Prof. Gil Harris Receives NEH/Folger Library Residential Fellowship
For the 2008-09 academic year, Professor Jonathan Gil Harris will be leaving his post at GW to assume his fellowship at the Folger Shakespeare Library here in Washington, DC.
Prof. Gil Harris will be doing research at the Folger for his new book Shakespeare and Literary Theory, which has already been commissioned by Oxford University Press for its Oxford Shakespeare Topics series. In his project proposal, Gil Harris writes, “The book will consider the four centuries-long relation between Shakespeare and theories of literary production and critical analysis.” His new research at the Folger’s impressive collection will focus on early modern critical works as well as the Folger’s archived periodicals from 1800 to present. Different from other scholars’ work that applies theory to Shakespeare, Prof. Gil Harris’s book will “tease out the ways in which modern theory has always been ‘Shakespearean’ and Shakespeare’s writing had always been ‘theoretical.'”
Although GW will miss having Prof. Gil Harris teaching full-time, his book and fellowship bring great pride to the University. Plus, he won’t be too far away.
