This series is free and available to all to attend live. Recordings will be made exclusively available to HA Members. Find out about membership here. 

 
To mark the anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s first folio in 1623–24, the winter webinar series will focus on ‘The history that Shakespeare gave us’. The representation of the past in Shakespeare’s plays has shaped many people’s understanding of history. In this webinar series, leading academics will explore the history that is presented in his plays, how they differ from the facts of the past and how those interpretations continue to influence society today.

Sign up for all the webinars (or book individually below) 

Shakespeare, Ancient Rome and Ancient Britain

Professor Edith Hall FBA
Tuesday 17 December 2024, 5-6pm
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After teaching at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Reading and London, Edith Hall took up a Chair in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham in 2021. She has published more than thirty books on ancient Greece and Rome and their continuing presences in the modern world. She broadcasts regularly on the BBC, acts as consultant to professional theatre companies, and leads a campaign to increase access to classical subjects in UK state education. She is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Shakespeare, history, and contemporary politics

Professor Emma Smith
Tuesday 7 January 2025, 5-6pm
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Emma Smith is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, Oxford. Her book, Portable Magic: a history of books and their readers, was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2023. This lecture is based on a forthcoming book, The First Elizabethans: England’s sixteenth century Renaissance.

Prince Hal to Henry V: loveable rogue to perfect medieval king

Professor Anne Curry
Tuesday 14 January 2025, 5-6pm
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Anne Curry is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Southampton and a past president of the Historical Association. She is the author of Henry V in the Penguin Monarchs series, and of many books and articles on the Hundred Years War and the battle of Agincourt. In 2022 she was appointed Arundel Herald Extraordinary, the first woman to be a herald in England.

Much Ado About Numbers – the bumpy transition from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals in Shakespeare’s England

Rob Eastaway
Tuesday 21 January 2025, 5-6pm
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Rob Eastaway is an author, speaker and broadcaster. He is regular guest on the award-winning BBC podcast More or Less, and has appeared many times on other Radio 4 programmes including The Today Programme, Word of Mouth and Front Row. His books include the bestselling Why Do Buses Come In Threes? and Maths On The Back of An Envelope, and most recently Much Ado About Numbers, which explores the mathematical world of William Shakespeare. He has given talks to audiences of all ages, including the annual Gresham lecture for the British Society for the History of Maths, and several Friday evening lectures at the Royal Institution. He is the director of a national programme of theatre-based lecture shows for older teenagers, and travels the country to give talks in schools.