Sunday, 14 December | 13.00-14.00 | Academia Theatre (Islamia Auditorium) 

What would Shakespeare have known about Muslims? What kinds of economic, political, and cultural relationships existed between European monarchs and powerful Muslim empires like the Ottomans, Mughals, and Safavids in the Renaissance? How did these relations shape the Muslim characters and geographies that are present or absent in Shakespeare's plays? 

Internationally acclaimed authors and Shakespearean scholars Prof Ambereen Dadabhoy (Harvey Mudd College, CA, USA) and Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami (Queen Mary University of London, UK) will be in conversation with Dr Hassana Moosa (University of Cape Town) to explore these questions and more

Over the past few decades, scholars have shown that Shakespeare's world was far more interconnected and globalised than historians had previously acknowledged. This workshop explores how some of this history can be useful to teaching Shakespeare to school students in South Africa now.

We invite you to join us for an informal 'breakfast brainstorm' session, to reflect together on the challenges for teaching Shakespeare in South Africa today, and to creatively explore the teaching value of new historical approaches to Shakespeare's plays.