Humanities Book Club
This event annually brings in an author to speak along with an interdisciplinary panel that comments on the author's book and its broad significance prior to a general discussion with all attendees.
The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race
Farah Karim-Cooper (Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.)
THU, MAR 12, 5:30 PM
Hall Center Conference Hall
As monuments of white Western history fall, many are asking: how is Shakespeare still relevant? In The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race, Farah Karim-Cooper explains how the playwright came to occupy such an elevated place in the Western canon and what is gained by questioning his plays rather than accepting them at face value.
Karim-Cooper examines race in Shakespeare’s plays through close readings of works such as Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest, alongside a reappraisal of society in Elizabethan London. She argues that Shakespeare should neither be idealized nor discarded, but read with attention to the discomforts in his language and theatrical culture. As The New York Times writes, “The Great White Bard contributes to an essential discussion on Shakespeare and race.” By opening the plays to new perspectives, the book makes space for debate and reinterpretation, and for a Shakespeare who can still speak to the present.
Farah Karim-Cooper is the 8th Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. and a leading Shakespeare scholar. Prior to joining the Folger, Dr. Karim-Cooper was Professor of Shakespeare Studies, King’s College London, and Director of Education (Higher Education & Research) at Shakespeare’s Globe, where she worked for 20 years. The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race (2023) was named one of the best books of the year by Time Magazine, NPR, and The New Yorker. Her most recent book, All the World’s Your Stage: Shakespeare for Today is written especially for children ages 9-12.
Panel and discussion
An interdisciplinary panel of KU faculty members will comment on the book and its broad significance prior to the author’s response and a general discussion with all attendees.
Please note: Audience members are encouraged to attend and take part in the discussion.