Guided Elective: pre-1700

Instructor: Nicholas Watson Tuesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD Medieval romances are ancestors of the modern novel, including the psychological novel and the fictions we call “fantasy.” In modern French, the word “roman” means “novel.” In this course...

Instructor: David Levine Spring 2027 Monday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 14 students Students will gain facility with reading, speaking, performing, and directing Shakespeare through a simple task: attempting to stage the first act...

Instructor: Nicholas Watson Spring 2027 TBD | Location: TBD Spring 2026 Thursday, 9:45-11:45am | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 15 students Medieval romances are ancestors of the modern novel, including the psychological novel and the fictions we...

Instructor: Gordon Teskey Monday, 12:45-2:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 15 students How did Shakespeare’s art develop in the years following Hamlet (1600-1601), which ends with a roar of cannons, warning of great tragedies to come? The...

Instructor: Leah Whittington TBD | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 15 students This course traces the reception of Ovid’s Metamorphoses through the diverse responses of Petrarch, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton and Dryden, exploring how...

Instructor: Gordon Teskey Monday, 3:45-5:45 | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 15 students. Shakespeare’s career in playwriting (1589-1611) divides into two creative phases, each one lasting a decade. At the center is his most famous play, Hamlet...

Instructor: Stephen Greenblatt Tuesday & Thursday, 1:30-2:45pm | Location: TBD We will begin with Shakespeare's brilliant early history play, Richard III , and read works from the full course of his career, sampling all of his major genres: comedies...

Instructor: Nicholas Watson Fall 2026 Wednesday, 9:00-11:45am | Location: TBD Spring 2026 Wednesday, 9:45-11:45 am | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 15 students Julian of Norwich (born 1343) and Margery Kempe of Lynn (born 1373) are the two earliest...

Instructor: Alan Niles Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00-1:15 pm | Location: Please login to the course catalog at my.harvard.edu for location Course Site This class is an introduction to Shakespeare’s writings and their representations of sex, gender, romance...

Instructor: Joseph A. Shack Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30-11:45 am | Location: Please login to the course catalog at my.harvard.edu for location Course Site Translations of excerpts from Beowulf will proceed in parallel with careful reading of Heaney's verse...