Romance Heads to the Ivy League!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the website for the Princeton University conference "Love as the Practice of Freedom? Romance Fiction and American Culture" is now live!

Organized by Eric Selinger (DePaul University) and William Gleason (Princeton), the conference will be held on April 23-24, 2009, at Princeton's Betts Auditorium. Featured speakers include:

• Tania Modleski, Dept. of English, USC
• Stephanie Coontz, Dept. of History, Evergreen State University
• Mary Bly [“Eloisa James”], Dept. of English, Fordham University, and romance author
• Jennifer Crusie, romance author and essayist on the genre
• Lynn S. Neal, Dept. of Religion, Wake Forest University
• Pamela Regis, Dept. of English, McDaniel College
• R. Marie Griffith, Dept. of Religion, Princeton University
• Beth Patillo, romance author and ordained minister
• Eric Murphy Selinger, Dept. of English, DePaul University
• Margaret Doody, Dept. of English, University of Notre Dame; Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching, Princeton University
• Rita B. Dandridge, Dept. of Languages and Literature, Virginia State University
• Ann Herendeen, romance author
• Sally Goade, independent scholar
• Beverly Jenkins, romance author
• Sarah S. G. Frantz, Dept. of English and Foreign Languages, Fayetteville State University
• Julie E. Moody-Freeman, Dept. of African and Black Diaspora Studies, DePaul University
• Guy Mark Foster, Dept. of English and Africana Studies, Bowdoin College
• Gwendolyn Pough [“Gwyneth Bolton”], Dept. of Women’s Studies, Syracuse University, and romance author
• Emily Haddad, Dept. of English, University of South Dakota
• Esi Sogah, romance editor, Avon Books
• Dana Johnson [“P.J. MacAllister”], Dept. of English, USC, and Alison Umminger [“Grace Grant”], Dept. of English, University of West Georgia, and collaborating romance authors
• Michelle Buonfiglio, blogger and reviewer (Romance: B(u)y the Book)
• Sarah Wendell, blogger and reviewer (Smart Bitches, Trashy Books)
• Diane Pershing, romance author, President, Romance Writers of America (2008-2009)
• Monica Jackson, author, paranormal romance; contributor to “ReadersRooms” and other author websites
• Krista Stroever, editor, Harlequin Books

The conference is free and open to the public; please register in advance, as space is limited. For a small fee, conference-goers can enjoy lunch and dinner with participants; again, seating is limited.

Please spread the word, and feel free to link, post, or otherwise disseminate the information. (Carrier pigeon? Semaphore? Hedgehog with a talking box? You name it.)

I hope to see you there!