Dr. Ruben Espinosa, who is an associate professor of English and associate director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University, will present “Shakespeare and Belonging” on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. at Hope College in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall as the college’s 2022 Clarence De Graaf Memorial Lecture.

The public is invited.  Admission is free.

By critically examining the intersections of Shakespeare and Latinx culture in film, media, fiction, social networks, localized adaptations, and other forms of popular culture, Espinosa’s presentation will explore how perceptions of legitimacy for U. S. Latinxs often influence the barriers and bridges that define their encounters with Shakespeare. A move toward the U.S.-Mexico border allows for underrepresented perspectives in the ongoing making of Shakespeare through varied discussions of national and linguistic identity, race, ethnicity, gender, economics, ethics, citizenship, assimilation, legitimacy, and legacy.

Espinosa holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a former Trustee of the Shakespeare Association of America and currently serves on the editorial boards of the Shakespeare Quarterly, Exemplaria, and Palgrave’s Early Modern Cultural Studies series.

He is the author of Shakespeare and the Shades of Racism (2021) and Masculinity and Marian Efficacy in Shakespeare’s England (2011). He is also the editor, with David Ruiter, of Shakespeare and Immigration (2014).  He is currently at work on his next monograph, Shakespeare on the Border: Language, Legitimacy, and La Frontera.

 Shakespeare and the Shades of Racism has been described as “a deeply humane and incisive rebuttal to the whitewashed, socially conscious Shakespeare projects popular within the Shakespeare industry” and a book that focuses on “the uneasy relation between our current social ills and those that Shakespeare depicts.”

Dr. Clarence De Graaf taught in the Department of English at Hope College from 1928 to 1972 and chaired the department for 25 years. The son of Dutch immigrants, he earned his degrees from Calvin College and the University of Michigan. Although he taught a range of courses, his real love was the poetry of John Milton.

De Graaf was described by his colleague the late Professor Dirk Jellema as “a graceful and a gracious and a courtly man. His acute sense of human limitations was balanced by his good humor about human foibles.” The De Graaf Lecture was established by his children in 1988.

Audience members who need assistance to fully enjoy any event at Hope are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar.

Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets.