Aims of the course:
- To introduce students to critical study of Shakespeare.
- To provide students with the basic historical context needed to understand and appreciate Shakespeare's poetic and dramatic works.
- To enable students to answer some commonly asked questions about Shakespeare and to grasp some of the reasons for his high literary reputation.
Course content overview:
Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time. He created some of the most recognisable characters in all of literature - Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth to name a few - and his works continue to be regularly performed and studied to this day. He also was a great poet outside the context of the theatre, whose sonnets in particular remain some of the best-loved poems in English.
Nonetheless, many people find Shakespeare's works difficult to approach, partly because of the antiquity of his language, and partly from lack of familiarity with the theatrical and social conventions of his time. What's more, it's fair to ask whether any writer can really have been so extraordinarily good as to deserve the superlative praise heaped on Shakespeare's works over the centuries.
This course aims to supply some of the necessary historical context for understanding and appreciating Shakespeare's works, and to try to bring to light some of the things that gave him such a claim to greatness. It will not attempt to answer the question whether he really was 'the best ever', but will try to convey some of the reasons why his works do deserve a reputation for brilliant storytelling, astonishingly rich use of language, and profound observation of life.
Each week will focus on a particular aspect of Shakespeare's achievement. In Week One we will consider him as a poet, in Week Two as a dramatist, and in Weeks Three, Four and Five we will look in more detail at the various types of drama in which he excelled: Histories, Comedies, and Tragedies.
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):
Orientation Week: 21-27 October 2019
Teaching Weeks: 28 October-1 December 2019
Feedback Week: 2-8 December 2019
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
What our students say - December 2018
“Paul was an excellent tutor. His introductions were interesting, enlightening, and had a much broader scope than I had expected. Paul’s response was always thorough and he had a wonderful way of making you feel that you had produced something worthwhile, while at the same time suggesting improvements in the kindest of ways.”
“This was my first online course, and it worked perfectly.”
Terms and Conditions and ICE Fee Information and Refund Policy
