This upper-division English class introduces students to a range of English plays from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries -- the lively, word-coining, world-making era commonly known as the English Renaissance or Early Modern period. In addition to traditional activities such as lectures, guided discussion, journal-writing, and quizzes, students will also participate in at least one "outward-facing," public impact experiential project (note, however, that this class does not fulfill your Experiential Learning requirement, because not every person who teaches this class offers those experiential components). We'll decide as a class what we would like that activity to include, but here are some things I have done in the past:

1. Sometimes I have my students write research papers that they then summarize and present (as posters) to the public during Shakespeare's birthday week as part of a symposium that the students help organize.
2. Sometimes I have students collaborate with faculty or students at other institutions on digital humanities research projects such as the Map of Early Modern London or (for 2019) the Kit Marlowe Project. I won't have details about what students might do for the Kit Marlowe Project until I have my scheduled meeting with the project director in early December.
3. Sometimes I have students perform scenes from early modern plays (or adaptations that students have written) for a live audience during our scheduled Exam period.
4. Sometimes I have students create and publish web-resources for a target audience that the students identify and from whom  students collect feedback before revising the resource better to suit that audience's needs.

What these projects have in common is that they require students to conduct guided independent research (whether scholarly, archival, arts-based, or pedagogical) and then to present their results to a wider audience. Students will need to become comfortable with both the research process and with the dissemination of that research in real-world, high-stakes venues.

Books (you must get these editions)

Thomas Heywood, A Woman Killed With Kindness

New Mermaid edition

• ISBN-10: 9780713666908
• ISBN-13: 978-0713666908

Christopher Marlowe, Four Plays

New Mermaid edition

• ISBN-10: 1408149494
• ISBN-13: 978-1408149492

Elizabeth Cary, The Tragedy of Mariam, Fair Queen of Jewry

New Mermaid edition

• ISBN-10: 0713688769
• ISBN-13: 978-0713688764

Ben Jonson, Epicoene

New Mermaid edition

• ISBN-10: 0713666684
• ISBN-13: 978-0713666687

Thomas Kyd, John Ford, and John Webster, Four Revenge Tragedies

New Mermaid edition

• ISBN-10: 9781408159606
• ISBN-13: 978-1408159606

Additional Materials/Costs 

Note: A limited number of scholarships are available for student costs associated with Experiential Learning. I’ll provide information about such scholarships as it becomes available to me.

Poster-making and printing (approx. $11-30)

Digital Theatre or Amazon.com or GooglePlay performances: These usually cost less than $5 each. Wherever possible, I will assign free streaming or library-owned performance resources.

Web-hosting on Wix.com ($20 for four months)