The MA in Shakespeare and Education delivered by the Shakespeare Institute is a unique modular programme that is particularly appropriate for practising teachers. You will study three core modules and three optional modules, and are also required to complete a 12,000-word dissertation.
The programme offers you the opportunity to enhance your expertise in different aspects of Shakespeare's work, while maintaining a pedagogical focus. The flexible structure allows you to study in a wide variety of ways, on a full-or part-time basis. You will also have the opportunity to undertake individual research using the extensive resources of the Shakespeare Institute Library, the library of the Shakespeare Centre that curates the archives of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the RSC itself.
Programme content
The flexible structure allows you to study in a range of ways. Modules are available to study through a variety of routes that may include:
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A two-week summer school at the Shakespeare Institute
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Three long weekends at the Shakespeare Institute (at monthly intervals)
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One day a week throughout a semester at the Shakespeare Institute (ten days)
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Distance learning option
Full time study is onsite at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. If you study part-time you can study all the modules on site or choose a combination of onsite and distance learning online. The schedule of delivery allows access to all modules through a range of modes over any three-year period. The ‘Pedagogy’ and ‘Creative Practice’ modules are not available to study distance learning as it is impossible to replicate the onsite resources.
All assessment is by coursework. Optional modules are assessed by one 4,000 word essay and core modules are assessed by one 4,000 word essay or 2–3 shorter writing assignments.
You will study these core modules:
There are three components of this module. The first is a close reading of text that will lead to a consideration of the theatrical function and distinctive qualities of Shakespeare's language. The second is a study of Elizabethan and early Jacobean stages and performance; and the third is an extension of the historical perspective, including Shakespeare's medieval inheritance, that will inform inquiry into the contemporary and continuing theatrical life. Plays studied include some or all of Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard II, Titus Andronicus, Henry V, Cymbeline and The Tempest.
This module provides you with essential research skills training applicable in the fields of Shakespeare studies, with a particular emphasis on performance studies. You will actively assess the different kinds of evidence and methods used in these fields and critically evaluate the epistemological assumptions that underline them.
This module is an opportunity to explore the history, philosophy and pedagogy of ‘teaching Shakespeare.’ You will consider the different elements of Shakespeare’s work that are taught and the methods and resources used to teach them. You will have the chance to prepare practical teaching activities and assess learning outcomes. The Pedagogy module is taught collaboratively by the Royal Shakespeare Company Education department and the Shakespeare Institute over a 6 day course at Easter.
You will also complete three optional modules:
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Shakespeare's Craftsmanship
This module focusses on the construction of Shakespeare's plays and considers the manipulation of source material and genre, the structuring of the dramatic narrative and the use of language for dramatic function and effect. Plays studied include Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, Othello, Anthony and Cleopatra, Henry I Parts 1 and 2, and The Winter's Tale.
This module considers the adaptation and appropriation of Shakespeare’s plays, persona, and possessions from the seventeenth century to the present day. It pays special attention to how changes in theatre practice, aesthetic tastes, politics, and commercial markets have shaped the history of Shakespeare’s ‘afterlife’. Plays studied include some or all of King Lear, The Tempest, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure.
The module will develop a critical awareness of the textual foundations of Shakespeare's plays. Topics covered include: the relationship between a modern edition of a play and the earliest printed texts, the nature of the printing process that first made the plays available to readers of books, the characteristics of Shakespeare's dramatic composition, the treatment of the text in the theatre (including censorship, revision and adaptation), and Shakespeare as a collaborator. Plays studied include some or all of Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Sir Thomas More, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, King Lear, Measure for Measure, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Timon of Athens.
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History of Acting and Directing Shakespeare
This module will consider trends of acting and directing Shakespeare from the Restoration to the present day, and will exploit the Stratford archives to undertake studies of individual actors and directors from the eighteenth century onwards. Subjects of study might include Colley Cibber, David Garrick, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, Laurence Olivier, Peter Brook, John Barton and Sam Mendes. There will be opportunities to analyse and interpret primary evidence and to consider the cultural context(s) of performance. Plays studied include some or all of Richard III, Hamlet, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. (Please note: this module is currently in development for distance learning.)
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Shakespeare and Creative Practice
This module provides you with experiential knowledge that will inform the way you interrogate and interpret performance evidence in a variety of media. Through a series of practical workshops and performance assignments, you will explore different systematic approaches to performing the language of Shakespeare: the first approach is rooted in the verse and text work of John Barton, Peter Hall, and Giles Block; the second approach explores the legacy of Stanislavski in the Shakespearean work of 20th/21st century practitioners in Europe and the United States; the third approach brings the devising techniques of prominent physical theatre practitioners to a creative examination of Shakespeare’s text.
The module is assessed by 2 performance assignments and a 2,000 word research paper. (Please note: because of the nature of this module it cannot be delivered via distance learning. If you are studying distance learning you are encouraged to take it onsite during a summer school.)
This module provides you with an opportunity to study one of the great Shakespearean themes. It will involve intensive close reading of a number of central Shakespeare plays: Richard III, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Macbeth and The Tempest, as well as certain sonnets. It will contextualise this in relation to early modern literature and culture but also in relation to a remarkable continental tradition which links Shakespeare, early modernity and the demonic with the genesis of modern literature and experience. It will address critical questions and problems associated with the representation of evil and the demonic in art and especially theatre. And it will ask why the demonic theme flourishes so prominently at the centre of the Western canon.
Delivery
The flexible structure of this course allows study in a wide variety of ways, on a full or part time basis. You have the opportunity to do individual research using the extensive resources of the Shakespeare Institute Library, the Library of the Shakespeare Centre that curates the archives of the RSC, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Many of its modules are also available via distance learning, meaning that you can study online from anywhere in the world.
Study materials for this programme are enhanced by the close ties that the Shakespeare Institute has with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the archives associated with both of these institutions. Distance learning modules will combine print, audio, and video teaching methods in order to give students a varied and enriching educational experience.
You can study for a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) or the full Masters degree (MA) almost entirely by distance learning. You will need to come to Stratford-upon-Avon for a one-week residential school in the spring in order to complete your core module on Shakespeare and Education (scheduled to coincide with the Easter holidays).