Published: October 23, 2018 by Alyse Dunavant-Jones

The Community Virtual Library (CVL) is now accepting proposals for its Dickens Project Resource Center in Second Life.

This annual exhibit highlights aspects of Charles Dickens and the Victorian Era. Presentation formats can vary (slideshow, poster, image, video) and can include audio and text. Additional formats (e.g. sculpture) may be welcome but must receive approval from CVL. CVL recommends that researchers keep presentations brief (5-10 slides/minutes).

RSVP with your proposal to CVL Director Dr. Valerie Hill  (valibrarian in Second Life; valibrarian@gmail.com) by 11/20/18, and a CVL member will assist in adding them to the exhibit by 11/30/18.

Recommendations for Presentations (hand-picked by iSchool alumna and VCARA blog editor Alyse Dunavant-Jones):

• Research The Christmas Tree (also published as A Christmas Tree) by Charles Dickens (or your favorite work by Dickens)

  • Why did he write it? What was going on in his life when he wrote it? Is it an accurate representation of a Victorian Christmas? Are there recorded performances/readings available? Films based on it?
• Review The Christmas Tree by Charles Dickens (or your favorite work by Dickens)
  • Give brief summary, discuss themes and allusions, etc.
• Research Lunatic Asylums in the Victorian Era
• Research Victorian Student Life
• Report on Dickens’ home today, which is now a button shop!
• Research people of color in the Victorian Era. For inspiration, check out: The Stolen African Slave who became Queen Victoria’s God-daughter, Black Victorians: Their Positions, Labours, Jobs, Life, and Hidden histories: the first black people photographed in Britain – in pictures
• Research how Dickens represented London during the Victorian Era. Consider the following books: The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders, Dickens’ London: An Imaginative Vision by Peter Ackroyd, and Dickens’ London by Charles Dickens

For more ideas, check out CVL’s Dickens Project 2018 Call for Research!

What is the Dickens Project in Second Life?

The Dickens Project is set to open 11/30/18 at the Linden Endowment for the Arts Region 7 (SL URL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/114/149/21), and Seanchai library will release a full schedule in November 2018.

For information about joining VCARA in Second Life, please refer to our VCARA for Newbies blog post. To request an orientation to Second Life and VCARA, please email Dr. Pat Franks (patricia.franks@sjsu.edu). To follow VCARA on social media, check out our VCARA on Social Media page. To visit VCARA in Second Life, use the iSchool Island SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SJSU%20SLIS/45/123/33