I need Shakespeare

Linda Condlin, left, in black, and Sean Arbuckle in the foreground, with students

Sometimes we need a reminder that our job is great. My job as an academic adviser can get cumbersome, dry, overwhelming, you name the negative description. Just when I needed it, the Stratford Festival partnership with my university happened. Here two actors are doing an acting workshop with the English department's Shakespeare class. It was dynamic and fun, and I could see the humor and drama of Shakespeare's genius being expressed through Laura Condlin and Sean Arbuckle. You can see their artist bios here.

I listened to the Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, Richard Monette, at a lecture Monday. I loved what he had to say about performing arts: We don't need to justify them or defend their worth of our funding any more than we need to justify eating. We need the arts, we want the arts. It's part of who we are.

There's a new post at Paris Deconstructed.