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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0068  Thursday, 1 February 2007

From: 		Hardy M. Cook <editor@shaksper.net>
Date: 		Thursday, February 01, 2007
Subject: 	Apology/Explanation and Roundtable Clarification

Dear SHAKSPERens,

Let me apologize for (or rather explain) the recent, brief, unannounced 
hiatus. This is the first week of classes, and I previously was in 
denial about returning to work after the winter break. Anyway, I simply 
had pressing matters to deal with that were more important than editing 
SHAKSPER. But, then again, in the past three or four years, I have, 
thankfully, gotten less obsessive about the list than I had been 
formerly and now I simply miss days when my workload or health take 
precedence.

My private correspondence, some people seem to be confused about 
Roundtable procedures. Of course, this is no wonder since we are 
beginning a new enterprise on SHAKSPER. Apparently, my use of the phrase 
"those of you who wish to participate in the Roundtable discussions" has 
caused some confusion.

To begin, let me assure members that I have never contemplated not 
sending ALL SHAKSPER postings to All members of the list.

My intention here, however, is to distinguish Roundtable discussions 
from the quotidian traffic on the list. One way that I plan to do this 
is to send out only ONE Roundtable digest per week (I'm planning on 
doing this on Tuesdays).  After a Roundtable digest is distributed, 
those members who have an academic interest in the topic under 
discussion will reply. I will send those replies to the Guest Moderator, 
who will organize and comment on the responses and provide a brief 
summary of the week's exchanges. The Guest Moderator will then send all 
of this back to me, and I will organize and format the materials into 
the week's Roundtable digest, which will then be mailed to members I 
hope on Tuesday. I have no idea how well or poorly this plan will work, 
and I imagine that Hugh and I will modify it as we go along.

Now back to the misunderstanding, the Roundtable concept came to me as 
yet another way to try to raise the level of discourse on the list. 
Because there is a Reading List and because the Roundtable subjects are 
selected from topics of current interest to the disciplines of 
Shakespeare or Early Modern Studies, my desire is that those who 
contribute to the discussions be knowledgeable, informed, and familiar 
with the issues involved. I am not looking for casual off-the-cuff 
remarks. Everyone will receive and be able to read and follow the 
Roundtable discussions, but participants are expected to have read from 
the selections on the Reading List and to be conversant with the 
parameters of the Roundtable topic.

For the past year, I have been attempting to return SHAKSPER to its 
academic roots and, in this case, to provide scholars around the world 
with an alternative venue to conferences and publications to talk and to 
explore ideas.

Hardy M. Cook
Editor

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, editor@shaksper.net
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the 
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the 
editor assumes no responsibility for them.

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