TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The world of the English Renaissance and aspects of its two towering authors – Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare – will be revealed in two upcoming lectures in April as part of the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies lecture series. Each lecture will be at 5 p.m. in 301 Morgan Hall on The University of Alabama campus.

Tuesday, April 1: Professor Andrew Hadfield of the University of Sussex will lecture on “Secrets and Lies: The Life of Edmund Spenser.” Hadfield is the author of the book “Shakespeare and Republicanism” (Cambridge, 2005) and was a visiting professor at Columbia University in 2002-2003.

Tuesday, April 22: Professor Lisa Myobun Freinkel of the University of Oregon will lecture on “The Firstlings of Thought: The Karma of ‘Macbeth.’” Her publications include “Reading Shakespeare’s Will: The Theology of Figure from Augustine to the Sonnets” (Columbia, 2002).

The Strode Program is a privately endowed program to promote the study of English literature. The endowment provides for lectures and residencies by distinguished scholars and fellowships for graduate study at UA in the field of English Renaissance Literature. The program is named after Hudson Strode, a prolific author and celebrated teacher of Shakespeare and of creative writing, who served on the UA faculty from 1916 to 1963.

The English department is in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama. The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the college have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA’s vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.