Announcements
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.243 Sunday, 9 October 2022
From: Richard A. Strier <
Date: October 7 at 6:17 PM EDT
Subject: Shakespearean issues: Agency, Skepticism, and other Puzzles Zoom Book Launch
There will be a zoom “launch” for Richard Strier’s Shakespearean issues: Agency, Skepticism, and other Puzzles on Thursday October 20th at 4:30 central (5:30 eastern). If you are interested in participating, email Strier at
Richard Strier
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.239 Friday, 7 October 2022
From: Sally-Beth MacLean <
Date: October 6 at 2:47 PM EDT
Subject: Announcing REED Cambridgeshire
We are delighted to announce the open access publication of REED’s digital edition for Cambridgeshire, ed. John A. Geck, on REED Online (ereed.library.utoronto.ca). Please take a look and share the attached flyer with others in your network:
Sally-Beth MacLean
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.238 Thursday, 6 October 2022
From: Ari Friedlander <
Date: October 5 at 3:56 PM EDT
Subject: Rogue Sexuality Zoom Book Launch
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to invite you to the launch of my book, Rogue Sexuality in Early Modern English Literature: Desire, Status, Biopolitics (OUP, 2022), organized by the Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies at UMass, on Tuesday, 10/18, at 4:30 pm Eastern/3:30 Central time. The event will take place on Zoom. You can register and find more information here: https://www.umass.edu/hfa/event/book-launch-ari-friedlander-university-mississippi.
The event will feature a conversation between myself and Mario DiGangi (Professor of English at the CUNY Graduate Center and Lehman College) about the book’s arguments regarding queer theory, early modern social status, and Renaissance literature.
Thank you all for all of your support. It would be great to see some of you there.
All best,
Ari
P.S. If you’d like to order the book, it is available on the OUP website (with 30% off with code AAFLYG6): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/rogue-sexuality-in-early-modern-english-literature-9780192863171?cc=us&lang=en&
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.232 Thursday, 29 September 2022
From: Darren Freebury-Jones <
Date: September 29 at 12:04 PM EDT
Subject: Richard Wilson
Dear SHAKSPERians,
I am deeply saddened to hear of Professor Richard Wilson’s ill health. Like so many others, I was inspired by his lectures at Cardiff University, which introduced the works of not only Shakespeare but also such contemporary authors as Christopher Marlowe in an engaging, brilliant, most oratorically dexterous way. Nobody who has ever met Richard or heard him speak at conferences and events could ever forget him; he is a blazing star in Shakespeare scholarship and a truly unique voice.
Here is a fund page with further information on Richard and his partner’s situation: https://www.gofundme.com/f/richards-hospital-fees-and-his-uk-repatriation?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer
Darren Freebury-Jones.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.219 Thursday, 1 September 2022
From: Darren Freebury-Jones <
Date: August 31 at 2:58 PM EDT
Subject: Self-led course on Macbeth
Dear SHAKSPERians,
I am delighted to announce the launch of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s self-led digital course on Macbeth. You can find out more and preview content here: https://learn.shakespeare.org.uk/p/self-led-learning-macbeth
Darren Freebury-Jones
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.217 Wednesday, 31 August 2022
From: Thomas Dabbs <
Date: August 30 at 3:39 PM EDT
Subject: Fiona Ritchie: Speaking of Shakespeare
This is a talk with Fiona Ritchie of McGill University about her forthcoming book on 18th-century theatre entitled ‘Shakespeare in the Theatre: Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble’: https://youtu.be/0hu7vZi3LGQ
The full list of talks in this series is at: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpeakingofShakespeare
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.212 Thursday, 25 August 2022
From: Grant Smith <
Date: August 25 at 1:28 AM EDT
Subject: CFP: The Evolution of Shakespeare’s Names on Screen, Stage, and Page
The Evolution of Shakespeare’s Names on Screen, Stage, and Page
“What’s in a name?” is a question that has attracted much attention for many years. Although recent interest is obvious, much remains yet to be done in understanding Shakespeare’s borrowings, coinages, and influence.
The seminar “The Evolution of Shakespeare’s Names on Screen, Stage, and Page”, which will be convened during the 2023 conference organised by ESRA, thus invites contributions which include (but are not restricted to) the following topics:
- Shakespeare’s name changes within plays and from sources. From names to nicknames, a substantial number of names have been altered. The act of naming and renaming should be explored to understand the mechanisms and effects of this phenomenon.
- The evolution of names in print. How have the different editions of the playwright’s works influenced the status and nature of the characters’ names? What does it tell us about the treatment of names by Shakespeare, his printers, and our contemporary editors?
- The influence of Shakespeare. Henry Fielding alludes to Shakespeare’s names: “[W]herefore art thou Tom Thumb?” (Henry Fielding, Tom Thumb. A tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre in the hay-market, London: J. Roberts, 1730, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, 2.1., T125610, 8). It would thus be appropriate to study the way in which names coined by the playwright has influenced other authors and the debate on names.
- Names on stage and screen. How do contemporary directors convey the meaning of a name knowing that its lexemes had different connotations in early modern England?
- Translating and “tradapting” names. How do non-anglophone translators and directors world-wide deal with the characters’ names?
- The mystery behind names. The authorship question and the search for the identity of some characters (e.g., John Falstaff) have triggered a flurry of interest. What are the most recent findings and more importantly, why are these questions so crucial?
- Onomastics and Shakespeare. How have the recent studies on Shakespearean names changed our understanding of the playwright’s works?
Please send a 250-word abstract, accompanied by a 100-word biography, to Charlène Cruxent (
Grant W. Smith
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.208 Sunday, 21 August 2022
From: Dennis Taylor <
Date: August 20 at 2:02 PM EDT
Subject: Book Announcement
Congratulations to Richard Strier on his new book. Might I announce my own (which often cites Strier!): Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Reformation: Literary Negotiation of Religious Difference, available from Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield) and from Amazon.
