SPRING 2026

SIGNATURE SEMINAR SERIES  (12 WEEKS)

Philosophy in the Playhouse (Shakespeare’s Games with Words, Law, and Desire)
Dr. Roche

This spring series is designed to welcome participants at all levels of interest and experience—from those who love reading and discussing Shakespeare’s plays to those curious about the philosophical and intellectual traditions that shaped his world.

Approaching Shakespeare not simply as a dramatist but as a rigorous thinker, this course explores how his plays engage some of the most urgent debates of the early modern period. Through The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Measure for Measure, we examine how Shakespeare probes the instability of language, the authority of law, and the seductive power of illusion—both onstage and in life.

Drawing on Renaissance philosophy, legal culture, and theatrical practice, we ask how words shape reality, how legal systems define (and fail to define) justice, and how illusion becomes a testing ground for truth. Shakespeare’s plays emerge as laboratories of thought, where identity, authority, and meaning are continually unsettled and reformed.

Rather than treating philosophy as background material, the course places Shakespeare in direct conversation with it. Select ideas and excerpts from Plato (Cratylus, Republic), Aristotle (Poetics), and Sophocles (Antigone), among others, will be introduced as lenses, not prerequisites, for understanding the plays.

This course does not turn Shakespeare into a philosopher; rather, it reveals a playwright who relentlessly engages philosophical questions, sometimes testing, bending, or even undoing their premises through drama. No prior knowledge of philosophy is required—only curiosity and a willingness to think alongside the plays.

Plays: The Taming of the Shrew · A Midsummer Night’s Dream · Measure for Measure

📅 Dates: March 2, 2026 to May 18, 2026 (12 weeks)

🕔 Schedule: Mondays, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM

📍 Format: Hybrid (in-person & online)

💵 $250-$500 Sliding Scale

🏢Location:

Northampton Center for the Arts – Barn Door Gallery

33 Hawley Street, Northampton, MA 01060

Website: nohoarts.org

Important Details:

• Please download the SLACK app to access reading materials and bringyour laptop.I am happy help set up SLACK during the first week of class.
• Extra readings will be posted on SLACK. Although not required, thesematerials will enhance our understanding of the context in which these plays were written.
• Windows download  Mac Download  Linux download

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Special Guest Speaker: Alexa Joubin

Join Professor Alexa Alice Joubin, Director of the Digital Humanities Institute at George Washington University, inaugural bell hooks Legacy Award recipient, and co-founder of MIT Global Shakespeare’s digital performance archive,  topic:  will be announced soon!   Don’t miss this insightful event—register now to join the conversation!

📅 Date: May 4th

🕔 Schedule: Monday, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM

📍 Format: Hybrid (in-person & online)

💵 Price: included in the semester registration

🏢Location:

Northampton Center for the Arts – Barn Door Gallery

33 Hawley Street, Northampton, MA 01060

Website: nohoarts.org