Shakespeare MOOCs

Future learn, based in the UK, is a private company that partners with educational institutions to offer a wide variety of courses. Founded in 2013, well over three million participants have taken their courses thus far. A list of current offerings can be found here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses.

My particular interest has been with Shakespeare. Currently there are courses planned but not yet scheduled for Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Hamlet, all repeats. A British Council course, Exploring English: Shakespeare, scheduled to return on Aug. 8, is aimed at English language learners world-wide.

FL's premier Shakespeare course, Shakespeare and His World conducted by Prof. Jonathan Bate, is currently running and is in its fourth iteration. Ten weeks long, it is a combination of history, biography, and literary analysis within the context of Shakespeare's time. Eight of Shakespeare's plays are examined along the way. More information can be found here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/shakespeare-and-his-world. It is highly recommend.

I know that this sounds like advertising flak, but I'm not connected with FL in any way aside from being a participant.

I have never completed a Future Learn course.

I think they just had one on the Mind. I did the first week and dropped.

The Shakespeare courses sound good though. I did not like the approach that the edx Shakespeare course took, focusing on the performance and the theater.

The Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Hamlet courses were also weighted toward performance & theater. Shakespeare and His World is considerably different, more academic, and IMHO it is superb.

Thanks. It will be on my list.

Have you taken any of the Dante or Greek Hero courses?

>4 richardbsmith:

Nope. Other than Shakespeare-oriented FL courses, the only other MOOCs I've taken thus far are Richard III, on the occasion of the burial of the real RIII, and a physics course on relativity, both also by FL.

FutureLearn is starting a new, 4-week Shakespeare MOOC on September 5, Shakespeare: Print and Performance. I know nothing about the course other than the information on the promotion page, but it looks intriguing. As stated in the video, Shakespeare was one of the most successful playwrights in his time, but it was about 150 years before his apotheosis into the greatest writer in the English language. Hopefully, this course will shed some light on how that happened.

Beginning Monday, September 19, FutureLearn is beginning a 4-week course titled Much Ado About Nothing: In Performance. This is the second iteration of this course and features film clips of a Royal Shakespeare Company production of what they chose to call Love's Labour's Won, an alternative title some scholars think Much Ado may have had.

FutureLearn has two Shakespeare courses scheduled to start soon:

Feb. 27: Exploring English: Shakespeare (6 weeks) is designed for English language learners and provides basic information about the life and works of the greatest writer in the English language.

Mar. 20: Shakespeare and His World (10 weeks) is an in-depth look at the Bard, his times, and 8 of his plays, conducted by Prof. Jonathan Bate in cooperation with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Previous runs of the course have received high praise.

The links provide further information and an opportunity to sign up for the courses.

There are two other FutureLearn Shakespeare courses whose start dates are yet to be determined. The links provide further information and an opportunity to register an interest in the courses. E-mail notifications will be sent when the courses are scheduled.

-- Shakespeare: Print and Performance -and-
-- Shakespeare's Hamlet: Text, Performance and Culture

FutureLearn has scheduled a repeat of a previously run course about the Bard; Shakespeare: Print and Performance. The 4-week course is scheduled to begin October 23.