LECTURA. DISCURSO. PRÁCTICA (Grupo 11)

This graduate survey course has a double objective. The first is to introduce students to the broader world of Cultural Studies, and more specifically to the field of Theatre History: each week we will be covering a different topic, sub-area or methodological approach in order to develop a panoramic view of what Cultural Studies entail. The second is to familiarise ourselves the social and cultural environment in which the dramatic works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries were produced. That is, in this course students will learn to better interact with early modern drama by understanding the historical situation in which they were written and first performed. We will be looking at how life was like in Renaissance England, what the professions of dramatist and actor entailed in this period, what were the characteristics of Shakespearean London's playhouses, and, most importantly, how all this can change the way we read and understand the dramatic output of early modern England.