Digital Resources, Teaching Online and Evolving International Pedagogic Practice

Summary

In the summer of 2020, libraries were closed and the universities in the UK were in chaos, in the wake of decisions being made by the government about student results and social distancing. Writing about Shakespeare pedagogy under lockdown conditions sharpens one’s focus in terms of the resources that are available, physically, digitally and intellectually. In addition to the loss of access to the libraries in person, having recently given up my position at Royal Holloway University of London, I found myself in digital isolation, in terms of access to resources that were formerly at my fingertips. The cancellation of the 2020 International Shakespeare Conference on Shakespeare and Education in Stratford intensified this isolation in thinking about pedagogic practice in my study, rather than in the classroom or in a conference seminar room. However, what remained available to me was my international network of colleagues, with whom I have been discussing for many years the possibilities that the digital world opens up for supporting the teaching of Shakespeare in performance.