-Victorian" novels based on his fiction may create new audiences and interpretations.

Digital Dickens -The opportunities for new kinds of study provided by electronic texts, digitally produced films, and computer-based concordances.

Global Dickens - The degree to which interest in Dickens, who has always attracted readers in diverse cultures, may continue to flourish around the world.

The panel discussions will feature:

• Duane DeVries, associate professor emeritus at Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

• JoNathan Grossman, associate professor of English at University of California, Los Angeles.

• Edward Guiliano, president and CEO of New York Institute of Technology and professor of English.

• Michael Hollington, visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge and former professor of English at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail and the University of New South Wales in Australia until his retirement.

• Shari Hodges Holt, instructional assistant professor of English at the University of Mississippi.

• Natalie McKnight, professor and chair of humanities at the College of General Studies at Boston University.

• Trey Philpotts, professor and chair of the English Department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

• Michael Slater, emeritus professor of Victorian literature at Birkbeck College at the University of London.

• Nathalie Vanfasse, professor of English literature at the Université d'Aix-Marseille in France.

The conference is open to the NYIT community and the public. To attend, R.S.V.P. online or contact NYIT's Office of Special Events at 516.686.1177 or events@nyit.edu.

About NYIT
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in more than 90 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has more than 15,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 85,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.