Shakespeare Conference Held at Nichols

Dudley, MA - “There’s an erotic charge to Shakespeare’s prose for an attentive listener,” stated keynote speaker and MIT Professor of Literature Dr. Diana Henderson at this the sixth annual Central Massachusetts Undergraduate Shakespeare Conference held on the campus of Nichols College on April 14.

Henderson’s plenary presentation entitled “The Goldilock’s Guide to Sexy Shakespeare: Oversexed, Undersexed, or Just Right?” was a highlight of the conference. She noted that Shakespeare was considered "honey-tongued" by his contemporaries and declared that “of sexy Shakespeare, there is no end!”

Students from the College of the Holy Cross, Clark University, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Keene State, Nichols College, Regis College, Roger Williams, Worcester State, Tufts University, University of New Hampshire, University of Mass.-Boston, and Wesleyan University, presented research papers examining gender and sexual identity in the bard’s plays. The event was sponsored by the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc.

Dr. Karen Tipper, a professor of English literature and chair of the Nichols College Department of Humanities, and Dr. Ezat Parnia, provost and executive vice president at Nichols, welcomed undergraduates from all disciplines in Daniels Auditorium before participants headed to sessions on topics ranging from uppity women to performing gender and staging sex.

A panel of local professors served as judges of the research papers. The panel members were Joseph Black, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Linda McJannet, Bentley College; Lisa Celovsky, Suffolk University; and Mary Trottier, Nichols College. The following students were awarded for their outstanding research:

• First Prize $100: Alexander Ruggieri, Roger Williams University and Galen Tan, Tufts University. The prize was donated by Bedford Books and the Worcester Shakespeare Club.
• Second Prize: Emily Rast, College of the Holy Cross and Bronwyn Wallace, Wesleyan University

Another highlight of the conference was a workshop entitled “From Page to Stage,” in which Clark University students acted out three scenes from Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew under the direction of Gino DiIorio, associate professor of theatre at Clark.

After discussing the social conditioning of the sexual in Shakespeare's prose, students left the conference with a greater appreciation for the layering and symbolism in his writings.

(Pictured above right (left to right): conference co-chairs: Dr. Karen Tipper, Nichols College and Dr. Virginia Vaughan, Clark University, flank plenary speaker, Dr. Diana Henderson (center), MIT professor of Literature.)

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