JASP 2025: Interview with Maizie Ferguson

In anticipation of JASP 2025 we’ll be interviewing our esteemed staff and speakers. This year’s four-day symposium, JASP 2025: Sensibility and Domesticity, will take place June 19-22, 2025, in historic New Bern, North Carolina. We will be focusing on Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, and considering the birth of her career as a published author and taking a transatlantic look at the world into which she was born. Program topics include medicine, birth, and domestic arts in Regency England and colonial North Carolina. We’ll be covering the aforementioned topics and celebrating Austen’s 250th birthday through a wide range of activities including workshops, small-group discussions, and workshops. Our Regency Ball is also not an event to be missed! We can’t wait to celebrate Austen’s 250th birthday with you! 

Our next interviewee is Maizie Ferguson, JASP blogger and Jane Austen & Co. technical director. She is also serving as registrar for this year's symposium. Maizie is a student at the University of Kansas, pursuing a major in English-with an emphasis on British Literature- and minor in Violin. Besides her incredible work with JASP she is also an active member of JASNA.

How long have you been involved in JASP?

I have been involved in JASP since January 2024. A blogger for the PR team, I am also your registrar for the 2025 symposium! Additionally, you will begin to see my face on Jane Austen & Co. webinars as I join Na'dayah Pugh as a technical director.

Which JASP activity are you most looking forward to and why?

While I am most looking forward to the Regency Ball, I am also quite excited about this year's plenaries. With fascinating topics and brilliant speakers they are sure to be excellent!

Why do you think Austen's Sense and Sensibility is important not only to her body of work but the entire literary canon? Why do you believe people should read it?

The short answer: because Sense and Sensibility is brilliant.

The long answer: By turns thoughtful, serious, lighthearted, and satirical, the novel is a wonderful insight into human psychology. This is evidenced by Austen's portrayal of the relationship between two very different sisters and the many complex, real characters within their social circles. Sense and Sensibility also proves to be a phenomenal study in literary craft and revision. (After all, the novel originated in the epistolary format... à la Lady Susan!)

What do you enjoy most about Sense and Sensibility?

In Sense and Sensibility Austen's sparkling, barbed wit and talent for social critiques are on full display. That being said, however, many sincere words of advice can also be found within the pages of her debut novel. I am not sure I can truly choose a favorite passage, but I have always been fond of this well-known quote from Chapter 19:

“Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience- or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.”

What do you love about Jane Austen and her works? 

Oh my! We could be here all day, but I'll keep it brief. I love Jane Austen for truly a myriad of reasons. She was a genius at getting those awkward, interpersonal interactions just right, a master of human character, and someone who did not let her circumstances define her. She never apologized for what she thought and her written work has provided generation after generation of readers with laughter and courage.

Why should people attend JASP 2025?

JASP is the perfect conference for academics and ardent fans alike. Not only is the symposium a wonderful, low-stress environment for the cultivation of Austen knowledge, but it also provides a lovely opportunity to connect with fellow Janeites from all over. The best, most unexpected conversations often occur over tea and scones..

Image from Yankee Magazine

Our location in New Bern, NC is also a huge draw for 2025!

Outside of your work with JASP do you have any other Jane Austen-related projects or contributions?

I am a member of JASNA (Metropolitan KC Region!) and a few years ago *fun fact* had the thrilling opportunity to take the stage as Elinor Dashwood in a full-length musical of Sense and Sensibility.

Be sure to check out Maizie's blog posts, especially her analysis of Sense and Sensibility for our Austen 250 Reader series. Her examination of the novel will surely prepare you for JASP 2025!

A few places are still available for JASP 2025. Register here! JASP 2025 is partially supported by a grant from North Carolina Humanities. We hope to see you in New Bern, NC! Please celebrate Austen 250th birthday with us.