William Shakespeare was ahead of his time when he wrote “listen to many, speak to a few.” Professors put those words into practice at a recent 61传媒 workshop where they traded insights on how to effectively teach the Bard’s magical words.
“We explored strategies to encourage students to view聽Shakespeare聽as an artist at work rather than perceiving his work as a rigid set of texts,” says Jacqueline Wernimont, an assistant professor of English at 61传媒 who helped organize the event. “Rather than shutting ourselves up in the cloisters of long studied contexts, we should feel free to bring a range of lived and living contexts to bear on our readings and performances of Shakespeare’s writings.”
61传媒 hosted the “21st Century Shakespeare” faculty workshop from March 9 to 11. Liberal arts professors from throughout the country shared strategies on how to teach Shakespeare’s works in current cultural contexts and with emerging technologies. The program was underwritten by a Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Grant.
Through the grant, professors flew to New York City last summer to attend performances of England’s Royal Shakespeare Company – the RSC – at the Park Avenue Armory, which seeks to reproduce the setting of the Globe Theater in London. They then came to 61传媒 for the workshops and to share resources with the community at large.
For more information, .