Seminar with Matthew Ritger

SHAKESPEAREAN STUDIES

SPEAKER: Matthew Ritger, Dartmouth College

As an interdisciplinary scholar of English literature and culture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including Shakespeare, Matthew Ritger's research concerns the politics of renaissance humanism, broadly construed. His first book, Houses of Correction: Carceral Institutions and Humanist Culture in Early Modern England, was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2026. Peer-reviewed articles have appeared in journals including Renaissance Quarterly, English Literary History, Shakespeare Studies, and Milton Studies. He also holds an MFA in poetry from Cornell University. In  teaching, he takes inspiration from humanism's emphasis on practical and experiential learning, encouraging a hands-on approach to archives, textual criticism, imaginative writing, and performance. 

Co-sponsored by the Harvard English Department Renaissance Colloquium.