Shakespeare and the 99%, 1st ed. 2019 Literary Studies, the Profession, and the Production of Inequity

Through the discursive political lenses of Occupy Wall Street and the 99%, this volume of essays examines the study of Shakespeare and of literature more generally in today?s climate of educational and professional uncertainty. Acknowledging the problematic relationship of higher education to the production of inequity and hierarchy in our society, essays in this book examine the profession, our pedagogy, and our scholarship in an effort to direct Shakespeare studies, literary studies, and higher education itself toward greater equity for students and professors. Covering a range of topics from diverse positions and perspectives, these essays confront and question foundational assumptions about higher education, and hence society, including intellectual merit and institutional status.  These essays comprise a timely conversation critical for understanding our profession in ?post-Occupy? America.

Introduction: ‘Truth in Advertising’: Shakespeare and the 99%, Timothy Francisco and Sharon O’Dair.- Identification, Alienation, and “Hating the Renaissance”, Denise Albanese.- Shakespeare, Alienation, and the Working-Class Student, Doug Eskew.- ‘The Whip Hand’: Elite Class formation in Ascham’s The Schoolmaster, Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and the Present Academy, Daniel Bender.- “Instruct her what she has to do”: Education, Social Mobility, and Success, Mara I. Amster.- Literature and Cultural Capital in Early Modern and Contemporary Pedagogy, Elizabeth Hutcheon.- Creativity Studies and Shakespeare at the Urban Community College, Katharine Boutry.- Poverty and Privilege: Shakespeare in the Mountains, Rochelle Smith.- How the 1% Came to Rule the World: Shakespeare, Long-term Historical Narrative, and the Origins of Capitalism, Daniel Vitkus.- Hal’s Class Performance and Francis’ Service Learning: 1 Henry IV 2.4 as Parable of Contemporary Higher Education, Fayaz Kabani.- Place and Privilege in Shakespeare Scholarship and Pedagogy, Marisa R. Cull.- Who Did Kill Shakespeare?, Sharon O’Dair.- Afterword: Shakespeare, the Swing Voter, Craig Dionne.

Sharon O’Dair is Professor of English, Emerita at the University of Alabama, USA. She is author of Class, Critics, and Shakespeare:  Bottom Lines on the Culture Wars (2000).

Moves beyond stereotypes to explore the realities of inclusion in academia

Provides important analysis of factors affecting social mobility, access, and cultural capital at a range of institutions

Contributes to the conversation about Shakespeare pedagogy and criticism