Almost four decades ago, with the publication of The Flame and the Flower, the boom in North American romance publication was launched. Three decades ago major critical work on the popular romance began to appear.

Popular Romance in the New Millennium will gather presenters who can put the romance in fresh perspective, who can point us toward the future of romance and romance criticism, and who can help us understand the place of the popular romance in the 21st century.

Presentations will explore romances old and new from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Pedagogy, the teaching of romance, will be an important focus of the conference.

*Free transportation to Westminster for all presenters from the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and the BWI Thurgood Marshall Amtrak station will be provided. McDaniel College's 160-acre campus overlooks Westminster, a walkable town with a population of about 18,000.