Pop Culture Shakespeare
Class Information
Instructor: Schuhmacher, Kirsten
CRN: 51360
Time: TR 2:10-4:40
Location: 127 Wellman
GE Areas: Domestic Diversity Visual
Description
William Shakespeare is a figure that continues to proliferate in American culture 400 years after his death. Why does Shakespeare?s life and works continue to capture our attention and fuel our own creativity? In this course, we will explore Shakespeare as popular figure and examine how his works are reimagined in popular culture. While Shakespeare?s plays were originally written for the stage, adaptations and extensions of his plays have emerged in a wide variety of media that change how we interact with his work. As we engage with different media, we?ll think critically about why the Bard remains such a popular figure and consider how popular reimaginings of his plays both draw from Shakespeare?s original work as well as create a new text for our current moment. Throughout the course we will use media and adaptation theory to examine a variety of texts ? the original plays, graphic novels, video games, virtual reality performances, movies, news articles, and podcasts.
All of Shakespeare's plays will be provided as PDFs. I recommend getting physical copies for ease of reading, but you do not need to if you prefer PDFs.
Grading
In addition to regular attendance and engagement in lectures and small group activities, students will complete a term project: produce an adaptation (in any medium) of one or more of the plays we are reading this quarter.
Texts
Prince of Cats, Wimberly
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
Cymbeline, Shakespeare
Twelfth Night, Shakespeare
Coriolanus, Shakespeare