The works of William Shakespeare are foundational for two disciplines that Loyola offers as majors, English and Theatre, and central to the liberal arts tradition that is at the core of the College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate experience.  

The Shakespeare Studies Minor will provide Loyola undergraduates with the opportunity to pursue advanced study in an interdisciplinary fashion.  Drawing from six academic departments, Shakespeare is one of the primary filters through which we experience the classical and medieval worlds. He provides a crucible in which one can study Renaissance history, philosophy, arts and literature. His work has had had a profound impact on the Western intellectual tradition, wrestled with by figures as wide-ranging as Coleridge, Goethe, Nietzsche, Dickens, Melville, and Freud;  and his plays have inspired innumerable appropriations and adaptations, in every conceivable form, from painting to opera, dance, film, and beyond. To encounter Shakespeare is to encounter as far as it possible through a single figure, the breadth and scope of history, art, culture, and philosophy, making his work an ideal focal point for interdisciplinary spirit. 

Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Shakespeare Studies Minor will:

• engage in the practices of interdisciplinary study;
• acquire substantial knowledge of the works of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries and the culture in which they lived;
• master skills of research used to produce significant works of scholarship, preparing those who plan on pursuing academic graduate work for further study;
• acquire skills and knowledge that will provide a foundation for those seeking to pursue a professional career in theatre;

Students who wish to minor in Shakespeare Studies should contact Lee Keenan, the Director of Theatre.