This module aims to provide students with a common grounding in the study of Shakespeare within a global context through sustained analysis of three areas: an understanding of Shakespeare in terms of genre, historical context and the close reading of his texts; the transformation of the Shakespearean text by the critical turn of theory; and the afterlife of Shakespeare in his appropriation, translation or adaptation in a global context. The module will be divided into sections. Each section will be devoted to a play of a different genre: comedy, history, tragedy, and romance. The first week of each section will deal with close reading, genre theory, and the play in its historical context. The second will examine a major critical turn by which a new theoretical perspective transformed perceptions of the play--in the classroom, the theatre, or in film. The third will study a particular, global appropriation of the Shakespeare text beyond Britain and North America, through popular cultural or political appropriations and in TV, theatre performance and film. The module will be cumulative: each section will build on the understanding and skills developed in the respective earlier one, and each week devoted to Shakespeare's afterlives will involve an intense critical conversation about the meaning and significance of the 'global'. The texts will be selected in accordance with available teaching expertise and performances of the plays in any year.