Never say no to cheap Shakespeare

The invention of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century played a major role in the creation of Renaissance culture and in the development of the modern world. Without the printing press, the Protestant Reformation and the Scientific Revolution might not have spread throughout Europe, poem- and novel-writing might not have become viable professions,…

I know readers of this blog were eagerly awaiting highlights from the department annual report for 2009-10. Drum roll, please. Summary statement: English is a healthy and productive unit that contributes to CCAS and University objectives in teaching, research, and service. Our faculty are highly productive, publishing scholarly and creative writing. As evidenced by course…

Dennis Kennedy, a distinguished scholar working on performance and cultural studies will be visiting GW. On Monday, November 12, from 1-2 pm, in Rome Hall 771, Dr. Kennedy will be presenting an illustrated lecture on “The Culture of the Spectator.” Currently Beckett Professor of Drama Emeritus in Trinity College Dublin, Kennedy will consider examples from sports,…

We are very pleased to have Rajiv Menon join us this fall as the second Communications Liaison, an undergraduate internship position charged with disseminating news about the department and fostering a better sense of community among our majors. I asked Rajiv to compose a short paragraph of introduction, and this is what he offered: I’m…

by J J Cohen So you may have heard that the DC area has gone a bit overboard in prepping for the Inauguration and its attendant hoopla. All bridges to Virginia, for example, will be closed — apparently to prevent Karl Rove from leaving his home in Arlington and mingling with the multitudes. I am…

Prof. Evelyn Schreiber brought this cake to the department lounge today. It’s one layer of a birthday cake made to celebrate Toni Morrison’s 80th birthday at the Library of Congress last year. (This layer spent a year in Prof. Schreiber’s freezer.) Here is the cake in its original incarnation: This layer represents Morrison’s latest novel,…