Dr. Aaron Butler, assistant professor of English at Catawba College, recently made a presentation and chaired a session at the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association Conference. This was the organization’s 25th annual conference, and it took place November 6-8 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Butler’s paper was entitled “Shakespeare’s Law and Order,” and it examined the depiction of criminal justice issues in some of Shakespeare’s plays in contrast to contemporary crime dramas. Butler also chaired a panel called “‘Twice-Told Tales’: Re-imagining the Medieval and Early Modern in Postmodern Works.” This panel examined films with connections to works such as Hamlet and Paradise Lost, as well as those based upon the legend of King Arthur.
Butler teaches various writing and literature courses at Catawba, including ones focused on Shakespeare’s dramatic works. In connection with some of his literature classes, his students have had the opportunity to attend productions of plays at Catawba College and at places such as the Paul Green Theatre in Chapel Hill and the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia, home of the American Shakespeare Center.
In the spring semester, Butler will offer students in his Shakespeare and Tudor Drama class the chance to travel to Staunton to see plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The class will also be attending the Catawba College Theatre Department’s production of Shakespeare’s play The Comedy of Errors, which will be presented in Hedrick Little Theatre February 24-28.
