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The Global Discovery Lecture Series lets you explore the world virtually, both far and near, with Penn faculty members and your fellow alumni community. Each live, interactive lecture features Penn professors sharing new and innovative research on a variety of topics. Participants will have the opportunity to ask in-depth questions and are sure to learn something new in each one hour session.

When asking “Hath not a Jew eyes?” in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Shylock poses a question about what actual points of difference exist between people with distinct religious backgrounds. One of many English Renaissance plays that broaches religion, race, and nationhood, the Shakespearean drama explores a range of questions that are as relevant in the twenty-first century as they were in the sixteenth: How do religious and racial identities interact? How do cultural and political forces impact representation? This webinar will examine these complex questions by exploring several Shakespearean case studies, including Antony and Cleopatra, Othello, and The Merchant of Venice. It will also consider the historical moment in which Shakespeare was working, when Englishness was increasingly defined by distinguishing itself from ‘others’.

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