Vaglia, Robert My name is Robert Vaglia (Rob) and this is my short bio for membership in SHAKSPER. I am a graduate student in the M. A. in English program at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I completed my undergraduate work at James Madison, also. Having studied in Italy for a couple of months, I am interested in the connection between Shakespeare and his Italian sources, and Shakespeare's intrest in the Italian culture. I am also interested in all aspects of Shakespeare and his writings and I look forward to being a part of SHAKSPER. =============================================================================== *Van Brunt, Nicole My name is Nicole Van Brunt and I am currently a sophmore at St. Lawrence Universit in Canton, New York. I am a English Literature major with areas of concentration in Shakespeare. My current professor, Dr. Thomas Berger has instructed me that this newsletter and correspondence would prove to be of great value to me. Therefore, I am requesting that you grant me a subscription. =============================================================================== *Van Elk, Marie Albertine My name is Martine van Elk and I am a graduate student in my fourth year in the English Department at Rice University in Houston, Texas. My interest in literature has always been varied and included Renaissance literature (especially Shakespeare) as well as modern Irish drama. While my M.A. thesis was on a contemporary Irish theater company (written after a year of studying at University College Dublin), I have now decided to concentrate on the Renaissance. My dissertation is most likely going to be on instances of 'misrecognition' (whether due to a disguise or not) in Renaissance drama and particularly in how authorities (law or state) respond to and solve these instances. My interest in the topic developed out of a seminar paper on The Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night, and twins in Shakespeare is one of the topics I am working on at the moment. I have also worked on the crisis of language in The Winter's Tale and I am currently trying to get a paper out on torture in four plays by the medieval canoness Hrotsvit of Gandersheim. All in all, it's a variety of interests, which are all linked under the heading of drama and more specifically questions of identity and "power" in drama. ============================================================= Laurel Amtower My name is Laurel Amtower. I am an Assistant Professor of English at California State University, San Marcos, where I teach "Early British Literature" and literary theory. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1993. My current research centers around a book project I'm calling _The Ethics of Reading in the late Middle Ages_, which examines the work of Chaucer, Petrarch, Malory, and the 14th century "humanists" in the context of late medieval book production and reading habits. I teach Shakespeare courses regularly, and have an article that just came out last year on "The Ethics of Subjectivity in _Hamlet_" (_Studies in the Humanities_, 1996). ============================================================= *Van Valkenburgh, Kay 3610 East 13th Street, Tulsa, OK 74112 (918) 749-6439. My name is Kay Van Valkenburgh, and I am a first year graduate student in English at the University of Tulsa. I have my B.A. in English from Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA. My major focus in my M.A. will be 20th C women's lit, but, not yet being forced to specialize, I allow my interests to range pretty widely. I'm enjoying exploring canonical and non-canonical literature from all periods (and even allow some activities outside of the English department: German, vocal music, art history and sailing, for a few examples). I am currently working on my first conference paper, to be presented at Lehigh University in Feb, if it is accepted, concerning one of May Sarton's novels, and am simultaneously polishing a paper on representations of groups of women in Pre-Raphaelite art and literature. I hope to submit this paper for publi- cation (also my first). Unfortunately my interest in Shakespeare can only receive secondary attention at the moment, but I look forward to seeing what other people are doing, discovering, enjoying, etc. with his bits. ============================================================================ *Vandevender, Debby Sue Currently, I am involved in staff development and work with students (grades one through twelve) in public and private schools. In addition, I coordinate a Special Interest Group (Gifted Children's Pen Pals International) for MENSA, work with student groups (ages four through twenty) for UNICEF, and develop lessons (language arts, science, technology) for all educational levels (primary through college). My hobbies (when time permits) include needlework (especially needlepoint), crafts, cooking. Although I have not published any papers in your areas, I have had work published many times. I am currently working on a theater (educational) project, which would include the introduction of Shakespeare's works to primary grade students. (If Dr. Seuss wrote for children and adults, why not Shakespeare?) =============================================================================== *Vasile, Pamela A. My name is Pamela A. Vasile. I am a first-year Ph.D. student in English at the University of Delaware. I began my graduate studies at Delaware in the fall of 1990, immediately following my May 1990 graduation from Holy Cross College (Worcester, MA) with a B.A. in English. My undergraduate studies fostered a fascination with Shakespeare and Spenser in particular, and Renaissance literature in general, interests which have not only grown stronger since I began graduate school, but which also have expanded this past academic year to include an interest in Medieval Studies. Other potential areas of specialization/research include anything having to do with music, as well as Medieval and Renaissance Italian literature and culture. In fact, I have just finished reading Boccaccio's TESEIDA (in translation) in preparation for a paper on Chaucer's Knight's Tale. I also enjoy working with manuscripts; I plan to take a palaeography course at the Folger next spring, not only because I would like to write a manuscript-oriented dissertation, but also because I would like to become expert in manuscript studies. I will teach English 110 ("Freshman Composition") in the fall, as well as continue to work as Dr. Lois Potter's research assistant, a position I took about a year ago. Dr. Potter is currently in the midst of her Arden Shakespeare edition of THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN; I have most recently been checking her transcription, scene-by-scene, against the 1634 quarto. I have also been helping her research several of the papers she has promised to deliver in the next few months, one on Prague semioticians, another on piracy in the seventeenth century, yet another on THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. At this point, I am a member of the MLA, I subscribe to some other electronic networks (CHAUCERnet, ANSAXnet; looking into FICINO and MEDTEXT), and I have yet to publish. ============================================================================= *Vecchi, Linda Dr. Linda Vecchi Memorial University of Newfoundland Department of English St. John's, NF A1C 5S7 E-mail: lvecchi@morgan.ucs.mun.ca I have been at Memorial University for the past eight years. I am a specialist in Renaissance poetry, and I regularly teach courses in Shakespeare and Sixteenth-Century literature. Among my conference credits I have given only one paper on Shakespeare, many years ago (as a grad. student) for the West Virginia Shakespeare Association, although he is a constant allusion in much that I do. My other conference papers have generally been in Spenser studies at Kalamazoo and the annual meeting of the Association of Canadian College and Univesity Teachers of English (mercifully known as ACCUTE). Having done my thesis on Spenser's *Complaints* at the University of Western Ontario with A.K. Hieatt and Peter Auksi, I became interested in Renaissance complaint and lamentory literature. I have just finished a paper on Richard Barnfield's *The Affectionate Shepheard,* and I am in the midst of preparing the ms. for an anthology of Renaissance verse Complaints. A related interest in my study of complaints is in the view of women as seen in the Renaissance literature of lamentation. Such works go beyond the familiar "feminine complaints" and include works authored by women, e.g. Rachel Speght's *Mortalities Memorandum* and Anne Askew's ballad, and popular ballads which present women's distressess: child-birth, marital discord, unwanted pregnancies, unfaithful lovers, etc. Such matters, along with a full teaching load and a busy family-life, keep me well occupied. I look forward to connecting and networking with my fellow Shak[e]sper[eans]. =============================================================================== *Velkey, Matt I am an undergraduate student of English and biology at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, where I also serve as the laboratory manager for the biology department. My interests are quite diverse as I am intrigued by just about everything from DNA to Derrida. However, the specific direction that my studies have taken me in biology include physiology and electron microscopy while my literary studies have focused in upon literary theory. The specific reason for my subscription request to the Shakespeare conference is that I have been awarded a teaching fellowship in our English department, and I shall be working with Dr. Mary Janell Metzger in two of her classes: Shakespeare (Fall '94), and History of Literary Criticism (Spring '95). Dr. Metzger is a Shakespeare scholar herself and shall also be joining the conference, for it is our hope to see not only how others on the conference interpret Shakespeare, but also how they teach/share it. Our course will look at six or seven