A Summer of Experiential Learning in Shakespeare’s England
This summer, 14 RIC students landed on English soil to relive a remarkable period of English history – the Elizabethan era – a time of laced corsets and gilt-edged ruffs, a time when William Shakespeare, one of England’s greatest playwrights, was producing his timeless literary works.
Titled “Shakespeare’s England,” this new course was taught by Assistant Professor of English Jennifer Holl and consisted of two-and-a-half weeks in the classroom, two-and-a-half weeks in England, concluding with one week back in class for final papers and presentations.
Throughout their stay in London, they toured historical sites, including Shakespeare’s birthplace and burial place, Warwick Castle, Westminster Abbey and The Tower of London.
They also spent a full day at the Globe Theatre, home of Shakespeare’s resident troupe. There they moved from page to stage, trying their hand at a scene from “Twelfth Night” in an acting workshop.
“For English majors, there’s a kind of close reading that you can only get through a performance lens,” Holl said. “When you actually get up and speak the words and think about the movement that accompanies those words, it changes the text. It was illuminating.”
In the evening, the group attended a performance of “Twelfth Night” by the Globe Players and a lecture the following day by a Globe senior research fellow.
“The Globe produces theatrical works but education is a large component,” explained Holl. “Students from around the world go there to study. In fact, I studied at the Globe as an undergrad and it brought Shakespeare to life for me in a way that had never happened before. I wanted to give that to my students. I don’t think I’d be a professor of Shakespeare today if not for my experiences abroad.”
Productions of “Antony and Cleopatra” by the Royal Shakespeare Company and “Hamlet” by the Harold Pinter Theatre were included in the itinerary. A two-hour river cruise on the Thames became their farewell to the city.
“Many of my students were already fans of Shakespeare when they enrolled in this course, but now they have experienced Shakespeare in a way that no classroom affords. They’ve performed his work, they’ve seen three different interpretations of his work in three different theaters, they visited the place where he was born and they walked through his home and in his footsteps.”
Holl admitted the final river cruise was bittersweet, because her students had developed such a strong bond between them. The group took in the view along the Thames riverbank, passing many of the sites they had visited – the Big Ben, the Parliament, the Tower of London and the Globe.”
Back at RIC, her students had one final week of class, where they presented either a paper or a 10-minute multimedia presentation exploring one of four themes: Shakespeare and performance, Shakespeare and early modern England, Shakespeare’s afterlives or the Shakespeare industry.
The results were extraordinary, said Holl. “I assign presentations all the time, but I’ve never seen students approach their presentations with such gusto,” she said.
Comments from her students were equally effusive:
“Dr. Holl created the most interesting course I have ever taken during my college experience,” said Samantha Santos. “I wouldn’t trade this course, the material I have learned and the people I have met for anything. This trip has made the stories, plays and histories I have read throughout my life come to life and gave me a hands-on experience like no textbook could ever provide. Exploring Warwick Castle would have to be my most cherished moment throughout my trip. The history behind it was astoundingly magical.”
“From the classroom to the theatre to the streets of London, it was quite the learning experience,” added Andy Noel. “This is the best class I have ever taken in all my years of schooling. I highly recommend it for the theatre lover, the English scholar and those seeking an adventure.”
For Casie Weidinger, it was the personal connections that made the deepest imprint. She said, “This class gifted me with people who I am forever fortunate to know and now call my friends. Our commonalities ultimately led us to a new world where the streets of London and the omnipresent Shakespeare left me eternally inspired. This deeper appreciation and insight cemented our group. We were able to genuinely connect with a world that had once only lived inside our books.”
RIC Assistant Professor of English Jennifer Holl teaches courses in Shakespeare, British literature, film and adaptation, and literary and cultural theory. She also serves as the English Department liaison to the Shinn Study Abroad Fund and will be chair of the Shinn Study Abroad Fund with the start of the 2017-2018 academic year.