Past Courses

Over 40 Courses Since 2013

Summer 2024

Shakespeare Aloud

Sarah Corbyn Woolf and Dr. Marie Roche

Reading Shakespeare aloud is a very different experience from reading his
plays silently in the mind. Shakespeare’s plays were made to be spoken, and this course aims for
attendees to experience the plays aurally in new and exciting ways.

Over the course of three 90-minute sessions, this workshop explores the relationship between
speaker and listener by moving discussions of Shakespeare’s text into the embodied practice of
speaking his words out loud, facilitating audience awareness. Materials will be thematically linked
rather than focused on a single play.

Shakespeare in Translation

Dr. Marie Roche

Conversational college-level French is required. The class will be conducted entirely in French. All attendees will receive a bilingual text of LA TEMPÊTE, translated by Jean-Michel Déprats. 

Spring 2024

Cosmopolitanism and Insularity in Shakespeare’s Plays

1Henry VI
The Merchant of Venice
The Tempest

Shakespeare’s plays occur in England and sometimes in imaginary spaces. But he also takes us to countless foreign locations: Austria, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Spain, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. How do the plays explore this paradox of England’s cosmopolitanism and insularity? As an island, England did not occupy a noticeable physical position on the world maps of the period, yet its political power became undeniable under Queen Elizabeth. To explore
England’s cosmopolitanism and insularity, we will concentrate on the women in 1Henry VI, The Merchant of Venice, and The Tempest because they illustrate England’s foreign and domestic policies and tensions. Starting with 1Henry VI, we will focus on two remarkable historical figures, Joan of Arc and Margaret of Anjou; then in The Merchant of Venice, on Jessica,
Shylock’s daughter, and Portia, the wealthy heiress of Belmont; finally, in The Tempest, on Sycorax, Caliban’s mother, and Prospero’s daughter, Miranda. As we examine England’s tendency towards insularity and the cultural, economic, religious, and linguistic influences that shaped its cosmopolitanism, these women will play a crucial role in our understanding of
England’s politics and its resulting shifts in diplomacy during the Renaissance.

Fall 2023

Marie Roche, PhD
Research Associate  Five Colleges Inc. 

Shakespeare and the Occult Sciences in the Renaissance

What were the sciences of the occult in Shakespeare’s time? What was the purpose of such sciences? How do they fit in with the new scientific discoveries of the time? This semester, we will explore astrology, witchcraft, white magic, alchemy, and Hermetic theology, among others, in three of Shakespeare’s plays: Love’s Labour’s Lost, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice.

Not unlike sleuths, we will seek clues that will situate these plays at the heart of the hidden discourses of the occult. Look for references to stars, numbers, letters, geometrical figures, and witches, among many other allusions. What unforeseen narratives will we discover? In the end, how does knowing the influence of the occult on Shakespeare affect our reading of the plays?

Summer 2023

SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES ON FILM

Course Description: 

This course provides visual literacy and offers a range of Shakespearean productions to discuss. This summer, we will explore the difficulties of bringing comedies from stage to film. We will watch The Globe production of Twelfth Night and compare/ contrast it with film productions of this play over the past hundred years. What is gained and lost in this “translation” process from one medium to another? How is humor translated?

“Twelfth Night” (1910) dir. Charles Kent-Silent film.

“Twelfth Night” (1933) dir. Orson Welles

“Twelfth Night” (1988) dir. Kenneth Branagh

“Twelfth Night” (1996) dir. Trevor Nunn

“She’s the Man” (2006) dir. Andy Fickman

“Twelfth Night” (2018) dir. Adam Smethurst

SHAKESPEARE IN TRANSLATION

Conversational college-level French required

The class will be conducted entirely in French. The bilingual text, translated by Jean-Michel Déprats, will be provided to the attendees.

Course Description:

This class seeks to expose the attendees to Shakespeare’s texts in translation. Passages will be read together, and questions will be addressed, such as: What is gained or lost in translation? How do we experience the text in another language? The translator’s choice of words and translation of humor and more.

La nuit des rois, ou Ce que vous voudrez

Spring 2023

The Voices of Shakespeare’s Fools

“I am indeed not her fool, but her corrupter of words.” (Fest,12Nights, 3.1)

Feste- Twelve Night

Touchstone- As You Like It

Parolles-All’s Well That Ends Well

Course Description:

This semester, we will look at the significant history of this character in drama and explore the fools in three Shakespearean plays: Feste- Twelve Night; Touchstone- As You Like It and Parolles-All’s Well that Ends Well. We will remain open-minded about the potent function the fools take in these plays. We will ask pertinent questions such as: Who is the fool? What is his function? Why would Shakespeare use the fool as a transgressor of convention? What is the fool’s message? Why are we resistant to hearing the fool’s wisdom?  Who is his audience? What is in his name, i.e., Feste, Touchstone, and Parolles? Could a fool be an allegorical figure standing for something significant?

