¼â½ÐÊÓƵ

If life is but a walking shadow, the works of Shakespeare are immortal beings, transcending time and culture to remain at the pinnacle of literary achievement. Taught in every high school and college around the world, Shakespeare’s plays endure, but for Michael LoMonico, Senior Consultant of National Education at the Folger Shakespeare Library, the way these timeless works are taught needs to ignite the minds of current students. During his visit to ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University from April 24 to April 25 , LoMonico will spend time with English and education classes to observe how ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ’s professors get their students excited about literature and learning, and he will demonstrate his own workshops on Shakespeare, teaching and writing.

LoMonico’s mission is to change the way Shakespeare is taught in the United States and so far he has taught Shakespeare to teachers and students in 38 states and in Canada and England.

Working at the Teaching Shakespeare Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. as the Institute Director and Master Teacher since 1986, LoMonico has organized and directed two-day and week-long Folger Institute workshops across the U.S. In addition to hosting these programs, LoMonico has published several books: a novel called That Shakespeare Kid , a reference book entitled Shakespeare 101 and the second edition of The Shakespeare Book of Lists .

As secretary for the Shakespeare Theatre Association, LoMonico has always demonstrated his appreciation of Shakespeare, serving as the founder and editor of Shakespeare magazine, published by Cambridge University Press and Georgetown University. Additionally, he was an assistant to the editor for the curriculum section of all three volumes of the Folger’s Shakespeare Set Free series, published by Washington Square Press, and a technical editor to The Complete Idiots Guide to Shakespeare.

When he comes to ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ, his mission will be no different, first making a stop on April 24 to share his expertise in Assistant Professor of English Shannon Kelley’s “Imagining Shakespeare” course at 12:30 p.m., as well as her 2 p.m. “Shakespeare I” course.

The following day, LoMonico will demonstrate one of his education workshops in Professor of English Betsy Bowen’s 9:30 a.m. “Teaching and Writing” class, taking a break at noon for a lunch open to all faculty and students. LoMonico will visit his final class of the day — Assistant Professor of the Practice of Curriculum & Instruction and Director of the Connecticut Writing Project Bryan Ripley Crandall’s graduate-level course, “Developmental Reading in Secondary Schools” at 5 p.m. He will round out his ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ visit by joining in on a tutoring session with ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ’s Service Learning students, who will travel to the Gary Crooks Community Center in Bridgeport to help students with their homework, lead an activity on Shakespeare and help serve meals.

“At ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ, we are honored to host Michael, an author, teacher, and education consultant at the Folger Shakespeare Library, one of the most prestigious scholarly institutions in the world,” said Shannon Kelly, assistant professor of English. “Michael calls to mind the many career opportunities available to our English majors who enjoy working with canonical literature, even in today’s digital era. The English Department is excited to collaborate with Michael, and we hope to send literature students and future educators to his workshops in the future.”