Wiley Teaching Shakespeare: Passing It On

This contemplative anthology offers personal essays by noted scholars on a range of topics related to the teaching of Shakespeare. Ideal for the graduate student, it addresses many of the primary concerns and rewards of the discipline, drawing on the variety of special skills, interests, and experiences brought to the classroom by the volume's distinguished contributors. Offers insight into the classroom practices, special skills, interests, and experiences of some of the most distinguished Shakespearean scholars in the fieldFeatures essayists who reflect on the experience of teaching Shakespeare at university level; how they approach the subject and why they think it is important to teachProvides anecdotal and practical advice for any reader interested in teaching the works of ShakespeareEngagingly candid Review "The focus of this often inspiring book is the teaching of Shakespeare at university level. It had never occurred to me that anything as sophisticated as a pedagogy might actually underpin university teaching." (Early Theatre, 2010) Review "This is a dangerous book: it induces intense envy of the students who take classes with these brilliant Shakespeare teachers and it encourages immediate theft for our own courses of the classroom ideas that the authors so exhilaratingly describe in their chapters. Above all it forces us to reconsider how we teach Shakespeare and to rethink what kinds of discovery we want to make with our students. Shand and his team are wonderful guides, helping us profoundly to understand the contexts and circumstances of our teaching and our learning." –Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame From the Inside Flap This collection of personal essays offers a reflective window into the lifelong calling that is Shakespeare in the university classroom. It acknowledges the traditions in which these scholars work and the teachers who have advised and inspired them. Representing a broad range of approaches to the discipline and the profession, the essayists write about why teaching Shakespeare matters, and why they do it the way they do. Deliberately designed not to be a manual, this is a contemplative anthology of anecdotal and practical advice from experienced teachers, many of whom have been publicly honored for their teaching. The essays are engagingly candid: reading them is like being a fly on the wall of some of the most exciting classrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.No one who teaches Shakespeare, or who is contemplating teaching it, will fail to be encouraged and instructed — even mentored — by the personal reflections found within this volume. From the Back Cover This collection of personal essays offers a reflective window into the lifelong calling that is Shakespeare in the university classroom. It acknowledges the traditions in which these scholars work and the teachers who have advised and inspired them. Representing a broad range of approaches to the discipline and the profession, the essayists write about why teaching Shakespeare matters, and why they do it the way they do. Deliberately designed not to be a manual, this is a contemplative anthology of anecdotal and practical advice from experienced teachers, many of whom have been publicly honored for their teaching. The essays are engagingly candid: reading them is like being a fly on the wall of some of the most exciting classrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.No one who teaches Shakespeare, or who is contemplating teaching it, will fail to be encouraged and instructed — even mentored — by the personal reflections found within this volume. About the Author THE EDITORG. B. SHAND, Senior Scholar at York University’s Glendon College, writes on teaching early modern drama, and on text and performance. He edited both prose and poetry for Oxford’s Complete Middleton. As text coach, he has assisted on professional productions in Canada and at Shakespeare’s Globe T