Paula Marantz Cohen on how reading Shakespeare can help revive Humanities values and ideas at a time when universities have turned to STEM and careerism in higher education. While exploring Shakespeare’s plays with her students, Cohen discovered that teaching and discussing his plays unlocked a surprising sense of compassion in the classroom. Shakespeare’s genius lay with his ability to arouse empathy, even when his characters exist in alien contexts and behave in reprehensible ways.
In her latest book, Of Human Kindness: What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Empathy, Cohen argues that only through close reading of Shakespeare can we fully appreciate his empathetic response to race, class, gender, and age. Wise, eloquent, and thoughtful, this book is a forceful argument for literature’s power to champion what is best in us.
After registration, you will receive the link via email. Be sure to check your spam folder.
About the Speaker
Paula Marantz Cohen is the Dean of the Pennoni Honors College and Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel University, as well as host of the television interview show The Civil Discourse. She lives in Philadelphia.
By registering for this program, you will be added to The Rosenbach’s email database to receive future communication about programs and events. If you’d prefer not to receive these messages please email: [email protected] with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.