Shakespeare Institute to be moved out of Stratford

The University of Birmingham is to move the Shakespeare Institute out of the Bard’s birthplace of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The internationally renowned research institution will instead operate out of the university’s main Edgbaston campus from the start of the next academic year.

Established in 1951, the institute offers several in-person and online master’s programmes in Shakespeare studies and employs a team of academic experts in the playwright’s work.

In a statement the university stressed it was still committed to the institute.

“Shakespeare studies is a critical area at the University of Birmingham and is important to its global reputation,” a spokesperson said.

“Moving to the University’s Edgbaston campus provides an opportunity for the Shakespeare Institute to thrive in a new setting, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration with a critical mass of arts and creative specialists – literature, theatre, film, television, music, digital media, history, and performance – and connecting the Institute to the city's dynamic creative industries.”

The spokesperson said the institute “including its scholars, students, and distinctive academic identity” will continue in Edgbaston.

But the institute’s director, Michael Dobson, said he feared the long-running master’s programmes may close after the move because most prospective students want to be in Shakespeare’s hometown to study, close to other specialist organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

In comments reported by the local newspaper the Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald, Dobson reportedly said that he feared colleagues will soon face redundancy and he was resigning from the institute. Times Higher Education has contacted Dobson for comment.

Scholars criticised the move on social media. Dominic Dean, a researcher at the University of Sussex, said it will be a “big blow to the intellectual and cultural value of having a substantial network of Shakespeare scholarship based in his hometown”.

“The Shakespeare Institute, RSC and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust form a real ecosystem and it wouldn’t be the same without physical proximity,” he added.

The University and College Union said it was “shocking news”, claiming Birmingham had not consulted with staff.

“Yet another humanities department under attack. This is a hugely significant decision that could easily lead to redundancies and the cutting of programmes,” the union added.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com