HU 315 - Shakespeare and Political Power

This team-taught course offers students the opportunity to contemplate the provocative intersection of Shakespeare’s work as a poet and playwright with the complex politics of his day and to appreciate how the political ideas and actions presented in his plays have influenced the political understanding through the ages. Students will read representative Shakespeare plays, including Julius Caesar, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, Richard II, and Measure for Measure. Additionally, they will read the political sources that influenced Shakespeare’s understanding of his world, as well as scholarship in the field of Political Science that draws upon Shakespeare’s works. The course is a blend of lecture and seminar discussion and students will be encouraged to do independent research on Shakespeare plays not assigned in the course.

Four credits.