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26
2011
Congratulations, Dr. Quarmby
FIE wishes to congratulate faculty member Dr. Kevin Quarmby. Dr. Quarmby has recently been recognized as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Halle Institute for Global Learning, Emory University Atlanta. The Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning is Emory University’s premier venue for visits by heads of state, distinguished policymakers and influential public intellectuals from around the world.
This honour recognizes Dr. Quarmby’s work with the global community. In collaboration with Dr Sheila Cavanagh of Emory University, he has led undergraduate Shakespeare classes via live Skype links between the US and UK. These have developed into an international project, the ‘World Shakespeare Project’, which has already linked the Nistarini Women’s College in Purulia, West Bengal, with London and Atlanta. Students in this rural community presented their own unique interpretation of ‘Macbeth’ in Bengali, demonstrating the universality of Shakespeare and the exciting potential for digital technology to forge international associations and promote international dialogue.
This cutting-edge pedagogical project already has the full collaborative support of the Director of Research at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC, who offers the Folger’s own association with higher education establishments in Latin America. Further negotiation with universities in Morocco, Casablanca, Rabat, Kenya and Tanzania, as well as an Israeli/Palestinian proposal, demonstrates the worldwide potential for the Project, all facilitated by Emory’s Center for Interactive Teaching. In the UK, the Project is in discussion with Stephen Unwin, Artistic Director of the Rose Theatre Kingston, and was proud to explain its potential to Sir Peter Hall and Nikki Frei (Lady Hall) at a private function with Jane Asher and her husband, Gerald Scarfe.