Wright State Shakespeare conference awarded the Ohio Humanities Educator Enrichment Grant

Carol Mejia LaPerle, associate professor of early modern literature, is organizing the “Encountering Shakespeare” conference at Wright State on Oct. 20-22. (Photo by Erin Pence)

In a state-wide competition, Ohio Humanities has chosen to support the “Encountering Shakespeare” conference to be held at Wright State University on Oct. 20-22.

Hosting cutting-edge research from university professors around the country and teaching workshops led by artists of Canada’s Stratford Theatre Festival, the gathering marks the 40th Annual Ohio Valley Shakespeare Conference.

The Ohio Humanities award will enable a deeply discounted rate for K-12 schoolteachers to attend all of the events, including the much-anticipated Shakespeare Gala.

Conference registration is valued at $125 and has been subsidized by Wright State’s Collaborative Education, Leadership and Innovation in the Arts (CELIA) to lessen the cost to $50 for K-12 teachers. The Ohio Humanities grant provides additional scholarships of $40 to teachers based on their need and interest level. Enough grant money is available to award about 40 scholarships.

“We want to encourage all teachers in the region to attend this amazing opportunity and especially hope to reach educators with limited resources. It isn’t every day that we have professional actors to help invigorate the teaching of Shakespeare,” said conference organizer Carol Mejia LaPerle, associate professor of early modern literature. “Panels on teaching, performance and analysis tackle the many ways that we continue to encounter Shakespeare 400 years after his death.”

The “Encountering Shakespeare” conference will feature the latest scholarship on Shakespeare and his contemporaries, plenaries on literature and culture, teaching workshops and an array of artistic expressions engaging Shakespeare in musical and dramatic performances.

It is designed to encourage educators to integrate performance pedagogy, digital media resources and reflective analysis of gender, race and class in Shakespeare’s plays.

More information on the conference and gala can be found at wright.edu/shakespeare.