English 312TH - Shakespeare: 'Thinking with Shakespeare'

A research seminar in which we will think not merely about Shakespeare but with him, engaging a variety of topics that concerned him as deeply as they do us. These include virtue, authority, nature, faith, the mind, and difference. We will read the plays and poems alongside thinkers who preceded Shakespeare and influenced his time as well as those who came after and learned from him in turn. We will encounter both established figures such as Plato, Lucretius, and Freud as well as modern critical methodologies such as new historicism, cognitive theory, and ecocriticism. Texts may include the sonnets, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Hamlet, Coriolanus, and The Winter's Tale.

This course is open to juniors and seniors; Prereq: 8 credits from English beyond the 100 level, including ENGL-211.