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Global Shakespeare is a part-project in the Internationalizing the Curricula initiative of Göttingen University. We aim to help students develop new and non-Eurocentric perspectives on Shakespeare as the most internationally taught, read and received English-language author. In a series of six computer-based learning units students (and their instructors) gain insight into areas as diverse as the staging history of Hamlet, the reception of Shakespeare in South Africa and discriminative casting practices in the UK.

Yes! Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think. We wanted to bring lecturers from other countries to Göttingen to share their expertise with us. They come only once, though, so we caught them on video and thus make their talks - and with it the global reaction to Shakespeare - visible and accessible for us locally. From within a Göttingen University course we can now tackle new, non-Eurocentric perspectives which will help sensitize us for other readings and question old ways of thinking.
Using one or several units will be from within a regular course. These are not standalone units - discussing the various approaches is important, because it is in talking and reflecting about what you hear and see that you engage with the new ideas critically.


  • Barzilai, Reut: "Being European: The Foreign History of Hamlet on the Israeli Stage"
  • Chatterjee, Chandrani: "Global Shakespeare: A Translational Framework"
  • Harris, Jonathan Gil: "Masala Shakespeare: The Politics of the More-than-One"
  • König, Lotta: "Shall I compare thee ... to Norms of Sexuality? Reflecting on Heteronormativity when Teaching Shakespeare's Sonnets in School"
  • Mngadi, Sikhumbuzo: "The Reception of Shakespeare in South Africa"
  • Rogers, Jami: "Casting Practices Leading to Discrimination in the Performing Arts in the UK"