Even if you’re unfamiliar with Mr. Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth Bennett’s prejudice, the Jane Austen course offered by St. Thomas University’s English department will make you feel like you’re in the best book club.
It discusses 19th-century romantic tropes over tea in the English countryside.
Megan Woodworth, a part-time assistant professor in the English department, has been teaching Austen to students at St. Thomas University since 2015.
It was first taught by Elizabeth McKim, former chair of the English language and literature department.
Over this winter semester, the course explores the full plots of six novels, focusing on the theme of marriage.
“I started reading Jane Austen when I was a teenager, in part influenced by the adaptations that came out in the mid-90s,” said Woodworth.
She referenced the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility.
McKim handed the course off to Woodworth to pursue her own research. Woodworth said she “presented herself as the solution” to keep teaching students the fundamentals of Austen’s exploration of romance and society.
“The Jane Austen course was so popular, nobody wanted to let it go.”
Woodworth’s appreciation for Austen is driven by the romance, interesting heroines and humour in her novels.
She also prioritizes discussion among the students and said the theme of the course varies every year.
Last year, she solely focused on Pride and Prejudice and watched all the possible editions and adaptations that were accessible to everyone.
Three days a week, Woodworth opens students’ minds to the world of Jane Austen, knowing they will engage with what she says—even if she gets carried away.
“I’m usually relieved that [the students] are sort of laughing at the sometimes absurd phrasing that pops out from talking about the novels,” she said. “The fact that the students also seem to be enjoying the novels sort of feeds that sense of ‘how lucky I am that I get to do this.’”
Ryan Martin, a fourth-year student, shared his enthusiasm for taking the Austen course in his final semester. Despite not being a requirement, he enroled in the class to complete his academic journey with a deeper understanding of Austen’s works.
“It feels kind of like the perfect course to kind of end my year on. I started my first semester and I read Pride and Prejudice like ever at STU and now, it feels almost like poetic.”
Martin’s expectations were based on just getting an opportunity to sit down and understand Austen thoroughly, even though as a writer, she’s difficult to read.
He also said Woodworth organizes Jane Austen book club sessions in class, where students discuss the texts in a creative and academic way.
“It’s a good chance to just kind of dish on the characters and be like, ‘Oh, can you believe John Thorpe said this?’ Everybody kind of has this mutual passion for Jane Austen, which is really fun and I think we’re all coming at it from different levels.”
Martin also shared why he thinks Jane Austen’s works remain relevant today, despite being written centuries ago.
“On the one hand, she did kind of invent this modern romance genre that’s very big right now,” he said. “So, a lot of the stuff that people are reading these days, she’s kind of the great, great, great, great grandmother of it all.”
As an English major, Martin believes that Austen’s writing is timeless and can be enjoyed by readers from any cultural background. He also said that the author’s literature is accessible enough for students to “just pick her up and fall in love with her.”
Woodworth believes Austen’s novels not only challenge the patriarchal status quo but also offer a more expansive view of relationships, community and family.
“I hope [students] come away with a new book that they really connect to, but maybe also a new appreciation for how radical a romance plot can be in sort of challenging norms that it might seem to be supporting.”
She highlighted that it’s been 250 years since Austen’s birth.
