22 April 2011

Imprimis: Links and Tidbits, 22 April 2011

Just a few tidbits from the past couple of weeks:
  • Ever wondered what your brain looks like on Shakespeare? Now you can know! Scientists have conducted neurolinguistic experiments to suss out just what Shakespeare's rhetoric does to the processing centers of your brain. It turns out that the brain enjoys the challenge of unusual syntax and receives a satisfying reward when it unravels Shakespeare's linguistic riddles. Cass says: Scientific proof that my obsession with rhetoric is well-founded!
  • This article on Shakespeare and leadership cites our very own Director of Mission, Ralph Alan Cohen. The ASC works with the Federal Executive Institute several times each year to train government officials in leadership techniques, and we welcome any other corporate institutes to sign up for our leadership workshops.
  • This thoughtful essay examines the poignancy of Shakespeare's perspective on parenting in The Tempest.
  • A new approach to Shakespeare and queer theory: "Rather than referring exclusively to homosexuality, 'queer' should encompass everything and anything odd, eccentric, and unexpected, such as the fairy queen Titania falling in love with the donkey-headed Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, or King Lear's complicated take on the limits of the human."
  • An appeal for aid from a substitute teacher, hampered by educators who are letting their students get away with reading "modern translations" of Shakespeare. Sarah says: This breaks my heart. What I want to do more than anything in the world, is reach the teachers who fear Shakespeare and get them past it and into the realm of comfort, so that their students--our future audience members and--more importantly?--leaders will be able to speak well and appreciate deep text and the humanity Shakespeare so well portrays.
And don't forget: Shakespeare's 447th birthday is tomorrow! Join us at Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton on Saturday, from 10:30am-1pm, or at the Playhouse on Sunday, from 4:30pm-6pm, to celebrate with the ASC.

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