Acknowledgements

Melinda Gough:

This book would not be possible without the wonderful students in the Fall 2020 English 2HT3: Shakespeare: Histories and Tragedies course at McMaster University. Their curiosity, creativity, and critical acumen inspired this resource as a way of helping to build, beyond the confines of that particular course, a more welcoming, more engaged, and more inclusive intellectual community focused around Shakespeare and/as Adaptation. Among these amazing students, Stacy de Berner deserves a special shout out. Not only did she create the award-winning final project “Pulling Ophelia Out of the Red” that appears here in Section 1 as well as on the book’s cover, but as co-author of the book as a whole Stacy’s patience with me combined with her problem solving abilities were really important for keeping this OER initiative moving forward, in positive ways. I am also grateful to Braden Higgins, Leen Jaber, Megan Suttie, and Yi Zhu, who as teaching assistants supported our Fall 2020 English 2HT3 course during a particularly challenging time period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This OER also owes a great deal to the pedagogical models and resources generously shared with me by Dr. Natasha Korda (Wesleyan University) and Dr. Chantelle Thauvette (formerly at McMaster University, now at McGill University). The English 2HT3 Shakespeare and/as Adaptation project assignment at McMaster draws heavily on different versions of the assignment previously developed by each of these colleagues. In particular, Dr. Korda’s Shakespeare ‘redux’ assignment for her Wesleyan students helped shape specific prompts for Options 1 and 2 (projects that adapt Shakespeare or analyze adaptations of Shakespeare), while Dr. Thauvette’s assignment for previous McMaster students includes instructions and suggestions directly adapted for Options 1, 2 and 3 (this last option being one that considers Shakespeare himself as an artist who adapts previous sources — the Shakespeare “as” adaptation part of this book’s title).

Support for the student-instructor partnership that has resulted in the creation of this OER was provided by the 2021 Indigenous Undergraduate Summer Research Scholars Program, hosted by the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute, as well as a grant from the Student Partners Program at McMaster University’s Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching. At the MacPherson Institute, Joanne Kehoe and Devon Mordell both provided helpful advice about Pressbooks; we additionally benefited from Dr. Catherine Anderson’s initial suggestions and guidance.

I am especially indebted to Dr. Angela Harrison, who in her role as MacPherson Institute Course Developer supporting the English 2HT3 Fall 2020 course proposed the initial idea for this OER and whose subsequent advice, research, and writing were incisive for setting this project in motion. I also wish to thank the Faculty of Humanities, McMaster University, for supporting initial development of English 2HT3 as an online course and who as part of this support liaised with the MacPherson Institute to make Dr. Harrison’s work in the course possible.

Anastassiya Yudintseva, Digital Learning Specialist, McMaster University’s Centre for Continuing Education, was hugely generous with her time and expertise, providing crucial support with integration and formatting of visual content. I am extremely grateful for her contributions.

For advice regarding the student consent form that appears here in revised, template form, we are grateful to Dr. Angela Harrison, John Bell (Humanities Media and Computing, McMaster University), Christine Joo (Office of Legal Services, McMaster University), and Olga Perkovic, Anne Pottier, and Lynne Service (McMaster University Library). 

Stacy de Berner:

First I want to thank Dr. Gough for the opportunities I have had since joining her 2HT3 class in the fall of 2020. Through her guidance, I have grown as a student and her faith in my abilities has helped my confidence blossom. Most importantly, I want to thank her for her friendship and kindness in this journey.

Next, I want to thank my family. They understand my late nights and have supported my studies with patience, enthusiasm, and have given me the cheering I need. Thank you to my daughter Parker for your help in formatting some of these images in Procreate. A big thank you to Anastassiya Yudintseva and Angela Harrison for helping us with every aspect of technology concerning Pressbooks. Finally, thank you to my classmates in English 2HT3 (Fall 2020) for helping me edit and for help in exploring my essay’s themes.