Developed by the Folger Shakespeare Library, this course delves into the intersection between African-American life and Shakespeare, from stage productions to personal and academic encounters with the texts. Students will examine some of the many ways that Black Americans have encountered, responded to, taken ownership of, and sometimes turned away from Shakespeare's words.

Black Shakespeare

Creative

Poetry & spoken word

Reading

Anchored by the text of The Tempest, students will begin by exploring travel narratives from the 16th and 17th centuries to get a sense of that world view, and to drill down into whose view? Whose stories were printed and distributed? Who got to define “cannibals and monsters”? Diving into The Tempest-- Shakespeare’s last play and the one he wrote with available information about Jamestown and other parts of the “New World”—will take students right through examination of the master/slave relationship, colonizers and the colonized, and education as the ultimate resistance.  Generative discussion questions and both early and contemporary images and maps will bring the history to life.  Students will work directly with text, using the highly successful (and interactive)(and loud) Folger Method. They will have a chance to meet the African American scholar-teacher teams who created the unit.  We want students to be surprised, to take a deep dive into a world in which they have a place, to own The Tempest, and to feel a newly informed and ignited confidence about new ways to look at these issues and at this play (and all Shakespeare plays).

The Colonizer - Who, Why, and Resist (The Tempest)

This unit engages students in a lively deep dive into the rich intellectual and theater history shared by Black Americans and Shakespeare—from 1825 through the present day--with a focus on key scenes from Macbeth. They will work directly with text, using the highly successful (and interactive)(and loud) Folger Method, and at the same time learn (a) exciting pieces of their own history that are most often unshared or unknown, and (b) consider these accomplishments in light of the stifling power of the white worlds of theater and of Shakespeare. Along the way, they will encounter Ira Aldridge, Orson Well’s Voodoo Macbeth, DuBois’ The Color Line, and current Black Shakespeare productions. They will meet the African American scholar-teacher teams who created the unit. We want students to be surprised, to learn about a world in which they have a place, to own Macbeth, and to leave with the ability to ask key questions such as how Black people have been/are perceived, how Black bodies have been/are used.

You are a Black Shakespeare Actor (Macbeth)

Working with Othello, students will take on the language, characters, and story of the play—and some of its history too. Though the central character is a Black man, for 400 years, the part was only played by white men.  Through language study and historical knowledge, they will see that the play supports a series of racist stereotypes, and they will gain tools to learn to critique.  They will also learn up close how Othello’s story has gotten twisted and changed, and consider questions like this:  Who does and does not have the power to change a story?  Who is believed as a storyteller?  Who has been editing Othello for 400 years, and how has that changed his story?  And . . . who is appreciated as a storyteller now?  Today?   What kind of power do body cams have—or do not have—in terms of telling stories? They will examine these questions—relevant to a classical play and their own lives. They will also read in compelling and deliberate retellings of the play by Toni Morrison, Djanet Sears, and Keith Hamilton Cobb.  They will work directly with text, using the highly successful (and interactive) (and loud) Folger Method. They will have a chance to examine the earliest printed versions of Othello and meet the African American scholar-teacher teams who created the unit.  We want students to be surprised, to take a deep dive into a world in which they have a place, to own Othello and some retellings, and to leave with an ability to discern who is telling what story and who is telling their story. 

Who Lives? Who Dies? Who tells Othello's Story? (Othello)

Students will interrogate concepts of race, religion and the immigrant experience.