WSU hosts lecture series and exhibition discussing all things Shakespeare

As part of the Knowledge on Tap speaker series, Kenneth Jackson, chair of WSU’s Department of English, delivered a lecture about William Shakespeare at HopCat Feb. 25.

In his lecture, titled “The Bard at the Bar,” Jackson highlighted the significance of Shakespeare’s "First Folio,” the first official compilation of Shakespeare’s work. He said from its publication, Shakespeare’s plays have been preserved and shared with audiences across generations.

“This old book shows how flimsy the walls we put up often are,” Jackson said. “Without the technology of the book, we don’t have the humanities and the humanities push us to call for new technology.”

Wayne State University Library System and the Detroit Public Library collaborated and won the honor of housing the “First Folio” as it tours all 50 states during 2016.

As winners, Shakespeare’s “First Folio” will be visiting Detroit and displayed in an exhibition starting March 8 at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“Wayne State University Library System is a magnificent entity in and of themselves, but we didn’t have the ability, the right humidity specifications, the security and the lighting that you need to have,” Jackson said. “It’s nice to have neighbors like the Detroit Institute of Arts across the street, they do that kind of thing for breakfast, and they were kind enough to say sure.”

In addition, the second and fourth edition of the folio will be available for viewing at the Detroit Public Library, and the library system will receive some Folger panels and a special collection.

The competition and tour was made possible by the Folger Shakespeare Library, the official home of the folios based in Washington D.C. and founded by Henry and Emily Folger.

While Henry Folger went to many creative lengths to collect and archive Shakespeare’s folios, Jackson said his favorite tidbit about the eccentric Folger was his insistence on putting on the golf course as if he was playing croquet.

“He (Folger) liked four things. His wife, working in standard oil, Shakespeare and golf,” Jackson said.

Jake Gross, a fifth-year secondary education major, attended the lecture and said he especially enjoyed learning about Folger.

“I really liked learning about the crazy guy who hoarded all of Shakespeare’s plays (Folger),” Gross said. “He stored them all away and lied to people about it. He seems kind of interesting.”

Gross said he was happy that he actually ended up really liking the event because he used to dread going to his Shakespeare class a year ago.

“I never thought that I would be a big Shakespeare buff,” Gross said. “This is kind of an extension of the things you can learn about Shakespeare that isn’t necessarily dry, stuffy stuff.”

Natalie Steenbergh, a senior elementary education and English major, was required to attend a “First Folio” event for her Shakespeare 5000 class and thought the HopCat event sounded the most fun.

“I liked it a lot,” Steenbergh said. “Because of this Shakespeare class, I’ve already gone and seen the play (“Love’s Labour’s Lost”), so I’m a big Shakespeare fan as well.”

Steenbergh said it was interesting to hear more about how folios arrived in America. She added that she will probably go to another Shakespeare event just for fun.

“Shakespeare’s really relatable, even to today’s day and age,” Steenbergh said. “All of his themes are timeless, that’s what makes him timeless.”

Hannah Fleet, currently in WSU’s master of business administration program and working as staff within the human resources department, liked learning about a subject she would not have been exposed to in her current plan of work.

“I’m in the M.B.A. program, and I’m only taking business courses,” Fleet said. “It’s super nice to be able to go out and learn different, unique things that you wouldn’t necessarily learn in the classroom, support Wayne State and try some of the awesome restaurants in the area.”

As a result of the turnout, Jackson said he was incredibly pleased to be the speaker.

“I thought it was wonderful, I’m amazed by the turnout, delighted by the turnout.” Jackson said. “Wayne State marketing was wonderfully helpful and it was a lot fun. It’s just great to see so many people wanting to talk about Shakespeare and books and literary history.”

Given the many ways people can experience Shakespeare today, including cinema and other forms of new media, Jackson said Shakespeare will remain relevant for quite a while.

“He (Shakespeare) very much invented or shaped who we are today,” Jackson said. “It is his sense of self, his sense of being in the world as a human that we have adopted. When we read or see him, we are still very much reading ourselves.”

Jackson said he first fell in love with British literature while reading Alexander Pope, an 18th century poet and editor of Shakespeare, as an undergraduate.

As an author in addition to a professor, Jackson said he always enjoyed writing, but realized that he needed to work diligently on this craft. His latest book “Shakespeare and Abraham” was recently published in 2015, but he started working on this piece in 1996.

“Writing is hard,” Jackson said. “The process began when I started thinking about what it means to give, truly give, without receiving anything in return. After much thought and much reading, I realized we never truly give, and that took me to Shakespeare’s very strange play ‘Timon of Athens’.”

“Shakespeare and Abraham” is Jackson’s examination of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. He later relates this biblical prose to scenes within Shakespeare’s plays. While this text is available via the Project Muse database, print copies are also available for purchase: http://undpress.nd.edu/books/P03154.

Another Shakespearean event, an academic conference, will be free and open to the public on March 10 and 11 at the Bernath Auditorium in WSU’s Undergraduate Library.

For more information, contact reporter and Features Editor Aleanna Siacon at aleannasiacon.tse@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AleannaSiacon