Shakespearean Drama and the Renaissance Sensorium ( RSA 2012, March 22-24 in Washington, D.C. / abstract deadline 5/16/2011)

This panel invites papers that explore the role of one or more of the five senses either as themes in the plays of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries, or as features in dramatic performance. Topics may include, but are not limited to, histories/theories of sensation; representations of the senses and early modern phenomenology; sensory mediation between actors and audience; visual and other sensory "cultures”; the senses and affect; the senses and the body politic; sensory hierarchies and gender, class, racial or ethnic difference. Consideration of the "internal” senses (e.g., memory, reason, imagination) as well as the "external” senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are welcome. To propose a paper, please submit abstracts of no more than 150 words to session organizer Jennie Votava (jmv289@nyu.edu) by May 16.