Dennis Taylor
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.207 Thursday, 18 August 2022
From: Richard A. Strier <
Date: August 17 at 5:17 PM EDT
Subject: Book Announcement
Dear Fellow Shakespeareans,
I am happy to announce that my Shakespearean Issues: Agency, Skepticism, and Other Puzzles, is now available from University of Pennsylvania Press and from Amazon. I look forward to reactions of all kinds.
Richard Strier
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.205 Thursday, 11 August 2022
From: Evelyn Gajowski <
Date: August 10 at 1:27 PM EDT
Subject: Christian A. Smith
Dear SHAKSPERians,
Our Shakespeare colleague, Christian Smith, who was active in SAA, ESRA, BSA, MLA, etc., just passed away in Berlin on Saturday, 6 August.
Too young. Too soon. Too much death.
CHRISTIAN A. SMITH
I am saddened to let you know that Christian Smith passed away in his sleep on the morning of Saturday, 6 Aug. 2022. He is survived by his partner, Annie Barker, in Berlin and by family members in Los Angeles. He earned his PhD in the Department of English and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick, where he worked as a Teaching Fellow. He was awarded an Honorary Shakespeare Research Fellowship at Kingston University London. Routledge recently published his monograph, Shakespeare’s Influence on Karl Marx: The Shakespearean Roots of Marxism (2022). He co-edited a Karl Marx bicentennial special issue of the journal, Shakespeare, and contributed the chapter, “Marxist studies,” to The Arden Research Handbook of Contemporary Shakespeare Criticism (2021, 2022). He was also active in many professional associations: SAA (Shakespeare Assn. of America), ESRA (European Shakespeare Research Assn.), BSA (British Shakespeare Assn.), MLA (Modern Language Assn. of America), and Kingston Shakespeare, having co-organized and co-led several paper panels and research seminars in recent years. His authoritative, vigorous, and spirited presence at these meetings will be dearly missed.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 33.181 Monday, 11 July 2022
From: Jacqueline Marie Burek <
Date: July 11, 2022 at 4:28 AM EDT
Subject: Job Posting
The George Mason University Department of English seeks applicants for a full-time one-year renewable position (Term Assistant Professor) in Early Modern British Literature and Composition to begin in the Fall 2022 semester. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason’s academic and culturally inclusive environment.
Located just 15 miles from Washington, DC, George Mason University is the largest and most diverse public institution of higher education in Virginia and one of the most diverse nationwide, including approximately 60% students of color; 39% first-generation college students; and 40-60% multilingual students. Its faculty, staff, and students work collaboratively to build a foundation that allows for a diversity of cultures, opinions, and perspectives to flourish. Mason’s inclusivity draws from across the U.S. and the globe and helps create the framework that is representative of the vibrant landscape in which it resides. Mason’s English Department is home to a diverse and collegial faculty committed to excellence, innovation, community and public service, inclusion, and social equity.
We offer a BA in English with seven concentrations: cultural studies, creative writing, film and media studies, folklore and mythology, linguistics, literature, and writing and rhetoric. Along with the BA, we award the only BFA in creative writing in Virginia. Our graduate curriculum includes MA and MFA programs in several disciplines, along with PhD programs in Linguistics and Writing and Rhetoric. You can find more information about the department at https://english.gmu.edu/. The Composition Program is actively engaged in the development of curricula and pedagogical approaches that support Mason’s diverse student populations and hopes to engage new faculty in this work. Its courses are part of a vertical writing curriculum that includes general education writing requirements at the first-year and junior levels taught by the faculty in the Composition Program, Writing Intensive courses in the major, and synthesis and capstone courses across the university. For additional information about the program, please visit https://composition.gmu.edu.
Responsibilities:
This position carries a 4-4 course load, with teaching responsibility split between literature and composition. Literature courses will include upper-division and general education courses in early modern literature, especially Shakespeare. Composition courses will include first-year composition and/or advanced composition (separate sections of advanced composition offered for business, humanities, social science, natural science, and multidisciplinary). Schedule may include classes that begin as early as 7:30 a.m. or as late as 7:20 p.m. Most classes in the English department are small (27 students or fewer), though there are a few larger classes.
This is a full-time instructional position without an expectation of research or creative activities. The starting salary is $60,000, plus benefits. Term faculty are eligible for multi-year contracts and promotion, as well as internal grants. This position requires presence on the Fairfax Campus; it cannot be carried out remotely, although candidates may have opportunities to teach online and to work remotely at times depending on their class schedule.
Qualifications:
Required qualifications: a doctorate in English or an allied field, with evidence of completion by August 2022; demonstrated expertise in early modern literature and in composition pedagogy; and strong capacities and dedication to undergraduate teaching.
Strongly preferred qualifications: significant experience teaching both literature and composition courses, graduate coursework in composition pedagogy and early modern literature, experience in online or hybrid writing instruction, and experience with anti-racist pedagogies and/or second language pedagogies.
The ideal candidate will be able to develop innovative courses in early modern literature and advance the teaching of composition at GMU. The department especially encourages candidates who will contribute to the diversity of the faculty.
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. For full consideration, applicants should do the following by July 14, 2022:
- Apply for position number F8800z at http://jobs.gmu.edu/
- Complete and submit the online application
- Upload a cover letter; curriculum vitae; a sample syllabus for an upper-division or general education course on Shakespeare; and a syllabus, along with a major assignment with grading criteria, from a recent composition course. (Sample syllabi should include week-by-week calendar of assignments and readings.) If selected for an interview, we will request two letters of recommendation.