Course Description

Welcome to Jane Austen Up Close! Students will read and discuss Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Mansfield Park, and they will study related materials from the culture of Austen’s time. Each of the six, hour-long meetings will be divided between discussion of the novels and close study of original editions and related materials, which will include botanical and architectural illustrations, abolitionist texts, and aesthetic theory. Students will learn about Austen’s literary influences, printing history, and the aesthetic, political, and scientific ideas that shaped her writing – all through direct engagement with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century books at USC.  

Class Structure

Expand allMeeting 1

Study of all Austen editions 

Discussion of Pride and Prejudice (read any edition in advance)

Meeting 2

Study of Austen's literary influences and views of country houses

Discussion of Emma, vols 1&2

Meeting 3

Study of conduct books and marriage customs and Discussion of Emma, vol 3

Meeting 4

Study of botanical illustrations, aesthetic theories (especially “picturesque”) and Discussion of Mansfield Park, vol 1

Meeting 5

Study of abolitionist works and Discussion of Mansfield Park, vol 2

Meeting 6

Study of typography in nineteenth-century fiction and Discussion of Mansfield Park, vol 3

Important Information

This class will meet in USC’s Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, which owns first editions of Austen’s major works.

Textbooks 

Students will be required to purchase the following textbooks prior to the start of class:

Mansfield Park, Oxford World’s Classics, ed. Kinsley | ISBN 9780199535538

Emma, Oxford World’s Classics, ed. Mullan | ISBN 9780198837756

Meet your instructor - Jeanne Britton

Jeanne Britton (PhD University of Chicago) is a curator in the Irvin Department. She specializes in the literature and culture of the Enlightenment and Romantic period and has taught and written about Jane Austen’s works and the history of the novel. She has taught at the university level for over twenty years and was a 2024 winner of USC’s Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award and the 2025 winner of the Honors College’s Outstanding Faculty Award.

Registration and Fees

Dates / Sessions	Times	Fees
Jane Austen Up Close 05/01/2026 - 06/05/2026 Meets Fridays 6 Sessions Register Online Notes:The course location and directions will be emailed approximately one week before the course begins.	11:00 AM – 12:00 PM	$75.00