Fall 2022

The Imaginary Kings: Claudius, Lear, and Prospero with Marie Roche

Course description: These plays, Hamlet, King Lear, and The Tempest, finish the year with a punch! So much ink has been spilled on them that one may wonder what is left to be talked about. Everyone is an expert on them. Here we are, however, once again but with a twist. These plays feature three kings of Shakespeare’s imagination who decide to go against divine order: Lear wants to retire from his kingly responsibilities (who can blame him), Prospero wants to pursue knowledge at the expense of his kingdom, and Claudius wants the kingdom of Denmark all for himself at the expense of his brother and family. In this course, we will bring home questions on the ramification of human intention and action: What happens when free will i.e., the desire to live the life as we see fit, comes against divine order, if we believe that there is one? Have we experienced moments in our lives when our decisions have been seen as selfish or destructive to others? What are the consequences of our actions? Do we think about them before we act? Is choosing to retire, to pursue knowledge or power of all sorts such a bad thing? How are the decisions of characters – even those that may play a smaller role – affecting others in the story, and affecting us as readers?

In addition, for those who took the history plays cycle last year, this course will be an opportunity to look at instances in which kingship appears outside of the actual historical sequence studied. It will be an opportunity to compare and contrast the kings of history and the kings of the imaginary – or is that line of distinction difficult to draw?

Workshop Hamlet & King Lear  with Hilary Dennis

Summer 2022

Shakespeare in Translation with Marie Roche
Conversational college-level French required. The class will be conducted entirely in French. The bilingual text, translated by Jean-Michel Deìprats, will be provided to the attendees.
This class seeks to expose the attendees to Shakespeare’s texts in translation. Passages will be read together, and questions will be addressed such as: What is gained or lost in translation? How do we experience the text in another language? The translator’s choice of words and translation of humor and more. Le songe d’une nuit d’été

Spring 2022

Community Shakespeare with Marie Roche: Shakespeare’s History Plays Marathon
For the Spring of 2022 participants will be reading Shakespeare’s history plays in a historical chronology, rather than in the chronology of when the works were published or performed. 

Workshop: Richard III  with Emily MacLeod (George Washington University)
 

Power from the Margin
Struggles to establish legitimacy to the throne, the bastard, and women in politics

Workshops

Three special workshops with guest scholar, Marshall Garrett, Brave Spirits Theater, will be held on Zoom.
Richard II
Reading Shakespeare Aloud
Troilus and Cressida

Summer 2021

Shakespeare Aloud: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Shakespeare in Translation (French): Les deux gentilshommes de Vérone
Conversational, college-level French required. Class conducted entirely in French. Bilingual text translated by Jean-Michel Déprats. The text will be provided to the attendees.

Shakespeare on Film: A Study of Sir John Falstaff
The Hollow Crown and Chimes at Midnight with Orson Welles

Fall 2021

The Grooming of a Modern Political Leader & English National Identity

Winter 2021 – Virtual Course Offerings

Hamlet

5 seminars discussing Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Participants should be familiar with the play and have read it recently. Come prepared for active discussion.

Fall 2020

Virtual Course Offerings:
Marie Roche, Ph.D. UMass.

What has love got to do with it: Wars & National Conflicts?

This fall’s conversation will not be for the faint of heart, but for the warriors of ideas who will unflinchingly tackle and conquer the profound questions these plays raise. We will endeavor to explore: Romeo and Juliet; Antony and Cleopatra and Troilus and Cressida. We will explore the purpose and representation of love in these plays as the entry point to study how the personal enters the larger stage of British history (Troy and its fall; the Tyrone Rebellion), and of epics and myth (Iliad and Aeneid), and conversely how the external conflicts of titans (Priam and Agamemnon) and nations (Ancient Greece and Roman Empires) enter the realm of the private, causing the lovers’ demise and perhaps, with them, the death of a kind of ideology. How do the lovers’ relationships reveal or exemplify clashes of existential beliefs, of politics, and even the colliding of traditions; epic, historic, and romance?

Three special workshops with guest scholar, Jessica Bauman, director of Arden Everywhere, will be held on zoom.

Romeo and Juliet
Antony and Cleopatra
Troilus and Cressida 

Spring & Summer 2020

Marie Roche, Ph.D. UMass, is offering a series of seminars.

Summer 2019

Marie Roche, Ph.D. UMass, is offering a seminar entitled Shakespeare Aloud: A New Experience. Participants will be reading Twelfth Night together. There are no requirements–just bring a copy of the play and be willing to read aloud. Optional extra readings, discussion, and laughter will be provided! The class meets Mondays, 5:00 – 6:30 pm, beginning July 1st and going until the play is done. ~5 weeks.

Marie Roche, Ph.D. UMass, will teach Shakespeare in Translation: Le Roi Lear/French King Lear. Bilingual texts will be provided before the first meeting. Some fluency in French is required to best enjoy the class.

Spring 2019

Marie Roche, Ph.D. UMass, is offering a twelve-week seminar, entitled: The Body Deciphered, which will involve reading Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra with a particular focus on the body. What is fascinating, says Jennifer Edwards, “about the presentations of these texts are the ways in which they interact with the body, and vice versa; with bodies presented as texts in need of deciphering, and texts that in their very fabric and construction recall the body.” The class will not then dwell on the gruesome details present in these plays, but rather explore Shakespeare’s presentation of the body and its manifestations as text, history, politics, character, etc.

Fall 2018

Marie Roche, Ph.D. UMass, is offering a twelve-weeks seminar entitled: Shakespeare’s Badass Mothers, which will look at three mothers in particular and the context of political power: Volumnia (Coriolanus), Gertrude (Hamlet), and Margaret of Anjou, the She-Wolf of France (Henry VI).