Research Workshop: 'Shakespeare as the Ultimate Design Thinker'

Long before “design thinking” had a name, Shakespeare was practicing it. This interactive workshop invites students to explore Shakespeare not just as a playwright, but as a systems thinker, prototype builder, and radical designer of human possibility. Through scenes from Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Winter’s Tale, students will examine how Shakespeare tests ideas, stages failure, iterates ethical dilemmas, and designs spaces for collective thinking. The session blends close reading with creative exercises, offering students tools for applying Shakespearean thinking (and humanities thinking more broadly) to contemporary challenges—from climate anxiety to AI, leadership, and identity.

Speaker

Dr Jessica Riddell

Dr Jessica Riddell is a professor of Early Modern Literature in the English Department at Bishop’s University (Quebec, Canada). She is an award-winning educator and scholar, having published on Shakespeare, institutional culture change, inter-institutional collaborations, experiential learning, and inclusive high-impact practices. Her recent book, with collaborators Dr. Lisa Dickson and Dr. Shannon Murray, is called Shakespeare's Guide to Hope, Life, and LearningLink opens in a new window (University of Toronto Press, 2023) and was nominated for the Gordon Book Prize. Her newest book, Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and other Systems for Human FlourishingLink opens in a new window, was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in early 2024. Find out more about Dr Riddell here.