Led by Edward Friedman and Timothy Foster, both of Vanderbilt University

Application deadline: September 10

CENTER FOR RENAISSANCE STUDIES PROGRAMS RENAISSANCE GRADUATE PROGRAMS
This workshop will focus on approaches to Don Quixote and implications for the study of narrative in general. Participants will look at how Cervantes draws from the literary past, how he addresses Renaissance theory, and how he writes fiction with a precocious anticipation of the development of the novel and of the theoretical issues that most have concerned scholars, critics, and readers into the twenty-first century. Participants will also seek resources at the Newberry Library to help explore the theoretical intersections of past and present.

The workshop will include a significant interactive component, with numerous short exercises that will allow participants liberally to engage in the discussion. The topics covered—with Don Quixote as a blend of microcosm and macrocosm—will inform, animate, whet appetites, and aid participants in their present and future academic projects.

We encourage participants to come a day early or stay over Saturday to pursue personal research in the Newberry reading rooms.