ENG25-26 Shakespeare for Teachers
Course name
Shakespeare for TeachersUniversity
RUGEC
5/6 ECCourse date
semester 1 (2025 - 2026)Registration open until
Location
Utrecht/GroningenInstructor(s)
Dr. Hans Jansen (RUG) & Dr. Esther van Raamsdonk (UU)E-mail contact
Hans JansenCourse objectives
With successful completion of the course, students will:
- Have developed a critical intellectual foundation for teaching Shakespeare;
- Be able to recognize defining characteristics and concerns of Shakespearean drama;
- Be able to analyze and discuss the rich, complex language of Shakespeare’s plays;
- Be able to situate Shakespeare’s drama in the realities of the early modern playhouse;
- Be able to discuss adaptation and performance approaches to Shakespeare’s work;
- Have mastered different dramatic techniques to explore Shakespeare’s drama;
- Have become aware of classroom integration of Shakespeare’s dramatic works.
Course content
Knowledge of, and familiarity with, Shakespeare’s plays and poems remain vital components of understanding English language, literature, and culture. This course deepens and broadens that knowledge and familiarity by closely attending to two or three of Shakespeare’s plays, and by bringing contemporary, topical critical lenses to bear on those works. Through close reading, engagement with critical theory, and discussions of performance productions, films, and interpretations of the plays, students will hone their skills in critical reading and writing and gain an essential academic grounding for teaching Shakespeare themselves.
We will spend several weeks studying A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello and Romeo and Juliet as three plays most suited for young audiences. We will pay special attention to performance aspects, adaptation, language, and the perspective of gender studies and adaptation studies. in addition, we will visit the Shakespearetheater in Diever for a theatre production of Midzomernachtsdroom and a tour.
Educational perspective
This course will help students develop the expertise needed for teaching Shakespeare and it will encourage them to develop their own best tools for that teaching.
Course requirements / Language proficiency
A strong command of spoken and written English is essential to succeed in this course. Basic knowledge of Shakespeare and drama in English is recommended.
Assessment
Format
Seminars and lectures; independent research. There will be seven seminars and lectures, three of which will be on-site, and the rest will be online.
The course will include viewing of the plays online, and a visit to the Shakespearetheater in Diever.
Exam
Research essay 100%
For this assignment you will develop a class around one of the plays under discussion and you will draw on one of the theoretical lenses discussed during the course. Your paper will contain assignments and activities for different age groups, involving the text as well as online theatre productions. This essay will be 3000 words (including references) and will be formatted in MLA style. Note: You must earn at least a 6 on this assignment in order to pass the course.
Study load
5 ECTS (=140 hours)
Seminars: 7 x 3 = 21 hrs
Excursion to Diever: 6 hrs
Reading and preparatory work per week: 6 x 12 = 72 hrs
Research essay: 41 hrs
UvA/VU
Students who need 6 ECTS may elect to do an extra assignment. This must be determined with your lecturer in week 1.
Background literature and course materials
Ralph Alan Cohen, ShakesFear and How to Cure It, The Arden Shakespeare, 2018, ISBN 978-14742-2971-8
Shakespeare, William, Othello, ed. by Janet Coles; Cambridge School Shakespeare, third edition, 2014 ISBN 978-1-107-61559-5
Shakespeare, William, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ed. by Linda Buckle; Cambridge School Shakespeare, fourth edition, 2014; ISBN 978-1-107-61545-8
Shakespeare, William, Romeo and Juliet, ed. by Rob Smith; Cambridge School Shakespeare, Fourth ed. 2014, ISBN 978-1-107-61540-3
Recommended: Abigail Rokison, Shakespeare for Young People, The Arden Shakespeare, 2013, ISBN 9781441125569
Costs: €70
Further information
Schedule
07-11-2025 (UU, Utrecht) 14:00-17:00
14-11-2025 (Online) 14:00-17:00
21-11-2025 (UU, Utrecht) 14:00-17:00
28-11-2025 (Online) 14:00-17:00
29-11-2025 (Saturday) Excursion to Diever whole Saturday
05-12-2025 (Online) 14:00-17:00
12-12-2025 (RUG, Groningen) 14:00-17:00
19-12-2025 (Online) 14:00-17:00
Note: On Saturday 29 November we will visit the Shakespearetheater in Diever, for a tour of the theatre and a matinee performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (in Dutch). Attendance at this day is essential for participation in the course. It is your responsibility to make sure you can be in the village of Diver on time. Diever can be reached by car, or by public transportation. If you travel by car, the address is Hezenes 3, Diever (if you have a car and are willing to ive fellow students a lift, we can try and arrange that on Friday). If you come by public transportation from the North: take the train to Assen, and then the number 20 bus to Steenwijk, getting off at the busstop Dingspilhuis Diever. If you come from the South, take the train to Meppel, and there the number 28 bus to Dwingeloo, and change at Dieverbrug for the number 20 to Steenwijk, getting off at Dingspilhuis Diever. Aim for an arrival around 12.15 (i.e. the 11.11 am bus from Meppel/ 11.02 from Assen). We are expected at the theatre at 12.15 for the tour. The show itself starts at 3.30 pm. You should be able to leave for home around 6 pm.