plays in the context of their prior sources, the plays themselves, and adaptations of the plays in film, narrative, or poetry. Our hope is to transform the course from the typical "appreciation" style to a more engaging "criticism" of Shakespeare. We have come to find that what we have set out to do is indeed a daunting task, and we are seeking help. This is not to say that we shall only be sponges to the conference, taking only information and offering nothing in return. Quite the contrary, we hope to gain a lot from the conference, but we certainly are intent upon sharing our experiences with all of those who shall be helping us. My e-mail address (in case it isn't in the header) is: velkejm@okra.millsaps.edu I can be reached via surface mail at: Millsaps College Department of Biology 1701 North State Street Jackson, MS 39210 office: 216 Olin Hall (601) 974-1408 =============================================================================== *Velz, John I am John W. Velz, Prof. at U.Texas Austin, about to become emeritus. Would like to enter my name on the Shakespeare List, as I want to post a notice about my present research activities. Also will from time to time have something else to post on the bulletin board. I like this way of communicating with the profession. Can you hook me up? Or tell me how to proceed with hooking myself up? You will see my e-mail address in the heading of this letter. Fran Teague says you will want a bio. I have a 12 page vita, but surely you do not want to clutter your files with so much as that. Briefly, I have worked for the last forty years on both classical and medieval backgrounds to Shakespeare. Published several books and perhaps 50 articles and notes. Read more than 70 papers at learned society meetings and other academic gatherings and reviewed perhaps 50 books and theatre productions. Almost all this activity has focused on Shakespeare; some of it on medieval drama. At the moment I am collaborating with Dr. Marga Munkelt of Universitaet Muenster in a Pegasus bibliography of Shakespeare's Roman works, four tragedies and *The Rape of Lucrece*. Also continuing work on a supplement to *Shakespeare and the Classical Tradition*, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1968. =============================================================================== *Venneri, Patrick Received your print out from a friend who knew my interest and dedication to the teaching of Shakespeare. I am sorry to have to use this address but the other did not work for me. I have taught Billy the Shake in prisons all over the state of Mass, at a Historically Black College in Birmingham Al., and various community colleges. My dissertation (if senility or death does not come first) is titled The Teaching of Shakespeare in Prison: or "Lear he kicked Cordelia to the curb; He buy his clothes at K-Mart." This from two student prisoners in a maximum security prison, and that may be all you have to say about Lear. (kidding of course?) Have BA and MA from U Mass Amherst and have been teaching for the last five or six years as many as 17 courses in two semesters (one has to eat) until landing this position in Egypt at the American University in Cairo. Will be here for two years. Any help you might tender would be appreciated. I need the help of a company of Shakesperarian experts to advise and guide me. Patrick Venneri English Dept American University in Cairo 113 Sharia Kasr El Aini PO Box 2511 Cairo, Egypt =============================================================================== *Vere, Charles My name is Charles Vere and I lecture on Shakespeare at schools and colleges around the country. I am President of the Shakespeare Oxford Society, and my main area of interest as far as Shakespeare is concerned is the author's social and political philosophy and its relevance to us today. I am also most interested in the plays as commentaries on the Elizabethan age. I am a member of the S.A.A. and have participated in its seminars for the past two years. =============================================================================== *Versenyi, Adam Adam Versenyi, Assistant Professor of Dramaturgy, Dept. of Dramatic Art, UNC-Chapel Hill; Dramaturg, PlayMakers Repertory Company. My area of specialization is Latin American theatre and I am the author of THEATRE IN LATIN AMERICA:RELIGION, POLITICS, AND CULTURE FROM CORTES TO THE 1980s(Cambridge, 1993). I am now working on a new study on theatre in the Southern Cone, and an anthology of plays in translation by the contemporary Mexican playwright Sabina Berman. As resident dramaturg for a primarily classical repertory company, I work frequently with Shakespearean texts. We are currently running a production of MACBETH to close our season and will open with OTHELLO in the fall. =============================================================================== *Viana, Magdalena My name is Magdalena Viana, I'm a 22 years old Literature student from Argentina. Currently, I'm at 4th. year, which under American parameters would equal