EL6061 - Staging Early Modern Gender

You will have weekly lectures that introduce you to a text/topic, followed by a separate two-hour seminar in which you undertake discussion and activities in relation to this text/topic.

You will be provided with a module reader at the beginning of the semester containing details of preparatory reading and questions to consider each week. These questions will form the basis of class discussion and give students a clear overview of what to expect in each class throughout the semester. You will bring your reader to class each week, completing notes and responses which you can draw on in subsequent assignments.

The module tutor will discuss the two forms of module assessment in class, providing class-based practice of the ideas that underpin each assignment, and meeting with students on a one-to-one basis to give feedback on their essay plan before they write and submit their final essay. We will establish clear milestones throughout the semester to support you to develop your own second essay question: this includes tutorials in office hours, in-class and one-to-one discussions throughout the semester, and a final deadline by which to submit your agreed question to your tutor.
The module handbook provides details of weekly seminars, reading lists and assessment criteria. Your tutor will be available in each class, as well as in office hours and by email, to discuss any queries or concerns students have about how to excel academically on the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. An advanced appreciation of the intersections of early modern gender, the stage, race, faith and sexuality.
2. An advanced understanding of and engagement with current and past critical approaches to the study of early modern gender, race, faith and sexuality through class discussion and independent reading.
Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Enhanced self-managed research skills, including developing skills in designing an independent research question.
4. Advanced skills in the articulate and literate expression of an organised, critically informed argument conforming to relevant standards of good academic and ethical conduct, through completing activities prescribed, including formative and summative assessment.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
5. An advanced curiosity about and awareness of the intersections of the stage, gender, race, sexuality and faith at a pivotal cultural moment, communicated through using feedback and exploring the challenges raised in the production, interpretation and enjoyment of literary texts.

1. Critical terminology exercise plan. Formative. MLOs 1, 2, 4, 5.

2. Critical terminology exercise: 1,000 words (25%). Summative. MLOs 1, 2, 4, 5.

3. 3000 word essay (75%). Summative. MLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
This assessment will be scaffolded through the semester, with milestones and a final deadline for agreeing the question with your tutor.

Feedback will be generated in the form of notes upon the script, a detailed summary provided on the standard feedback sheet, a voice note, and in-person discussion in tutorials and office hours.

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We all have preconceptions about Shakespeare and the early modern stage – perhaps that the Shakespearean stage was an all-male, cis-gendered space or that the early modern world was all-white, Christian and English. This module, drawing on cutting-edge research tells a different story. With gender as our central focus, we explore its intersections with three key issues: race, faith and sexuality, and read plays by Shakespeare next to less well-known plays by early modern men and women.
Potential topics: how Islam, Jewishness and Christianity were perceived and performed on the Shakespearean stage; perceptions and performance of Blackness; women playwrights and performers; the diversity of early modern femininities and masculinities; stagings of trans, queer, and gender nonconforming identities.
This module will enrich your knowledge of gender and identity, and early modern/Shakespearean theatre/performance. It’s useful for anyone planning to teach, work in publishing, marketing, broadcasting, or the heritage, cultural or charity sectors.