Student enjoyment is important when creating any unit, but teachers should also consider if an activity will enhance learning. In addition to being enjoyable, drama-based activities enrich learning by disrupting passivity, encouraging participation, and enhancing comprehension. This article showcases ways to include these activities in a unit…

Historically, higher learning was based on the study of the Great Works of thought of the Western canon. These works span a broad range of time, from the Classical period, to early Christianity, and the Enlightenment, all the way to the 20th century. Presently, close study of Great Works is less common at most mainstream colleges and universities.…

As a relatively common tool and object of analysis in teaching Shakespeare and dramatic literature in general, live performance deserves further attention within the pedagogical literature. This is even more true now, since the development of digitally relayed live broadcasts has widened access to theatre, creating greater possibilities for…

This paper investigates the language demands of creating texts in the English classroom, which involve transformations in context. In particular, it focuses on the tensions inherent in tasks which require more traditional textual analysis to be presented in ways other than traditional 'essay' format. These tasks are interpreted differently by…

Virtue theorists commonly assert that significant moral change, such as the cultivation of a virtue or the elimination of a vice, can only occur over a prolonged period of time. Many scholars who make this claim also accept the comparison between virtues and skills. In this article I argue that if one accepts the comparison between virtues and…

The English classroom is an indispensable site to critically engage the social complexity of the climate crisis and COVID-19. A question comes up, however, about how to plan for such critical engagement when teaching canonical literature that is seemingly removed from the specific concerns of the current moment. The focus of this article is on…

This essay analyzes student experiences of studying all-female and non-binary cast Shakespeare productions in the Seattle area, including upstart crow collective's "Richard III" and The Fern Shakespeare Company's "Much Ado About Nothing." I draw on my teaching of the experimental work of these regional companies in an…

The benefits of performance-based classroom approaches to teaching Shakespeare have been well-documented in pedagogical scholarship. This paper is an effort to push beyond the performance-based classroom and begin to incorporate ideas from the field of performance studies into a new pedagogical approach that capitalizes on my institution's…

Over the past decade, local live productions of Shakespeare have become increasingly visible to scholars and audiences alike, both through critical work on the subject as well as through public projects such as Shakespeare on the Road. This visibility highlights the cultural and artistic work of regional theatre. On the one hand, local live…

This case study, which investigates twenty-four 11th-grade students of American literature, asks: What successes and challenges did students experience when reading "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" through a critical race theory (CRT)/critical Whiteness studies (CWS) lens? Findings reveal that applying a CRT/CWS lens helped students…

This short story illustrates an occasion of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogical practices in relation to the canonical texts which are often used in urban classrooms. In it, a lesson on Jane Eyre's childhood point of view and mode of introspectiveness delves into a tale of dancing and Otherness. The story shows that in spaces where…

Current trends in disaffiliation and declining enrollment in Catholic schools raise difficult questions about the perceived value of Catholic education and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT). Following the work of theologian David Tracy, the author makes a case for engagement with Christian "classics" as a promising means not only…

At the Philadelphia-area manufacturer GGBearings, employees representing every corner of the plant--from the company president to machinists, engineers, and finance staff members--have assembled in the conference room. The balanced mix of men and women varies in age, race, and background. Some are in uniform, others in business-casual dress. A few…

Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt" digs deep into the question of what it means to be oneself. An upcoming computer game version invites players to take on the role of Peer and thereby raises new questions about identity and identification. By recording dyads of students who play an early version of the game and analysing their interaction…

Three academics reflect on how to stay positive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah Higginbotham finds that some of her most heartening experiences during this time have been while enacting unrehearsed Zoom Shakespeare plays with colleagues and students. She usually experiences telepresence events as rather flattened interactions, while insulated…