Rhodes enjoys a range of Shakespeare-related resources thanks to a generous bequest from the late Dr. Iris Annette Pearce. The Pearce Shakespeare Endowment was established in 2007 to enrich courses in Shakespeare and support events for the campus.
This month on campus, the Pearce Shakespeare Endowment is sponsoring a visit by two Harvard University scholars—Dr. Marjorie Garber, who is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Research Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, and Dr. Martin Puchner, who is the Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature.
On April 11, after visiting with Rhodes students in the morning, Garber will join the Rhodes College Wilson Humanities Committee at 2 p.m. in the Spence Willson Room for a conversation about her experience directing Harvard’s Humanities Center as well as serving as President of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. Then at 3:30 p.m. in Blount Auditorium, Garber will deliver opening remarks at Rhodes’ 21st Annual Symposium on Gender and Sexuality Studies. She also will sign copies of her landmark study Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, which will be available for purchase at the event.
A prolific scholar and tireless advocate for the humanities, Garber has published 20 books and seven edited collections, as well as articles in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harpers, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Included among her numerous accolades for teaching, service, and scholarship is a Guggenheim Fellowship in support of research for Shakespeare in Bloomsbury, her most recent book.
On April 18 at 11 a.m in Buckman 110, Puchner will discuss his latest book, Culture: The Story of Us, which is a global history of culture that raises fundamental questions about how culture works, and how different cultures should relate to one another.
Puchner is a prize-winning author, educator, public speaker, and institution-builder in the arts and humanities. His writings range from philosophy and theater to culture and technology and have been translated into many languages. Through his best-selling Norton Anthology of World Literature and his HarvardX MOOC “Masterpieces of World Literature,” Puchner has brought 4,000 years of literature to audiences across the globe.