Forecast for the Fall Semester: TemFest Celebrates The Tempest, Dec. 3
The syllabi are in, and there’s definitely something stormy and Shakespearean coming our way! That’s right, it is not in error that William Shakespeare’s The Tempest appears on the syllabus of so many classes this semester. On the contrary, it’s a conscious, calculated effort on the part of Profs. Jeffrey Cohen and Jennifer James to incorporate what Cohen calls a “living text” into courses throughout the English department. And to what does all this Tempest talk lead up? Well, TemFest of course!
The idea for a TemFest came from faculty dialogue after last spring’s MEMSI symposium Race? Prof. James explains “the idea for collectively revisiting Shakespeare’s The Tempest emerged from an email conversation I initiated with MEMSI Faculty about the figure of Caliban.” (At the time, James was preparing to teach the play in a graduate course, “Slavery, Britain and the Americas.”)
Prof. Cohen shared James’ awe at the power and potential The Tempest possesses in fields of study outside of English Lit. At this point, the scholastic storm was already brewing…
Here’s a list of classes revisiting/referencing The Tempest this semester:
Eng 042W Myths of Britain w/Jeffrey Cohen
Eng 051W Introductory English Class w/ Lowell Duckert
English 160W Early American Literature and Culture w/Ormond Seavey
Eng 072W Intro to American Literature (in the form of A Mercy) w/Evelyn Schreiber
Eng 127 Shakespeare course w/Patrick Cook (which will include a slide show that explores varying representations of the character Caliban…!)
Eng 127 Shakespeare’s Uncanny Globe w/ Gil Harris
Eng 209 a graduate seminar entitled: Becoming Indian in Early Modern Travel Writing, also w/Gil Harris
