SCHOLARS AND FANS OF CHARLES DICKENS CONVERGE AT UC SANTA CRUZ THIS SUMMER TO EXPLORE INDUSTRY AND LABORERS IN VICTORIAN TIMES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Santa Cruz--When Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854 he was one of the first popular authors to depict the Industrial Revolution and its impact on laborers, the economy, and the environment-- issues that are as important to us now as they were 140 years ago.

"Hard Times is very much about the modern industrial world and raises issues we can all identify with: pollution and the treatment of workers, for example," says Robert Tracy, professor of English and Celtic studies at UC Berkeley. Tracy is interim director of the Dickens Project, a multi-campus group sponsoring the fourteenth annual Dickens Universe taking place July 31 through August 7 at UC Santa Cruz. Hard Times and labor in Victorian times will be the focus of this year's gathering, which is open to the public. The event provides a unique opportunity for university and high school teachers, students, and fans of Dickens to meet and share ideas.

Hard Times is set in Coketown, modeled after the factory towns that dominated the English economy in the nineteenth century.

"Hard Times is especially appropriate for the University of California and the state of California right now," says John Jordan, director of the Dickens Project and a professor of English at UC Santa Cruz. "All of us have been experiencing hard times and, with the end of the cold war and defense cutbacks, we are witnessing the same kind of economic dislocation that took place in England as it shifted from an agricultural system to a factory system."

"Dickens continues to be a very timely writer for the twentieth century, dealing with the impact of the larger social structure on the lives of individuals," adds Jordan, who has been on sabbatical for a year and will resume directorship of the Dickens Project on July 1.

The weeklong conference is a unique event, Jordan says, bridging the gap between academic and nonacademic audiences. "Because Dickens is a writer of great interest to scholars and nonscholars alike, we can organize this kind of event."

World-renowned Dickens scholars from as far away as Jerusalem will converge with high school teachers, graduate students, and the general public. Lectures are planned on such topics as political crowds, Dickens and capitalism, Victorian engineering, popular entertainment in the nineteenth century, and work and entertainment. Also planned throughout the week are Victorian teas, dramatic readings, film screenings, sherry hours, and a book fair.

The weeklong event is broken up into two sections--the Dickens Universe, running July 31 through August 6, and a scholarly conference overlapping the Universe August 4¯7. The conference will take a broader look at the issues raised in Hard Times, focusing on work and workers in Victorian times.

This year a special program is planned for those who are unable to attend for the entire week. The afternoon of Wednesday, August 3, will be open for a small fee to anyone wishing to attend. No preregistration is necessary. Among the events planned for August 3 are discussions; workshops; and lectures on "Joseph Paxton's Water Lilly" and "Popular Entertainment in the Nineteenth Century." Philip Collins, a professor of English from the University of Leicester, will perform excerpts from Dickens's A Christmas Carol at 3:30 p.m., during the Victorian tea.

Cost for the one-day event is $15. The cost for the weeklong event is $175 or, with room and board, $593. A complete conference schedule and brochure are available through the Dickens Project. For registration and more information, call the Dickens Project at (408) 459-2103.

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