Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Shakespeare’s Plays and the Book that Saved Them

Join us for a comprehensive tour through the writing life and theatrical legacy of William Shakespeare.

Taking its cue from the First Folio (1623), the book that preserved many of Shakespeare’s plays for posterity, the course spends one week on each of the main genres in which the author wrote and introduces students to key questions raised by plays such as The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Richard III, Hamlet, and Othello, among others. It offers a lively overview of the major plays of Shakespeare’s career and the critical questions that shape how we read them today, while giving students the chance to engage with the material conditions of Shakespeare’s world. The course includes trips to the playwright’s birthplace and grave in Stratford-upon-Avon, classroom sessions in the Bodleian Library in which students can view Shakespeare’s original early printed books, and the opportunity to see a performance of a Shakespeare play.

Join this course for a deep dive into the world and words of William Shakespeare with some of the world's most prominent researchers in the field.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Be able to demonstrate knowledge of Shakespeare, his plays and legacy in British literature.
• Be able to wield close-reading and critical thinking skills with Shakespeare's works across various genres.
• Be able to evaluate the relationship between the staging and performance of these plays and the compilation of literary texts.
• Be able to appraise and engage the wider historical and cultural contexts of Shakespeare's works.
• Be able to apply key theoretical frameworks to Shakespeare's works.

This course would suit students of the Humanities, especially those with an interest in English Literature, Theatre, Dramatic Arts, or History.

Available as a Residential course on the following dates:

Session 1: 29th June - 17th July 2026