NIU, in coordination with Villanova University, will be hosting a virtual symposium on the dime novel on Wednesday, November 4th and Thursday, November 5th from 6:30-8:30 PM CST. This event marks the successful conclusion of the Johannsen Project, an effort to digitize more than 7,000 dime novels published by Beadle & Adams through a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Papers for the People: A Symposium on the Dime Novel will feature panel discussions with notable and upcoming dime novel scholars. These conversations will focus on how dime novels can be used in the classroom and will offer regional educators, academics, and students at the graduate and undergraduate level the opportunity to learn about and discuss dime novels directly with experts in the field.

Leading up to the symposium, panel participants will develop several spotlights for Nickels and Dimes, featuring a particular dime novel from the collection. Each spotlight will provide context about the novel and the author, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading. Many of these will be accompanied by brief recorded lectures about the novel.

Participation in this event is free. Live discussion will take place on Zoom, with the symposium schedule available on Moodle.