a Senior student. I attend to Universidad del Salvador, Facultad de Historia y Letras, Escuela de Letras. The field I'm intending to specialize in is Gender Studies in Shakespeare's plays. Following that purpose, I attended during last summer to a course at Brown University, dictated by Proffesor John Schroeder. This course encouraged me to pursue on this field, given that I felt an unusual amount of passion during the classes! Although Argentina isn't a paradise for Shakespeareans, I manage quite well getting as much information as I can from the Internet. Publications on this field do not exist here, and the books that you can find in the libraries are unbelievably old (such as Jan Kott's "Shakespeare: our contemporary"). I guess that you'll understand by now why I'd like to join this mailing list. At the present time, I'm writing a paper on "The Tempest" as a part of a final exam, trying to analyze Miranda's character under a feminist perspective. ============================================================= *Viator, Timothy Timothy J. Viator Assistant Professor Department of English Rowan College of New Jersey I received my Ph.D. from Auburn University in August 1990, with a concentration in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century drama, especially comedy. I have published several articles on 17th, 18th and contemporary drama in Theatre Notebook, Restoration and Eighteenth-century Theatre Research, and The Southern Quarterly. With William Burling, I am currently editing an edition of the plays of Colley Cibber for Associated University Presses. I am particularly interested in comedy, semiotics, and performance criticism. At Rowan I teach Renaissance and Eighteenth-century British literature. My addresses are: Department of English, Rowan College of New Jersey, Glassboro, NJ 08028; viator@elan.rowan.edu. My phone number is 609-256-4500 ext 3307. =============================================================================== *Vickers, Brian BRIAN WILLIAM VICKERS, Professor of English Literature and Director of the Centre for Renaissance Studies at the ETH Zuerich. I was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, held a University Lectureship in English at Cambridge, and have been a full Professor in Zuerich since 1972, first at the Universitaet Zuerich, and since 1975 here at the Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule (a kind of Swiss equivalent to MIT). My current research interests include rhetoric in Shakespeare; the history of Shakespeare criticism; and the criteria for determining authorship. ============================================================= *Villa, Marili My name is Marili Villa, I'm Italian, 37 years old. I studied philosophy at the College and worked in a public library. Now I'm a housewife with many interests (I never get bored!) and Shakespeare is my most important interest. So I am not an expert, but I really love reading the Bard!! I hope you'll let me enter your great community. ============================================================= *Vince, Ronald I hold degrees from McMaster, Rice and Northwestern Universties. I have taught at McMaster for longer than I care to contemplate, in the Departments of English, Drama, and -- currently -- the School of Art, drama and music. I teach primarily dramatic literature, theatre history and dramatic theory, with a special emphasis on the Renaissance. I am currently offering a graduate course in the drama of renaissance England, and an undergraduate course in the theatre of the Continental Renaissance. In the past I have offered courses on Shakespeare, Marlowe and the Jacobean court masque. My research interests have been mainly in the historiography of Western theatre before 1800. I have published three books on the suject, and have edited a "Companion" to the medieval theatre. A recent article touches upon the problem of reconstructing sixteenth-century playhouses. I recently completed a piece on the "eventness" of theatrical performmme, and i am currently engaged in a book-length study of performance in the ancient world. =============================================================================== *Vincent, Barry My name is Barry Vincent. I am student currently enrolled in Shakesperean Histories and Tragedies at West Virginia Northern Community College (WVNCC). I am reviewing the play HENRY V and would like to inquire about the character of Henry, specifically how he has been "shaped" by his father and Falstaff. My interest in Shakespeare lies within my personal desire to become a more voracious reader and to understand what many have said is the greatest playwright of all time. This may sound "hackneyed," but one the best ways to improve oneself is through reading. Thus, my desire to learn the works and interpretations of William Shakespeare. =============================================================================== *Vitkus, Daniel J. I have an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a minor in French. I received a Master's degree from Oxford