The University of Birmingham and RSC collaboration is rooted in a vision of theatre as an engine room for creative thinking and research.
The University of Birmingham has been working in partnership together with the RSC since 2016. We are now in our second five year collaboration with the University taking us to 2026. The collaboration embodies a shared commitment to enriching student experience and contemporary Shakespeare studies and a commitment to the importance of arts and humanities disciplines. Students have the opportunity to experience working with RSC artists and practitioners in their undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Professor Tom Lockwood, Professor of English Literature, said:
“Two great institutions continuing to work together will create further enormous benefits, combining our world-leading arts research with the RSC’s cutting-edge artistic practice. Our students are at the heart of the collaboration and are encouraged to study and create theatre in Shakespeare's own daring spirit. They benefit from the expertise of RSC artists and practitioners through innovative modules, masterclasses, workshops and projects.”
This latest collaboration builds on a previous commitment, which saw the University become a founding partner of The Other Place as a unique hub for rehearsal, training, learning and creativity.
Jacqui O'Hanlon, Director of Creative Learning and Engagement, said:
“Our partnership with the University of Birmingham is rooted in a shared commitment to and belief in arts and humanities subjects as fields that shape the world around us and contribute to a better and more equitable society. Together, the University of Birmingham and the Royal Shakespeare Company create formal and informal opportunities for knowledge exchange about Shakespeare’s work and different forms of theatre practice – bringing together students, scholars and artists to explore the place and relevance of that work in our world today. It’s an incredibly rich partnership that we are privileged to be part of.”
THE PROGRAMME INCLUDES
- The MA Shakespeare and Creativity. This course is enhanced by the collaboration with the RSC, offering unique and extensive opportunities to work with RSC artists. This course is taught onsite at the Shakespeare Institute, the University of Birmingham's internationally renowned research institution in Stratford-upon-Avon.
- The Shakespeare MA. This course provides a rigorous and wide-ranging knowledge of approaches to the study of Shakespeare, with emphasis on criticism, textual studies, Global Shakespeare, the plays in performance, the history of Shakespeare's reception, and Shakespeare and education.
- The BA English with Shakespeare. Through this course, students have access to unparalleled resources for studying Shakespeare, programmed workshops and performances supported by the Shakespeare Institute and the collaboration with the RSC.
- Postgraduate, short courses, Spring into Shakespeare and Fall in with Shakespeare. Taught online these courses are delivered by the Shakespeare Institute.
Across the University of Birmingham, students access specially programmed workshops, courses and events, featuring input from RSC artists and practitioners, and see RSC shows.
