5 Shakespeare Scholars on the Past, Present, and Future of Theater Amid COVID-19

A discussion between Emma Smith, James Shapiro, Jeffrey Wilson and Vanessa Corredera.  Moderated by Scott Newstok.

“It’s strange to think that on the day we began contemplating a roundtable to mark William Shakespeare’s 456th birthday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo created a containment zone in the city of New Rochelle, formerly the epicenter of the state’s coronavirus outbreak. We were on the eve of the pandemic declaration and approaching the day Broadway would go dark for the first time since 9/11. It became apparent that just as the death toll would rise, so too would there be consequences for the social and cultural fabrics that bind us to one another.

Briefly, the prospect of a conversation centered on the Bard seemed, at best, like a convenient escape. But the following discussion, between five scholars who have devoted their careers situating Shakespeare alongside issues of performance, education, identity, partisanship and more, feels uniquely primed to our moment. It is an essential guide to the possible futures of our collective engagement with theater…”

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First published on Literary Hub, April 23, 2020

Education in the time of COVID-19

Emily Levine and Matthew Rascoff look at the ‘new normal’ in higher education.

“…despite the challenges and instability facing learning institutions, and the personal interruptions of all our lives, learning is still happening -- perhaps more than ever. As in previous crises, it is happening in new ways and in different spaces, such as the conferencing system Zoom and the open learning platform Coursera. These moves may hold clues for possible directions for higher education after the pandemic subsides.”

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The value of the humanities

The complexities of contemporary existence cannot do without humanities. With technology overtaking human roles in our activities and even our thoughts through artificial intelligence, [the] humanities need to go through a renaissance of its own so that it remains relevant to modern times. It needs a radical restructuring of its scope and its practical implications. In spite of the fact that our lives are dictated by science, technology and economics, it goes without saying that the fundamental questions of who we are and how we ought to live still remain rather puzzling, writes Rudrashis Datta, Assistant Professor in English at Pritilata Waddedar Mahavidyalaya in Nadia, Bengal.  Read more here.