University (Hertford College) in English Language and Literature. I graduated from Oxford in 1986, and in 1992 I completed my doctoral work at Columbia University, where I wrote a dissertation entitled, "Occasions of Magnificence: Poetry, Patronage, and the Politics of Marriage in Renaissance England" (directed by David Scott Kastan and Jean Howard). Since completing my doctorate, I have been teaching in the D Department of English and Comparative Literature at the American University in Cairo. I am presently a member in the Modern Languages Association, the Renaissance Society of America, and the Shakespeare Association of America. My recent publications include articles on "Shakespeare's Translations of Plutarch: History, Propaganda, and Myth in Antony and Cleopatra" and "Madness and Mysogyny in Ken Kesey's one Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I am interested in historicist approaches toearly modern culture in Europe, especially in England, and my work has been influenced by marxist, feminist, and post-structuralist theory. I have taught a wide range of courses, including Shakespeare, Seventeenth-Century Literature, Tudor Drama, Stuart Drama, a survey of Renaissance Literature, and seminars on "Discovery Narratives and the Emergent Discourses of Colonialism" and "Humanist Heroics: the Classical and Renaissance Epic." I am presently working on a major project, an investigation of the representation of Islam in early modern England. A book-length work is in progress, tenntatively entitled, "Turning Turk: The Representation of Islam in Early Modern England." =============================================================================== *Vittitow, Chet Graduate School Senator, University of Louisville 1337 South Third St., Louisville, KY 40208 (502) 635-5487 I am a graduate student in the English department of the University of Louisville. From that same university, I have acquired a BA in English Literature, and a JD. Since 1987, I have been licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth. After three years of active practice, I became convinced that the legal world was not for me. I am currently in the process of placing my license in escrow, and proceding with graduate work in English. I have been awarded a GTA-ship for the 1991-92 academic year, and will assume my teaching duties at the end of August. At that time, I will also be studying Shakespeare at the graduate level. The immediacy of electronic communication would be of enormous benefit to me. =========================================================================== *Voigts-Virchow, Eckart Justus-Liebig-Universitaet Giessen Institut f. Anglistik & Amerikanistik Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10 B 35394 Giessen =============================================================================== *Volker, Dawn Hi! My name is Dawn Volker. I am an English Education major at Stockton State College in New Jersey. I am a real Shakespeare buff and would be very grateful if you would please enroll me in your Shakespeare Conference. Thank You so much, I look forward to conversing with you soon. My address is dvolker@cosi.stockton.edu =============================================================================== *Voros, Joseph As of today, my Grade 12 class is studying HAMLET and we are considering the themes of conflict surrounding MAN VS. HIMSELF vis-a-vis the conscience of Claudius at the masque (and at prayer) that Hamlet engineers and, of course, the fleeting streams of emotion within Hamlet himself. As for me, I am an English teacher (and bad golfer) at Fort Nelson Secondary School in Fort Nelson, BC: oh yes, we are the northernmost golf course with natural grass greens. That's 59- degrees north latitude for you geographers. What more can I say? Be true to thyself and thanks for your resource. Feel free to e-mail me re: opinions, surveys, classroom stuff. I am looking forward to seeing Kenneth Branaugh's HAMLET, though Mel Gibson does a fairly good job. ============================================================= *Vos, Sarah My name is Sarah Cornelia Vos. I am currently a freshman at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I have not yet declared my major, but I am seriously considering English. I hope to join Shaksper, not only because I enjoy his works, but because I am a dramaturg for our spring production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. The director suggested that this might be a good way to find out some interesting staging and some new ideas. I haven't published or written any noteworthy papers about Shakespeare, but I am eager to learn anything I can. Unlike most of my high school classmates, I loved reading Shakespeare and reading about Shakespeare. I am not really sure what else to tell you. I was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and my parents still reside there. I am currently living in the dorms at Calvin and trying to get used to greasy cafeteria food. Sometimes, it is stritcker in the dorms that it was when