Pop Culture Shakespeare
Class Information
Instructor: Bloom, Gina
CRN: 62126
Time: TR 10:30-11:50
GE Areas: Domestic Diversity Visual
Description
The theatrical stage has always been a popular medium for Shakespeare's plays, but the plays have also been adapted for other media, especially film and video. Today, Shakespearean drama is transposed to just about every media form imaginable, and this great range of popular culture adaptations is the focus of our course.
We will begin by examining Shakespeare on film, moving outward to consider how Shakespeare's plays are rendered on other screens (social media and videogames) and off-screen (comic books, music, and board/role-playing games). How does adapting Shakespeare for popular audiences and different forms of media affect the meaning of Shakespeare's plays? How can Shakespeare help us think anew about the process of adaptation and the media forms used for creating Shakespeare today?
This course fulfills the Domestic Diversity and Visual Literacy General Education requirements.
Class will meet synchronously on Zoom on Thursdays. All other work for the course will be done asynchronously. Students will need to purchase copies of the books below; other works will be made available via Canvas.
Texts
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
Othello, Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
Kill Shakespeare, vol 1 (graphic novel), McCreery and Del Col