The Forty-Eighth Annual Dickens Society Meeting

The forty-eighth annual Dickens Society business meeting was called to order on 15 July 2017 at 4:15 PM by President Iain Crawford, who welcomed members and thanked the symposium host institution, Boston University. The minutes from the previous year were approved.

Our President reported the 18 June 2017 approval of a bylaws amendment. All future voting for the Society will take place electronically through a secure site, with elections being held the last week in August. Election results will be announced and officers and trustees will take office at the start of our fiscal year, September 1. This year’s nominating committee, appointed by the President in accordance with our bylaws, is Natalie Cole (Chair), Dominic Rainsford, Elizabeth Bridgham and Chris Louttit.¹ Crawford invited those who wish to serve as trustees or officers (for Vice-President this year and for Secretary-Treasurer in 2018) to send expressions of interest to the Nominating Committee, who nominate a slate of candidates. This invitation was also sent to members via our email listserv on July 5.

Crawford also conveyed the outcome of the Executive Committee and Trustee discussion of funding priorities now that the Society’s finances are improving. The leadership proposed that we maintain a minimum of $20,000 reserve and focus spending on supporting symposium travel for graduate students, independent scholars, and untenured faculty through our bursary program. In future years, as long as our funding remains comparable to this year, we would increase bursary support to a total of $5,000, offering higher amounts for those crossing the Atlantic to attend the annual symposium. David Paroissien moved that we approve the proposal, Matthias Bauer seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.

Secretary-Treasurer Diana Archibald reported that the Society’s individual membership numbers have continued to climb to 186 and are now almost as high as they were during the spike after the bicentennial (191). Membership has increased 10% since we began our outreach campaign and bursary program two years ago and 51% over the last ten years. Our financial situation has continued to improve, as well. Dickens Quarterly revenues through our publisher, Johns Hopkins University Press, increased to $17,528 this year, more than doubled from last year’s profit of $8,174. A sizable increase was expected this year, though revenues exceeded the original estimate. We are now fully benefiting from income generated through Project Muse, and the Press expects our revenue stream to continue at this level within a few thousand dollars each year. Archibald submitted the preliminary Fiscal Year 2017 financial report for discussion, and the final 2017 report is included in the next section. Financial records are audited by the Dickens Society Audit Committee.

Dickens Quarterly Editor David Paroissien indicated that the journal has been doing well overall. Although institutional subscriptions are down again this year (135, from 153 last year), access through Project Muse and bundling of journals seems to be helping the journal continue to be accessible for many. He encouraged everyone to continue outreach efforts to solicit high-quality submissions, especially for the three special issue topics announced: Dickens and Wills, Engaging Dickens, and Obscure or Under-read Dickens. Proposals continue to be welcome.

Communications Committee Chair, Emily Bell, summarized the terrific results of our social media campaign. The Dickens Society website now includes a blog, co-edited by Emily Bell and Catherine Quirk, and is accepting submissions on an ongoing basis – articles and videos are welcome. Bell also announced that we have more than a thousand twitter followers and praised the 2017 bursary recipients who were live-tweeting the Boston symposium. Our Facebook page, managed by Laurena Tsudama, also has 430 likes, and is helping us to promote the blog, our events, and encourage general interest in Dickens – a big part of our mission. The Dickens Society has also helped populate over a hundred locations on Placing Literature, an online interactive mapping site. So far, settings are mostly taken from Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. The project is ongoing and welcomes more participants. Finally, a private Facebook Group was proposed to offer...