I lived with my parents. It is a conservative campus. =============================================================================== *Vourdon, Thierry I am a 23-year-old French student. I received my B.A. in English at the University of Nancy (France) in 1995 after a year at the University of Birmingham (U.K.). In 1996-97, I was a French assistant at the University of Liverpool (U.K). I am currently finishing my M.A. at the University of Metz (France) where I am also a graduate assistant for the Centre for Translation Studies. Our centre aims at establishing a comprehensive database ("FACET") of all French translations of British literary texts. Bibliographies on specific writers are regularly published (_Cahiers du SIRFAS_). My research interests are Victorian poetry and prose; more specially the works of Walter Pater and Matthew Arnold. My thesis deals with "Urbanity as Social and Aesthetic Practice in Matthew Arnold's _Culture and Anarchy_." I am a member of the "Pater Society of the U.K. and U.S." and I own a fine collection of rare books relating to Pater and Arnold. I am also interested in the literary influences between French andEnglish writers and I am preparing a contribution on French historians for _Makers of Western Culture_, a dictionary of literary influences to be published by Greenwood Press in 1999. Elizabethan literature was the major topic of my undergraduate literature courses and is traditionally in France the compulsory part of the recruiting exam for English teachers. That is a very practical reason why I wish to keep in touch with current research on Shakespeare! ----------------------------------------------------------------- *Lewis, Judy I am a high school teacher of about 25 years' experience, with a lifelong love of Shakespeare - as text, on stage and on film. I teach Shakespeare regularly: Macbeth, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing (currently), Lear, Othello etc; as well as filmed versions - Zefirelli's Romeo and Juliet, Branagh's Much Ado and Henry V; the Judi Dench-Ian McKellen Macbeth and Polanski's Macbeth. My personal collection of Shakespeare-on -video contains about 25 titles - so far. I have acted in Shakespeare (as an amateur) and have directed both As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream; I am currently preparing to direct Much Ado early next year. In London for a year (1997), I attended the new Globe theatre three times, as well as seeing numerous other Royal Shakespeare and National Theatre productions. Although I do read academic papers, I have no time for writing my own. ============================================================= *Voyles, Katherine I am a 20 year senior at Mary Washington College in Fredricksburg, though, I am only taking classes here this year (husband in the military) because I will graduate with a degree from Univ. of Wash in Seattle. I am currently in a Shakespeare class, but that is not why I want to be on the list. Before getting married/changing name I was on the list under my maiden name and found it quite lively, useful and informative. I am interested in graduate work, but probably will do it in American Literature. In terms of interest in Shakespeare one thing that I find fascinating is how different movie versions of the same play can refer to one another (Olivier and Branagh's Henry V comes to mind as Peter Donaldson points out in Shakespeare Quarterly's "Taking on Shakespeare: Kenneth Brangah's Henry V). That sort of intertexuality adds so much to the critical discussion of Shakespeare, though I am not sure how it affects one as they read a play. I enjoy the SHAKSPER list because it allows me to see how academics talk to one another at the same time that it affords me the opportunity to better learn about Shakespeare. ============================================================= *Vrooman, Steven S. Steven S. Vrooman student (English major) Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA I read and study Shakespeare's plays and sonnets for my coursework. I love Shakespeare and someday want to teach. I am presently involved in a course on Shakespearean tragedy and am conducting undergraduate level research on HAMLET, MACBETH and LEAR. =============================================================================== *Vázquez, Armando Guerra In 1993 I started English Language and Literature at José Martí Teachers College, province of Camagüey, Cuba. In my third year I was selected to be a teacher assistant and after some training, I began to teach 2nd-year students English Language. In addition, I taught American Short Stories - an elective subject - in a 3rd-year class. In 1996 I changed my course and began attending the school of foreign languages at the University of Havana. Being now in third year, I have been pre-selected to be a teaching assistant in English Literature. I have participated in the following events: National GELI(Group of English Language Specialists) Convention 1995 and 1996. ============================================================= *