Session III: “Stuff to Know About Shakespeare” by Kirk Melnikoff, Ph.D.
June 17 and June 19; June 24 and June 26 
10am – 12pm

Few of us have avoided an encounter with Shakespeare’s work in our lives. Sometimes, it comes fleetingly as a murky reference to Romeo and Juliet in a sitcom, popular song, or film; sometimes it takes us by surprise when we are told that an old friend, a house plant, or a goldfish is not just “Sebastian” but named after Shakespeare’s Sebastian; at still other times, it settles over us as we take in a middle-school Julius Caesar featuring a precocious nephew decked out in tights. If you’ve ever wondered why people continue to obsess over the work of a long-dead writer from somewhere in England that is not London, this short class is for you. Over two weeks, we’ll talk about what makes Shakespeare Shakespeare, whether Shakespeare is in fact Shakespeare (yes, people obsess about this), and why we should or shouldn’t care. We’ll also spend some time trying to be Shakespeare, crafting iambic pentameter speeches, writing sonnets, and staging one or two iconic scenes (small beer at the ready).   

Meet your instructor:

Dr. Kirk Melnikoff is a Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at UNC Charlotte. Over the past twenty years, he has written a number of books and essays on Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as on the early history of the book trade in London. He has not only seen Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies staged hundreds of times, but he has also directed and edited plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries. His Boston-University dissertation focused on Shakespeare’s clowns.