Our Partners

Library of Congress Center for the Book (the creator and organizer of the Popular Romance Project’s one-day symposium on romance novels) has organized the author program at the annual National Book Festival since the festival was established in 2001, developing and organizing, among other pavilions, “genre” pavilions for presentations by nationally known authors around themes such as “Fiction & Fantasy,” “Mysteries & Thrillers,” and “Science Fiction & Fantasy.” In 2008, the Mystery Writers of America presented the Center with its Raven Award, recognizing the Center’s “support and dedication to literacy education as a whole.” The Center was established in 1977 by Public Law 95-129. Its founder, Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin, was eager for the Library of Congress to promote books and reading to popular—as well as scholarly—audiences. The center is a public-private partnership; the Library pays its five employees’ salaries, but all other costs are supported by private contributions or specific project fund transfers from other government agencies. Today, the center is widely recognized as one of the Library’s most innovative and influential educational outreach programs. Since 1978, it has hosted dozens of symposia, more than 200 author talks at the Library, and sponsored or cosponsored the publication of more than sixty books and 100 booklets and related publications. In the fall of 2009, it opened both a new educational website (read.gov) and a Young Readers Center in the Library’s historic Thomas Jefferson Building, the first LC space ever devoted to the reading and intellectual interests of young people.

Center for History and New Media at George Mason University Since 1994, CHNM (the creator and producer of the Popular Romance Project website) at George Mason University has used digital media and computer technology to democratize history—to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past. CHNM combines cutting-edge digital media with the latest and best historical scholarship to promote an inclusive understanding of the past as well as broad historical literacy. It hosts more than 50 projects, including NEH-funded projects such as History Matters, World History Matters,Children and Youth in History, and Making the History of 1989, as well as the National History Education Clearinghouse, the open-source tools Zotero and Omeka, and the September 11 Digital Archive, making them available at no cost to users around the world. CHNM also hosts projects such as DoHistory.org, created by filmmaker Laurie Kahn in collaboration with the Film Study Center at Harvard University, funded in large part by the NEH, to ensure their long-term availability and upkeep. CHNM’s work has been recognized with major funding and awards from the NEH, the US Department of Education, Library of Congress, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Historic Publications and Records Commission, and the Mellon, Sloan, Hewlett, Rockefeller, and Kellogg foundations. CHNM’s websites receive more than 400 million hits and 11 million unique visitors each year, and more than one million scholars use CHNM’s software. CHNM has conducted more than $20 million in grant-funded research, boasts an annual budget of $2 million, and enjoys a $3 million endowment achieved with the assistance of two Challenge Grants from NEH. This endowment demonstrated fundraising success, strong institutional support from George Mason University, and solid digital skills and experience, allowing CHNM to guarantee that the Popular Romance Project will be a permanent and reliable resource.

International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR), founded in 2009, is dedicated to fostering and promoting the scholarly exploration of all popular representations of romantic love. IASPR is committed to building a strong community of scholars of popular romance through open, digital access to all scholarly work published by the Association, by organizing or sponsoring an annual international conference on popular romance studies, and by encouraging the teaching of popular romance at all levels of higher education. IASPR’s first international conference took place in Brisbane, Australia, in August 2009. The second international conference will take place in Belgium in August 2010 with keynote speakers Lynne Pearce (Lancaster University), Pamela Regis (McDaniel College), and film scholar Celestina Deleyto (Universidad Zaragoza, Spain). The third international conference will take place in New York City in 2011 with Kay Mussel (American University) as keynote speaker. IASPR’s digital Journal of Popular Romance Studieswill launch on 14 February, 2010. Sarah S. G. Frantz, president of IASPR, and Eric Murphy Selinger, editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies, are collaborating closely with the media professionals working on the Popular Romance Project, ensuring that the project is connected with and guided by the international community of scholars on all aspects of popular romance.

Jujamcyn Theaters, NYC, founded in 1956, owns and operates five theaters on Broadway – the St. James, Al Hirschfeld, August Wilson, Eugene O’Neill, and Walter Kerr.  Among the many shows which Jujamcyn has produced or presented are: Angels in America, Big River, Caroline or Change, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, City of Angels, Death of A Salesman, Doubt, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Grand Hotel, Grease!, Grey Gardens, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Into the Woods, Jelly’s Last Jam, Love! Valour! Compassion!, M. Butterfly, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Moon Over Buffalo, The Producers, Proof, The Secret Garden, Smokey Joe’s Café, Spring Awakening, Take me Out, Tommy, The Weir and Six Plays by August Wilson.

Environment and Health Group is a start-up company founded in 2000 with the express purpose of hastening the translation of the results of projects funded by the National Institutes of Health to commercial applications. The company’s core strength lays in the development of gero-technology - using the latest technology to translate scientific knowledge into innovative e-health tools for elderly populations and their health care providers. Through collaborations with public and private groups, EHG develops information services and e-technology products to provide education and training for health care professionals, and to meet the psychosocial needs of older adults and their families. The company’s current work is focused on geriatric behavioral health, minority health, and global aging.

Y2Y Harvard Square (Y2Y) is a student-run overnight shelter, that mploys a youth-to-youth model to provide a safe and affirming environment for young adults experiencing homelessness. Y2Y guests will have opportunities to collaborate with service providers, other young adults experiencing homelessness, and student volunteers to create sustainable pathways out of homelessness and develop skills for long-term success. Y2Y provides opportunities for both guests and volunteers to become the next generation’s leading advocates for young adult-driven solutions to homelessness.

Established in 1972 to address the under representation and misrepresentation of women in the media industry, Women Make Movies is a multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organization which facilitates the production, promotion, distribution and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women. The organization provides services to both users and makers of film and video programs, with a special emphasis on supporting work by women of color. Women Make Movies facilitates the development of feminist media through an internationally recognized Distribution Service and a Production Assistance Program.