Global Hot Spots: “Shakespeare around the World: Caliban’s Land Ethic in The Tempest”

LOCATION: Fluno Center Auditorium, located at 601 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53715-1035.

Topic

In celebration of 400 years of Shakespeare, the First Folio, the original compilation of Shakespeare’s plays, is traveling to universities and museums around the U.S., including the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before you visit the exhibit, learn about one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tempest, which we might not have ever known about if not for the printing of Shakespeare’s First Folio in 1623. 

Professor Joshua Calhoun will discuss the colonial context of The Tempest by exploring the relationship of Prospero, a European wizard; and Caliban, an inhabitant of the island. Much of their relationship can be explained by the master/slave dynamic, but Calhoun argues that the root of Caliban and Prospero’s conflict is as much about human relationships to the environment as to each other. Caliban’s first sentence in The Tempest suggests that, though he has learned Prospero’s language, he still doesn’t understand Prospero’s land ethic. Calhoun will also discuss the importance of the First Folio and share how it has influenced what we know about Shakespeare and his plays.

Speaker

The speaker is Joshua Calhoun, an assistant professor of English and a faculty affiliate in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. He specializes in Shakespeare, 16th- and 17th-century poetry, and the history of media. He also teaches occasional courses in the environmental humanities. His writing has been published in PMLA, Shakespeare Studies, and Environmental Philosophy. His current project, “The Nature of the Page in Renaissance England: Ecology, Poetry, and Papermaking,” explores Renaissance paper and books within their historical ecosystem.

Details

Public parking is available in the Fluno Center Garage (Lot 83) at 314 N. Frances Street. Other parking options include Lot 46 at 301 N. Lake Street and the Lake Street Ramp at 415 N. Lake Street. 

Lunch is not provided with your registration, but you can make areservation to eat lunch at the Fluno Center by calling 608-441-7117. 

Questions? Contact Kristina Zignego at 608-308-5415.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association®, the International Division, and PLATO sponsor the Global Hot Spots series.

- See more at: http://www.uwalumni.com/event/global-hot-spots-shakespeare/#sthash.b8JWVyd7.dpuf

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The Global Hot Spots Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association®, PLATO (Participatory Learning and Teaching Organization) and the UW-Madison Division of International Studies.