Shakespeare in Venice
Shakespeare in Venice
Venice Short Courses
When/Where
Late Autumn Term
This module will involve two weeks study online at Warwick and one week in Venice from the 12th to 19th December 2026.
IMPORTANT:
A small number of bursaries will be available. Details will be announced shortly, but please contact the module convenor (
) to register your interest in applying for these.
Assessment
- Student Devised Assessment (65%)
- Blog (20%)
- Critical Review (15%)
What is the module about?
William Shakespeare never went to Venice but the city fascinated him and served as the setting for two of his most powerful – and controversial – plays: The Merchant of Venice and Othello. This module gives students the unique opportunity to study both plays in contemporary Venice with staff and students from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and Ca'Foscari University (Venice).
No prior knowledge or experience of Shakespeare or of English Literature is required. Students of all backgrounds and from all subjects will be welcome to bring their own questions to bear on the relevance and dynamics of these plays in the twenty-first century. We will value learning beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries and take a multidisciplinary approach to these very rich texts.
Internationalism is also central to the syllabus: our core texts were written by an Englishman but based in the Venetian Republic, a locus of international trade and a byword for cosmopolitanism. In the four hundred years since, the plays have been translated into dozens of languages and been adapted for a range of national and regional audiences. Shakespeare is now a global phenomenon and it is entirely apt for students from the UK, Australia, Italy and elsewhere to come together to study him in one of the great global cities of early modern and contemporary Europe.
We will take a multidisciplinary approach and consider: the history of Venice and its reputation in early modern Europe; the theatrical culture of Shakespeare’s London; the literary precedents for depictions of Jewish and North African people before Shakespeare; the variety of film and stage interpretations of the texts; and the cultural afterlives of the plays’ protagonists, Shylock and Othello. Most of the In-person teaching will take place in Warwick’s Palazzo in Venice, but there will also be opportunities for site-specific and experiential learning as we visit parts of Venice referenced in the plays, including the Jewish Ghetto. Assessment will be flexible and student-led.
Please Note: This course is part of Venice Short Courses please review the following website for details:
https://warwick.ac.uk/about/campus/venice/veniceshortcourses/Link opens in a new window
This module includes teaching in person in Venice Italy from 12th to 19th December 2026.
What will the module cover?
We will take a multidisciplinary and internationalist approach to two of Shakespeare's richest and most complicated plays;
- To situate the two plays in their historical, cultural and legal original contexts;
- To understand the role that Venice played in Shakespeare’s imagination;
- To analyse the relationship between texts and a range of performances;
- To explore the history of cultural stereotypes of place, race, religion, class, and gender as they relate to our society today and to our own disciplinary learning and personal experience.
- The opportunity to engage creatively with Shakespeare’s works through acts of adaptation, revision or rewriting.
Before Week 1: you will start to get acquainted with our two primary texts, The Merchant of Venice and Othello, through guided independent study.
Weeks 1 and 2 (in the UK): at the beginning of Week 1 you will submit a formative (unassessed) blog post that will inform our online seminar. In this seminar - and throughout the intensive - you will be encouraged to bring your own disciplinary knowledge and cultural experiences into the conversation. You will therefore not only acquire new knowledge but also help co-create a distinctive multi-focal group response to the plays. At the end of Week 2 you will submit an assessed blog based on your thoughts and discoveries so far on the intensive.
Week 3: the intensive week in Venice will build on these discussions and focus on: workshopping key passages from the texts; site-specific explorations of places referenced in the plays; presentations based on short pieces of secondary reading or on the reputation of Shakespeare and/or the focus plays in the speaker’s national or regional context; group viewings of recent film and stage productions; one-to-one discussions with the convenor about assessment options and guidance; visits to place of contextual interest, such as the Jewish Ghetto and the Jewish Museum of Venice; guest lectures and walking tours of Venice with Professor Shaul Bassi (Ca’ Foscari, University of Venice).
1) Blog (20%)
A formative blog at the beginning of Week 1 will form the basis of an assessed blog to be submitted at the end of Week 1.
2) Review (15%)
A review of any adaptation (stage, film, TV, etc) of Othello or The Merchant of Venice
3) Student Devised Assessment (65%)
Your chance to develop your own project in relation to one or more of the module's themes. You will be guided in this by the module convenor, but there is no limit to your options in line with IATL's SDA: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/study/iatlugmodules/assessment/
Learning Outcomes
See module catalogue.
Please select:
IL225-15 (Intermediate)
IL325-15 (Third year/Finalist)
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How to apply
Complete our online form to request your place.
Once IATL has confirmed you have been allocated a place, follow your home department's procedure to register.
Find out how this module relates to IATL Strategy
