Romance in Influential Places

Laura Vivanco

Eric's promised to post some comments/reflections on the recent conference held at the Library of Congress but in the meantime Margaret Locke's report can be found here and Kiersten Hallie Krum's collection of [all the?] tweets sent from the conference is here. [Edited to add: Jessica Matthews has just tweeted a link to an article about the conference, in the Washington Post. A shorter collection of tweets, featuring pretty much only those sent by Smart Bitch Sarah can be found here.]

Jayashree Kamble has an article in Oklahoma Humanities (the magazine of the Oklahoma Humanities Council): "What's Love Got to Do with It? - In Romance Novels, Everything!" Other articles in the same issue which may be of interest are:


Fount of the Heart -- The Edna Crockett Valentines
The art and heart of exchanging valentines.
     By Nancy Rosin

Matchmaking: The Second-Oldest Profession
A centuries-old tradition.
     By Meghan Laslocky

The Movie Lover's Guide to Kissing
Tips and clips for reel romance.
     By Mary Brodnax

"Pointed Boots Are Just Bad News"
Love lessons from contemporary female poets.
     By Jessica Glover


Last, but not least, at the Journal of Popular Romance Studies Lisa Fletcher is

seeking new submissions for the section focused on any aspect of the teaching and learning of popular romance studies. My editorial in issue 3.2 of the journal, “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Popular Romance Studies: What is it, and why does it matter,” introduces the section as a “trading zone” for the open exchange of ideas, research findings, and tools for enriching the experience of teachers and, most importantly, students in courses which examine the meaning and significance of romantic love in global popular culture. JPRS offers the only peer-reviewed forum devoted to the teaching and learning of popular culture: please feel welcome to email me with suggestions for, or questions about, the section [...]. 

I am interested in theoretical and empirical contributions from all relevant disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary approaches. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Key issues in the teaching and learning of popular romance studies

• The research / teaching nexus and popular romance

• Curriculum design for teaching popular romance

• Practical case studies of teaching key texts and/or topics

• Assessment models for teaching popular romance

• Teaching and learning popular romance in the digital age

• Student responses to studying representations of romantic love

• Popular romance fans as teachers and students

• Postgraduate students and popular romance studies

Articles submitted should be no longer than 10,000 words. Submissions should be Microsoft Word documents, with citations in MLA format. Do not include your name or the name of any co-authors in the submitted manuscript, since the piece will be sent out for blind peer review. In your cover-letter email, please provide your complete contact information (address, phone number, e-mail address) and a 150-200-word abstract of the submission. You are welcome to suggest appropriate peer reviewers. For further information about the submission process consult the journal (http://jprstudies.org/submissions/).