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Shakespeare Anniversary Lecture Series

The Shakespeare Anniversary Lecture Series, sponsored by the Folger Institute from 2014-2017, featured leading scholars offering their insights into Shakespeare and his works. The series began with Brian Cummings’ “Shakespeare, Biography, and Anti-Biography” to celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th birthday. Lynne Magnusson delivered the lecture in 2015 on “Shakespeare and the Language of Possibility.” In 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the series expanded to four talks: Tiffany Stern, “From Script to Stage to Script”; Stephen Greenblatt, “Shakespeare’s Life Stories”; Kim Hall, “Othello was my Grandfather: Shakespeare in the African Diaspora”; and Joseph Roach, “Stars Down to Earth: Materializing Celebrity.” The series concluded in 2017 with Michael Witmore, “The Wisdom of Will,” which was also the final event in the Folger’s commemoration of Shakespeare’s death.

This series also marked the 30th anniversary of scholarly programming for the Folger Institute’s Center for Shakespeare Studies in 2016.

Brian Cummings: “Shakespeare, Biography, and Anti-Biography”

Thursday, April 3, 2014

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Lynne Magnussen: “Shakespeare and the Language of Possibility”

Thursday, April 16, 2015

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Tiffany Stern: “From Script to Stage to Script”

Thursday, March 17, 2016

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Stephen Greenblatt: “Shakespeare’s Life Stories”

Monday, April 25, 2016


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Kim Hall: “Othello was my Grandfather: Shakespeare in the African Diaspora”

Monday, June 27, 2016


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Joseph Roach: “Stars Down to Earth: Materializing Celebrity”

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

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Michael Witmore: “The Wisdom of Will”

Monday, April 24, 2017

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Transcript