Center for Shakespeare Studies

This article is about Folger Institute's Center for Shakespeare Studies. For another use, please see Center for Shakespeare Studies (disambiguation).

The Folger Institute's Center for Shakespeare Studies was founded in 1986 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Center's first premise is that no single critical approach, historical perspective, scholarly method, or pedagogical strategy can do justice to Shakespeare's texts and contexts. The Center presents and encourages a wide variety of approaches to its subject. Generous support from the NEH has funded many Center programs and ensured that the Center's reach extends to college teachers across the country. Numerous NEH summer institutes, two groundbreaking year-long performance institutes, and conferences have been among the highlights of the Center's offerings. The Center's scholarly work has resulted in many publications and podcasts.

In spring 2014, marking the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, the Center for Shakespeare Studies launched a three-year initiative to take stock of work in three major areas of Shakespearean scholarship: Biography, Language, and Dramatic Collaboration. The Center's annual Shakespeare's Birthday Lectures also address big picture themes for public audiences, and the podcasts of these lectures will be added to the Folger's growing list of online resources. This initiative carried the Center through spring 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death—and the 30th anniversary of the Center's scholarly programming.

The Center will join the rest of the Folger in fall 2023 to commemorate the printing of Shakespeare's First Folio.