Strategic Shakespeare

Strategic Shakespeare demonstrates the value of humanities-trained scholars as leaders in higher education. It features contributions from Renaissance and Shakespearean scholars, in leadership roles in North American higher education, who collectively aim to leverage traditional assumptions about Shakespeare in the service of a more inclusive and sustainable academy. Making a powerful case for the liberal arts, the contributors demonstrate the ways in which training in the humanities creates a baseline of skills in collaboration, deep listening, tolerance for ambiguity and a range of positionalities, astute understanding of disparate data sets, persuasive storytelling, and commitment to liberal arts education. As this innovative collection showcases, these skills are crucial in the current climate, as higher education is struggling with declining enrolments; decreasing budgets; growing public distrust and (often) hostile legislative oversight; a rapidly shifting landscape of learning in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic; and entry of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to the public sphere. The collection presents theoretical arguments, case studies, personal narratives, and practical advice related to how humanities-trained scholars have and must continue to lead the academy through transformative change. Strategic Shakespeare is an essential tool for anyone interested in learning from university leaders who have made good things happen on their campuses, in their communities, and in the profession. It celebrates and foregrounds the core adaptive skills humanities scholars bring to the table, showcasing their unique predisposition to successful academic leadership at a moment of unprecedented change.