Shakespeare’s two Venetian plays – The Merchant of Venice and Othello – seem to talk about the present – his present and our present. They dramatize the complex bond of Venice with the sea, seen as producer of wealth, harbinger of war, connector of peoples. Today the sea is rising and poses an unprecedented threat to Venice. Can Shakespeare help us think through our perilous condition and perhaps even suggest something about our future?

Presented by Professor Shaul Bassi. 

Shaul Bassi is Professor of English Literature at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where he directs the Master’s Degree in Environmental Humanities. His Shakespearean publications include Shakespeare in Venice. Exploring the City with Shylock and Othello (with Alberto Toso Fei, Elzeviro 2007), Visions of Venice in Shakespeare (with Laura Tosi, Ashgate 2011), Shakespeare’s Italy and Italy’s Shakespeare. Place, ‘Race’, and Politics (Palgrave Macmillan 2016), The Merchant in Venice. Shakespeare in the Ghetto (with Carol Chillington Rutter, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari 2021) and Il cortile del mondo. Nuove storie dal Ghetto di Venezia (Giuntina 2021). He is the co-founder and president of Beit Venezia – A Home for Jewish Culture and was the coordinator of the cultural projects related to the 500th anniversary of the Ghetto of Venice (1516-2016), where he spearheaded the production of the first performance of The Merchant of Venice in the Ghetto.

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