Thanks to a generous bequest from the late Dr. Iris Annette Pearce, Rhodes enjoys a range of Shakespeare-related resources unique among American liberal arts colleges. The Pearce Shakespeare Endowment was established in 2007 to enrich courses in Shakespeare and support events for the entire campus.
Funds generated by Dr. Pearce’s gift aid Shakespeare studies through lectures by visiting scholars; conferences and symposia; support for research; productions of plays; periods of residence by performing artists; and other innovative programming to enhance Shakespeare at Rhodes and in the greater Memphis community. Key institutional partnerships have helped bring these events to a wide range of audiences.
'Students at Rhodes are granted singular access to the world of Shakespeare through the Pearce Endowment. Academics and artists come together to collaborate with different faculty, enhancing their classroom discussions. The programming acts in tandem with coursework, allowing students to delve deeper into their studies and to understand how Shakespeare’s work has shaped our modern world. The Pearce Endowment is essential in cultivating thoughtful, curious scholars; I find these lessons constantly relevant in my work!" — Madeleine Wright ’21, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator, American Repertory Theater
Thursday, November 16, 6pm CST, Location TBA, reception to follow.
Professor Ramie Targoff will be speaking about her recent book Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance (Penguin Random House, 2024). Shakespeare’s Sisters was named one of the Best Books of 2024 by both The New Yorker and The Boston Globe.
Ramie Targoff is the Jehuda Reinharz Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and co-chair of Italian Studies at Brandeis University. She has written multiple books, including Posthumous Love: Eros and the Afterlife in Renaissance England (University of Chicago Press, 2014), Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018), and most recently Shakespeare’s Sisters.
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