I'm Inger Sigrun Bredkjær Brodey. Welcome to my desk.
As my desk may indicate, I'm a scholar, teacher, author, and public humanist. My interests tend to be international and comparative, as I was born in Japan, immigrated with my parents and brothers from Denmark, studied in Germany and Japan, and live in the United States. I'm also a mother of four creative kids and a lover of assorted crafts. Read a fun story about my family here.
At the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, I'm an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature and member of the inaugural faculty of the School of Civic Life and Leadership. I also serve as Adjunct Associate Professor in Global Studies, and Affiliate Faculty in Asian Studies.
My new book on Jane Austen's endings, called Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness will be out June 11, 2024 with Johns Hopkins UP. You can read a Publisher's Weekly review of it here, or see more reviews here.
I am also the Principal Investigator in an NEH grant to build "Jane Austen's Desk." The project imaginatively recreates Austen's environment during her most productive years, including information about what she was reading, where her family was traveling, and what was going on in the world around her. I'm excited to announce that the prototype (set for the date March 30, 1813) will be live no later than May 1, 2024! Keep your eyes on www.janeaustensdesk.org.
This year, I've been named Jane Austen Society of North America's Traveling Lecturer and am also presenting at the JASNA AGM. I will be in Denver, CO; Boston, MA; Rochester, NY; Greenville, SC; New Orleans, LA; and Santa Fe NM between December 2023 and May 2024. I am also be a fellow at the UNC Institute for Arts and Humanities, enabling me to work on my new book on Austen's Asian Afterlives.
On the side, I also run three other Jane Austen-related non-profit organizations. Come to one of our events and meet me there (or leave a virtual sticky note on my desk).
