Penn literally has an entire Shakespeare Library. I used to do all my studying there because it’s the nicest quiet spot. It’s not as if this one portrait was the sole nod to Shakespeare on campus, it’s one of many dedications (not even counting the courses that teach him). Agreed with dustypig, all the Quakers are not going to suddenly forget to credit Shakespeare for his contributions; it’s just one more tribute out of several that already exist. Give the space to someone who could use a little more recognition.
Will they replace the portrait with one of Edward de Vere?
Am I missing something? Did students and faculty say they weren’t going to teach Shakespeare anymore? Why the fuss folks? If he is truly an icon having his portrait taken down isn’t going to change that…
And Lorde should get exposure as should many women authors…
What election, the 11/8 election? If so, was the removal a protest of their now well-known alum who doesn’t read (I heard)?
Seems silly to me. And there is enough wall space at Penn to put up portraits to honor whoever they want.
To change some perceptions, maybe the school can consider staging an all-female version of a Shakespeare show as was done by the Public Theater at the Delacorte Theater this summer (it was very good/interesting). http://www.playbill.com/article/all-female-taming-of-the-shrew-part-of-shakespeare-in-the-park-season-com-382812
Another thing to keep in mind is that like an earlier thread posted by OP implying the sky is falling because Western Civ will no longer be mandated for all students…there’s a lack of historical perspective/context being displayed.
For instance, it may surprise many such folks that up until the early 20th century, the classic college curriculum taught in the Ivies/elite colleges in the US and UK wasn’t English literature like Shakespeare…but the ancient Classics with the expectation students were proficient in the reading knowledge of Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, etc to be able to study/read those works in the original language:
http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1800s/1852/curriculum.html
No mention of English lit or Shakespeare in the 19th century catalog…but much coverage of the Classics…and in the original language. No reading classics works in translation, here.
Incidentally, Western Civ and the teaching of English lit as we have known it for the last several decades only really started just after WWI.
Very true, cobrat. The very notion of what it takes to be considered an educated and/or cultured person is constantly changing. What some people today call “culture wars” (inevitably bemoaning the fall of the importance of dead white dudes) have been going on since before Socrates. Another dead white dude rarely taught anymore…
They should replace the portrait with a multimedia display. Why bother to read when you can watch the video?
Actually, since it was just a picture, they could put a screen that displays a rotating selection of interesting authors in an English literature context.
Condider all the non-Causasian-themed modern remakes of Shakespeare’s plays:
The Lion King (Hamlet on the African savanna)
West Side Story (Juliet as a Latina)
Ran (King Lear in feudal Japan)
Both on and off topic simultaneously, but all I could think of when reading this topic was this song from Broadway’s Something Rotten: It’s Hard to be The Bard.
@ucbalumnus ,that is what I was thinking. They could have some descriptive text, readings of passages from the author’s works, and links to other related schools of thought.
Feel bad for Shakespeare. Why remove him? What had he done wrong? Why can’t they put both pictures?
Here’s one historical figure who’d feel Shakespeare has grievously wronged him and as such, would be thrilled by the removal of his portrait:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iumcdfcjps
Don’t feel bad–he’s been dead for a bit now.
Would his portrait have been up on the wall for all these years if he had NOT been white?
When my kids were in elementary school we used to put short poems in the stairwells. I don’t know if they read them, but we changed them up regularly. A portrait? It’s just a face. Is it really going to inspire some one to find out who the portrait is of and why it’s there? Our campus was littered with portraits of pompous looking white men and I never bothered to find out who any of them were.
But if you are interested in reading some of Lorde’s work - there are links to five of her poems here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/audre-lorde
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Audre Lorde
Will they replace the portrait of Beethoven with one of Kanye West in the music school?
Kanye West is hardly unknown to the masses… if they replaced Beethoven (whose reputation, like Shakespeare’s, isn’t questioned by anyone) with a little-known but worthwhile composer of color, I’d be game with that.
Education isn’t just bowing to masters, but discovering new voices as well – whether it’s in literature, music, art, architecture, math or science. That’s how we grow as a culture.
Some topflight conservatories are placing jazz great Theolonious Monk among the featured pantheon of great musical composers…including naming departments/institutes after him. Not too bad considering jazz was considered “crappy music” by many older musically closed-minded folks of the 20’s and 30’s.
Not only was he one of the greatest musicians in his own right, he also happens to be a famous alum of my public magnet(attended in the '30s).