Strategic Shakespeare: Transformative Leadership for the Future of Higher Education

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 ways in which training in the humanities creates a baseline of skills in collaboration, deep listening, tolerance for ambiguity, and a range of positionalities. They also illustrate an astute understanding of disparate data sets, persuasive storytelling, and a commitment to liberal arts education. As this innovative collection showcases, these skills are crucial in the current climate, as higher education struggles with declining enrolments, decreasing budgets, growing public distrust, and (often) hostile legislative oversight. Additionally, the skills help us navigate 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 led 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 that humanities scholars bring to the table, showcasing their unique predisposition for successful academic leadership during a time of unprecedented change.

Ariane M. Balizet is a Professor of English and Associate Dean of Faculty and Engagement in the AddRan College of Liberal Arts at Texas Christian University, USA. She is the author of Shakespeare and Girls’ Studies (2020) and Blood and Home in Early Modern Drama: Domestic Identity on the Renaissance Stage (2014).

Natalie K. Eschenbaum is a Professor of English and Dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma, USA. Her publications include Disgust in Early Modern English Literature (co-edited with Barbara Correll; 2016).

Marcela Kostihová is the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts in the School of Education and Leadership and School of Business, and Professor of English at Hamline University, USA. She is author of Shakespeare in Transition: Political Appropriations in the Postcommunist Czech Republic (2010) and How to Analyze the Works of Stephenie Meyer (2011).