Shakespeare education is being reimagined around the world. This book delves into the important role of collaborative projects in this extraordinary transformation. Over twenty innovative Shakespeare partnerships from the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe and South America are critically explored by their leaders and participants. –Structured into thematic sections covering engagement with schools, universities, the public, the digital and performance, the chapters offer vivid insights into what it means to teach, learn and experience Shakespeare in collaboration with others. Diversity, equality, identity, incarceration, disability, community and culture are key factors in these initiatives, which together reveal how complex and humane Shakespeare education can be. Whether you are interested in practice or theory, this collection showcases an abundance of rich, inspiring and informative perspectives on Shakespeare education in our contemporary world.
Introduction: Projecting Shakespeare Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel; Part I. Reimagining Shakespeare with/in Schools: Introduction Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel; 1. Shakespeare Schools Foundation: the classroom as theatre Stuart Rathe and Francesca Ellis; 2. Shakespeare and citizenship in France Florence March; 3. Bell Shakespeare: exploring the power of Shakespeare in primary school contexts Joanna Erskine and Robyn Ewing AM; 4. The Better Strangers / Shakespeare Reloaded Project: seeking educational ardenspaces Andrew Hood and Liam E. Semler; Part II. Reimagining Shakespeare with/in Universities: Introduction Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel; 5. 'Radical Mischief': the Other Place collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and the University of Birmingham Mary Davies; 6. The Shakespeare's Globe / King's College London MA Shakespeare Studies: the first twenty years of collaboration Farah Karim-Cooper, Gordon McMullan, Lucy Munro and Will Tosh; 7. The Warwick-Monash co-teaching initiative: Shakespeare and portal pedagogy Fiona Gregory, Gabriel García Ochoa and Paul Prescott; 8. Shakespeare in and out of prison: a collaboration between the World Shakespeare Project and Shakespeare Central Sheila T. Cavanagh and Steve Rowland; Part III. Public Reimaginings: Introduction Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel; 9. Hecate: adaptation, education and cultural activism Clint Bracknell with Kylie Bracknell; 10. 'I'll teach you differences': learning across languages with Fórum Shakespeare (Brazil) Catherine Silverstone, Bridget Escolme and Paul Heritage; 11. The pop-up Globe: designing and learning to play an 'empathy drum' Miles Gregory and Tim Fitzpatrick; 12. The place of Shakespeare North: histories, dynamics and educational aims Elspeth Graham; Part IV. Digital Reimaginings: Introduction Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel; 13. Reimagining Shakespeare, linking archives, and the 'living variorum' Peter S. Donaldson; 14. Collaborative rhizomatic learning and global Shakespeares Alexa Alice Joubin; 15. Linked Early Modern Drama Online: a new editorial and encoding platform for Shakespeare and his contemporaries Janelle Jenstad; 16. Play the Knave theatre videogame in schools: from glitchy connections to virtual collaboration Gina Bloom and Amanda Shores; Part V. Reimagining Performance: Introduction Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel; 17. Flute theatre, Shakespeare and autism Kelly Hunter and Robert Shaughnessy; 18. The Viola Project: Learning to defy gender norms on stage and off Skyler Schrempp; 19. 'All corners else o'th'Earth let liberty make use of': the Shakespeare Prison Project Steve Dunne and Rob Pensalfini; 20. Teaching Shakespeare in Oman: exploring shared humanity and cultural difference through Shakespeare's texts Tracy Irish and Aileen Gonsalves; 21. Edward's boys in the south of France: inventing an international, collaborative ardenspace Perry Mills and Janice Valls-Russell; Afterword: majestic visions Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel.
Liam E. Semler is Professor of Early Modern Literature at the University of Sydney, where he also leads the Better Strangers project. He is co-editor (with Gillian Woods) of the Cambridge Elements in Shakespeare and Pedagogy series. His recent books include The Early Modern Grotesque: English Sources and Documents (2019) and Coriolanus: A Critical Reader (2021). Claire Hansen is Lecturer in English at the Australian National University. Her research interests include place-based approaches to Shakespeare, ecocriticism, the blue humanities and health humanities. She is the author of the Element Shakespeare and Place-Based Learning (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming) and Shakespeare and Complexity Theory (2017). Jacqueline Manuel is Professor of English Education in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. Her areas of research, scholarship and publication include student engagement with literature, creativity in English education, English curriculum history and Shakespeare education.
Reviews for Reimagining Shakespeare Education: Teaching and Learning through Collaboration
'What I admire about Reimagining Shakespeare Education is the line it treads between critique and possibility. Shakespeare is both the problem, and, as these creative, inclusive and self-aware projects demonstrate, the potential solution. Anyone picking up this book will find something new and stimulating, and often moving, about the ways Shakespeare can be deployed with different cohorts in different settings.' Emma Smith, Oxford University 'This lively, diverse collection provides both a wide-ranging survey of contemporary pedagogical engagements with Shakespeare and a state-of-the-field overview of critical, theoretical, and practical work on Shakespeare and performance. It will be a valuable resource for all teachers, students, and theatre-makers who are interested in the origins and the future of the media and institutions through which we encounter, create, and disseminate Shakespeare's plays and new knowledge about them.' Jeremy Lopez, University of Toronto
