Contemporary Shakespeare | International Conference at Hildesheim University

Prof. Dr. Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier and her team look forward to welcoming you to this international conference at Hildesheim University from 14-16 June 2012. Scholars and theatre professionals will discuss Shakespeare's impact on culture and literature today. A variety of well-known keynote speakers will provide important insights into Shakespeare's significance for us and the enormous scope of meaning of his works. All participans are welcome, but everyone must register online. If you would like to practice your voice and your acting or your teaching skills, please enroll for one of our attractive workshops.

We further invite contributions to four thematical sections which deal with special topical aspects of Shakespeare's works. Each section will consist of up to 5 speakers. Papers are to be circulated among the speakers of a section before the conference. Each speaker will have circa 15 minutes to present their theses in order to allow enough time for discussion. Please send your abstract of max. 300 words directly to the respective convenor.

If you have graduated recently you might wish to present your research at our postgraduate forum.

Thursday, 14 June 2012


From 12.00 hrs. – Reception desk on Bühler Campus open
(Room LN 004)

14.00-15.30 hrs. – Opening Address/Keynote I
Prof. Dr. Aleida Assmann – "Problems of Empathy in Shakespeare'sOthello"
(Room L 131, Aula)

15.30-16.00 hrs. – Coffee break

16.00-18.00 hrs. – Section I
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ulrike Tancke – "Shakespeare's Sisters"
1) Prof. Dr. Jutta Schwarzkopf – "Elizabeth I as Author"
2) Prof. Dr. Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier – "Isabella Whitney and Aemelia Lanyer as the First English Writers in Print"
(Room L131, Aula)

16.15-17.45 hrs. – Workshop
Dr. Patrick Duggan – "Exploring Text Through Performance"
(Room LN 005)

From 18.30 hrs. – Reception at the Town Hall with Kurt Machens

Friday, 15 June 2012

9.00-10.00 hrs. – Keynote II
Prof. Dr. Graham Holderness – "Who was William Shakespeare?"
(Room L 131, Aula)

10.00-10.30 hrs. – Coffee break

10.30-12.30 hrs. – Section II
Prof. Dr. Anja Müller-Wood – "Body = Mind/ Mind = Body: 'Naturalist' Shakespeare Studies"
1) Dr. Gabriel Egan – "Shakespeare, Materialism and the Evolution of Morality"
2) Dr. Felix Sprang – "The Mirror of All Courtesy – Holding up Mirror Neuron Theory to Shakespeare's Verbal Art"
3) Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ralf Haekel – "My Soul's Imaginary Sight – A Cognitive Approach to William Shakespeare's Sonnets"
4) Laura Seymour – (tba)

10.45-12.15 hrs. – Workshop
Hugh Hodgart – "Speaking and Playing Shakespeare"
(Room LN 005)

12.30-14.00 hrs. – Lunch break

14.00-15.00 hrs. – Keynote III
Prof. Dr. Ros King – "What are we doing when we're doing Shakespeare? The embodied brain in theatrical experience"
(Room L 131, Aula)

15.00-15.30 hrs. – Coffee break

15.30-17.30 hrs. – Section III
PD Dr. Christiane Schlote – "Shakespeare on Stage"
1) Tony Kingston – On a Midsummer Night's Dream (tba)
2) Dr. Carmen Szabo – "'The Madness of Hamlet' – A Zimbabwean Performance in London"
3) Hugh Hodgart – On Directing Hamlet (tba)

15.45-17.15 hrs. – Workshop
Sandra Heldt & Antonia Winter – "Teaching Shakespeare"
(Room LN 005)

17.30-18.00 hrs. – Coffee break

18.00-19.00 hrs. – Keynote IV
Samuel West – "On Acting and Directing Shakespeare"
(Room L 131, Aula)

From 19.30 hrs. – Conference dinner

Saturday, 16 June 2012

9.00-10.00 hrs. – Keynote V
Prof. Dr. Hugh Grady – "Shakespeare's Brechtian Drama: Usury and Fornication in Measure for Measure"
(Room L 131, Aula)

10.00-10.30 hrs. – Coffee break

10.30-12.30 hrs. – Section IV
Prof. Dr. Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier – "Shakespeare on Screen"
1) Prof. Dr. Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier – "From Stagecraft to Screencraft: Richard Loncraine's Richard III"
2) Dr. Stefanie Hundt – (tba)
3) Dr. Simone Broders – "'TaH pagh, taHbe' –Shakespeare as Cultural Constant in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek"

10.45-12.15 hrs. – Workshop
Sandra Heldt & Antonia Winter – "Teaching Shakespeare" (tbc)

12.30-13.30 hrs. – Light farewell lunch

13.30-14.30 hrs. – Round Table Discussion in German (Podiumsdiskussion)
Prof. Dr. Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier, Prof. Dr. Annemarie Matzke,
Prof. Dr. Jens Roselt

15.30-17.30 hrs. – Postgraduate Forum
1) Matthieu Leloup-Bellon – "Shakespeare's Emotive Actions"
2) Anke Sandleben-Krah – "Othello, Braunschweig 2012 AD vs. "O" – Two Examples of Interpreting Shakespearean Drama in the 21st Century"
3) Alexandra Mieth – "To Boldly Go Where No Bard Has Gone Before"
4) Heidemarie Christine Schorr – ""Both Alike in Dignity": Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"
(Room LN 304, conference room)