Jane Austen: Past, Present and Future
The Department of English, Loreto College, Kolkata, organised a One-Day National Post Graduate Student Conference on November 29, 2025 to celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of Jane Austen. The conference, titled "Jane Austen: Past, Present and Future," focused on the evolving conversations surrounding Austen’s life, works, and legacy. It was an intercollegiate event which brought together postgraduate students and emerging researchers from across the country, witnessing participation from 26 colleges.
The conference commenced with an inaugural keynote address by Dr. Sukanya Dasgupta, the Postgraduate Coordinator of Loreto College. She set the stage for the day's proceedings and introduced the keynote speaker, Dr. Debnita Chakrabarti, Associate Professor in the Department of English at Shri Shikshayatan College, Kolkata. Dr. Chakrabarti spoke about her visit to Jane Austen's home in Chawton, reflecting on how the physical space deepened her understanding of Austen’s domestic and creative environment. Her illuminating lecture on spatial geography in Austen’s works framed the rigour of the sessions that followed.
The conference featured four Technical Sessions, with 24 paper presentations reflecting the remarkable range of contemporary Austen scholarship. Several papers explored the intersections of fashion, music, and social performance in Austen's works, while others offered nuanced readings of iconic spaces like Pemberley. Presenters also investigated feminist reinterpretations, cross-cultural dialogues, and the afterlives of Austen in contemporary media-from book covers and digital platforms to algorithmic matchmaking and Netflix adaptations.
The conference concluded with a clear affirmation that Austen's legacy is nothing short of enduring. Across sessions, scholars demonstrated how her insights into society, gender, and human behaviour continue to resonate, underscoring the sense that Austen remains intellectually alive as an immortal presence shaping literary conversations even today.
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