A Regency Dinner and Dance at Evergreen

Come dressed in your finest Regency or festive attire for an evening that brings Jane Austen’s world to life at the historic Carriage House at Evergreen. 

We’ll begin with a welcome reception featuring wine, spirits, and elegant passed hors d’oeuvres—plus a Regency-style photo booth for your most dashing or demure poses.  Then settle in for a fascinating and beautifully illustrated talk by Mary Favret, Professor of English at Johns Hopkins University, entitled “The Edge of the World: Things in Jane Austen’s Fiction.” Explore how the everyday objects in Austen’s novels reveal deeper truths about her world—and ours. 

Following the lecture, enjoy a three-course, family-style dinner with an open bar. Choose from classic roasted chicken, beef à la mode, or a vegetable Napoléon, all served with care in an elegant setting. 

After dinner, the evening continues with a lively Austen-inspired country dance during desserts, featuring the joyful music of Ken Kolodner, BSPH, ’85 (PhD) & Brad Kolodner, masters of English country and folk dance led by a dance caller. (Yes, dancing is encouraged—but so is simply enjoying the music with a glass in hand.) Learn more about their music at www.kenandbrad.com. 

If you’re registering with a guest, please include them in your registration or indicate in the form that you’d like to be seated together. 

Featured Guest Speaker:

Mary Favret
Professor, Johns Hopkins, Department of English

Mary Favret, Allen Grossman Professor, in the Department of English at Johns Hopkins University, is a scholar of British Romanticism and late 18th- to early 19th-century English literature. She co-founded Hopkins’ Sensorium of Reading, a research group exploring the sensory and historical dimensions of reading. Her current work investigates obstacles to reading in a literacy-driven world, and she also examines the role of race in Jane Austen studies. Favret’s first book, Romantic Correspondence (1993), explores women’s political use of letters, while War at a Distance (2009) examines how Romantic-era literature shaped modern perceptions of wartime, focusing on media, emotion, and the civilian experience of distant conflict. 

Art and Ink at the BMA

Begin your day with a step back in time—into the art, objects, and materials that shaped Jane Austen’s world.

We’ll start with a private curator-led tour at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where guests will explore artworks from the age of Austen. Take a turn about the galleries featuring British royal portraits, richly detailed English silver, and porcelain that reflect the social and political worlds Austen and her characters inhabited. The tour also explores how British imperialism shaped material culture from South Asia to the Americas, and highlights the lesser-known women artists of the 18th and 19th centuries who painted, sculpted, and forged their own views of the world—much like Austen herself.

After the tour, enjoy a one-of-a-kind, hands-on workshop: Iron Gall Ink Making and Quill Carving, led by bookmaking associate Brittany Murray from the Pyramid Arts Center. 

In this immersive session, participants will:

• Create historic iron gall ink from scratch, following a centuries-old recipe
• Carve a quill pen from a real goose feather
• Stitch a simple pamphlet book—perfect for practicing your newfound 19th-century penmanship

All materials are provided, and participants will leave with their own custom quill, hand-stitched booklet, and two vials of ink—plus a deeper appreciation for the tools Austen herself may have used.

A boxed lunch is included between your morning exploration and creative afternoon!

Featured Guest Speakers:

Brittany Luberda
The Anne Stone Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, Baltimore Museum of Art

Brittany Luberda is the Anne Stone Associate Curator of Decorative Arts at the Baltimore Museum of Art and a specialist in 18th-century ceramics and silver. She has held curatorial roles at the Saint Louis Art Museum, The Frick Collection, and other major institutions. Brittany holds degrees in art history from the University of Chicago and Southern Methodist University and has completed advanced study programs with Historic New England. She serves on the board of the American Ceramic Circle and has published widely on decorative arts, global trade, and colonialism. Her work is supported by fellowships from leading arts organizations, including the Kress Foundation and Paul Mellon Centre. 

Brittany Murray
Bookmaking Associate, Pyramid Arts Center

Brittany Murray, Bookmaking Associate at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, is a burgeoning library and archive conservator living in Washington, DC. She is in her final year at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and is currently interning at the Library of Congress. Brittany enjoys making historic book structures, researching the use of lead in historic bookmaking processes, and learning about different archival materials. When she is not at Pyramid Atlantic, Brittany can be found wandering around museums or watching horror movies.  

Archives, Opera and Afternoon Tea at Goucher

Complete your Austen weekend with a tour of one of the most significant literary collections in North America. Goucher College, the proud home of the Jane Austen Collection, welcomes guests for a curated tour and celebration of the woman behind this extraordinary archive—Alberta Hirshheimer Burke, a 1928 Goucher alumna whose passion for Austen led to one of the finest private collections of Austen materials ever assembled.

Guests may also explore several Jane Austen-themed exhibitions while rotating through the Special Collections. Highlights include rare and first editions from the Jane Austen Collection, a new art installation by MICA and Goucher Artists-in-Residence Lauren Adams and Victoria Pass, a student-curated exhibit honoring collector Alberta H. Burke, and a display celebrating the iconic 1995 adaptations that sparked a new wave of Austen appreciation.

Shuttle service will be available from The Study at Johns Hopkins to Goucher College beginning at 2:30 PM, or you’re welcome to drive to the campus on your own.

Following the tour of the collection, enjoy a classic afternoon tea service and a lecture by Dr. Juliette Wells, A&S '97 (MA), Austen scholar and guest co-curator of the Morgan Library’s exhibition A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250. Her talk—“Celebrating Alberta H. Burke and 50 Years of Jane Austen at Goucher”—offers a richly illustrated look into Alberta Burke’s legacy, her collaboration with her husband Henry Burke, a Johns Hopkins alumnus, and how this “Austen archive” continues to shape global scholarship and celebration today.

Guests will also enjoy selections from Pride and Prejudice, the opera by Kirke Mechem, performed by students from the Peabody Conservatory.

Featured Guest Speaker:

Juliette Wells, A&S '97 (MA)
Professor, Literary Studies, Goucher College

Juliette Wells, A&S ’97 (MA), Professor of Literary Studies at Goucher College, is a leading Jane Austen scholar dedicated to making literature accessible to all readers. She is the author of three acclaimed books on Austen’s legacy, including A New Jane Austen: How Americans Brought Us the World’s Greatest Novelist (2023), which spotlights the influence of American collectors like Goucher alumna Alberta H. Burke. Dr. Wells is the guest co-curator of A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250, opening at The Morgan Library & Museum in 2025. She also edits anniversary editions of Austen’s novels, including Emma, Persuasion, and the upcoming Mansfield Park. With over 35 scholarly essays and chapters to her name, she writes on Austen’s novels, adaptations, and teaching. A sought-after speaker, she frequently lectures for Jane Austen societies and literary groups in the U.S. and abroad, engaging academic and general audiences with Austen’s enduring relevance.