Special TAMIU Lecture Looks at Shakespeare and Austen and Cult of Celebrity Friday
Two eminent literary scholars will offer their keen insight into the enduring star power of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen with a special lecture, “Will and Jane and the Cult of Celebrity,” Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m. at the Laredo Center for the Arts downtown.
The interactive lecture is part of Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) month-long “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop” Festival, and is made possible through generous funding support provided by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Researchers Dr. Janine Barchas from The University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Kristina Straub from Carnegie Mellon University, will lead the interactive discussion. It draws from their acclaimed 2016 co-curated exhibition at the famed Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. That exhibit showcased the parallel afterlives of the two masters of the English language and asked how they came to be celebrated as literary superheroes. The New York Times praised it as mixing "deep scholarship with serious whimsy."
Dr. Ula Klein, TAMIU assistant professor of English, who co-organized the Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop” Festival with Dr. Lola Norris, TAMIU associate professor of Spanish, said the April 13 lecture is one of the Festival’s highlights.
“This is truly a rare opportunity to be part of an innovative collaborative lecture experience that will raise consciousness just as easily as it raises eyebrows. We are truly fortunate to provide such an insightful opportunity to share in the riches, real or imagined, of the two greatest writers of the English language. While separated by time and distance, they remain stars guiding our art and culture today,” Dr. Klein observed.
Barchas is a professor of English at UT-Austin, whose 2012 book “Matters of Fact in Austen: History, Location, and Celebrity” won the SHARP book prize for best work in the field of book history. Straub is professor of English and director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Literary and Cultural Studies Program. In addition to writing and editing books about 18 th Century novels and plays, her current project explores the "weird" performances of Shakespeare in 18 th Century Britain, operas, farces, pantomimes, parodies, "secret histories" and other genres that draw on Shakespeare's plays.
The “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop” Festival has offered a broad spectrum of events, providing lasting testimony to the pairs’ enduring legacy, especially in popular culture. Festival events have included exhibits, readings, activities for children, a choir concert with jazz settings of Shakespeare’s sonnets, faculty research presentations, a dance concert, special guest lectures, a concert based on the works of the authors, the authors as depicted in Manga, and a silent movie production of “Othello” with live organ accompaniment.
A dedicated “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop” website with a full calendar and more is located at http://www.tamiu.edu/newsinfo/cervantes-shakespeare-go-pop/
For additional information, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 956.326.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, 268.
University information is also available on its social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Related Link:
Short Video on the Exhibit “Will and Jane and the Cult of Celebrity” (Courtesy: UT Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pevAsxvhts