A Western English graduate who went on to become a preeminent figure in interior design has left $10 million to support students in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. William (Bill) Hodgins, BA’54, died in 2019, bestowing the faculty with its largest …
Arts and Humanities
Breaking down views of Drake on Twitter
During the four days following the release of Drake’s Views on April 29, Twitter has been flooded with the fans’ excitement about the new album.There were 3,828,931 tweets around Views in that period, most of them original tweets, not retweets, in what seems to be an...
Hellmuth celebrates elite researchers
Western professors John Leonard (Arts & Humanities) and Jesse Zhu (Engineering) have been awarded the 2016 Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research.
Celebrating Shakespeare 400
Western News joins the celebration of the most recognized English language playwright. We recruited this institution’s finest Shakespeare scholars to share their insights into The Bard – and play a little dress-up.
‘Picture’ of Shakespeare remains surprisingly blurred
Of all the images connected to Shakespeare and his work, perhaps none has elicited more fascination and frustration than the ostensible portraits of the author himself. Several representations of Shakespeare have become mainstays of popular culture, but did he...
Women need freedom to shape narratives for a new century
William Shakespeare wrote for a repertory company made up exclusively of men – men played all the roles, both male and female. The most senior and respected actors in the company played the major male roles; apprentice boys played the female roles. This structure was...
The Bard offers rare cuts for compulsive completist
For a long time, a fierce completist instinct determined my musical purchases. Elliott Smith played on a Birddog album? Thom Yorke sings on Unkle’s Psyence Fiction? Better buy them. In the days before iTunes, tracking down The Damned’s Turkey Song proved to be a grail...
His virtual reality in the Digital Age
Over the last several years, digital humanists have increasingly found avenues for analysis in the work of William Shakespeare. While computational analysis of classic literary works has been the subject of protracted controversy, many suggest new technologies have...
Uncovering the object of sonnet’s passion
Shakespeare’s Sonnets both express and excite strong passions, though many troubled readers have tried to downplay the poems’ effusions of passion. The reason is simple: The principal addressee and object of praise in most of these poems is not a beautiful woman, but...
New stagings shed fear of fatigue of familiar texts
There are very few books I read a second time. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Laurie R. King’s O Jerusalem. The Days are Just Packed, by Bill Watterson. And when I read for a second time a book I remember loving, the memory of that pleasure is more often than not...
Western performances keep summer tradition alive
While innumerable celebrations are being held this year around the globe – not to mention at The Globe in London, England – to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, here at Western we are continuing a venerable theatrical community tradition that...
Language of food pleased palate of audiences
How does food speak to us? What does it say when we choose salad, not steak? When we buy our vegetables from local farmers, when we avoid pork or shellfish or insist on gluten-free? As Shakespeare knew, food is a shared language, full of dramatic possibility. The...
PhD candidate wins CBC Short Story Prize
English PhD candidate David Huebert joins company with some of Canada’s best writers who received CBC Literary Prizes and went on to receive national and international acclaim.
Breaking down views of Drake on Twitter
During the four days following the release of Drake’s Views on April 29, Twitter has been flooded with the fans’ excitement about the new album.There were 3,828,931 tweets around Views in that period, most of them original tweets, not retweets, in what seems to be an...
Hellmuth celebrates elite researchers
Western professors John Leonard (Arts & Humanities) and Jesse Zhu (Engineering) have been awarded the 2016 Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research.
Celebrating Shakespeare 400
Western News joins the celebration of the most recognized English language playwright. We recruited this institution’s finest Shakespeare scholars to share their insights into The Bard – and play a little dress-up.
‘Picture’ of Shakespeare remains surprisingly blurred
Of all the images connected to Shakespeare and his work, perhaps none has elicited more fascination and frustration than the ostensible portraits of the author himself. Several representations of Shakespeare have become mainstays of popular culture, but did he...
Women need freedom to shape narratives for a new century
William Shakespeare wrote for a repertory company made up exclusively of men – men played all the roles, both male and female. The most senior and respected actors in the company played the major male roles; apprentice boys played the female roles. This structure was...
The Bard offers rare cuts for compulsive completist
For a long time, a fierce completist instinct determined my musical purchases. Elliott Smith played on a Birddog album? Thom Yorke sings on Unkle’s Psyence Fiction? Better buy them. In the days before iTunes, tracking down The Damned’s Turkey Song proved to be a grail...
His virtual reality in the Digital Age
Over the last several years, digital humanists have increasingly found avenues for analysis in the work of William Shakespeare. While computational analysis of classic literary works has been the subject of protracted controversy, many suggest new technologies have...
Uncovering the object of sonnet’s passion
Shakespeare’s Sonnets both express and excite strong passions, though many troubled readers have tried to downplay the poems’ effusions of passion. The reason is simple: The principal addressee and object of praise in most of these poems is not a beautiful woman, but...
New stagings shed fear of fatigue of familiar texts
There are very few books I read a second time. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Laurie R. King’s O Jerusalem. The Days are Just Packed, by Bill Watterson. And when I read for a second time a book I remember loving, the memory of that pleasure is more often than not...
Western performances keep summer tradition alive
While innumerable celebrations are being held this year around the globe – not to mention at The Globe in London, England – to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, here at Western we are continuing a venerable theatrical community tradition that...
Language of food pleased palate of audiences
How does food speak to us? What does it say when we choose salad, not steak? When we buy our vegetables from local farmers, when we avoid pork or shellfish or insist on gluten-free? As Shakespeare knew, food is a shared language, full of dramatic possibility. The...
PhD candidate wins CBC Short Story Prize
English PhD candidate David Huebert joins company with some of Canada’s best writers who received CBC Literary Prizes and went on to receive national and international acclaim.