with Prof. Tetsu Motoyama (Waseda University) and Dr Jessica Chiba (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham)

In collaboration with Waseda University and the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

In this context, with polarization and fragmentation at an all-time high, Waseda University, in conjunction with the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute and the Université Libre de Bruxelles are hosting an international conference which aims to explore the role and raison d’être of literature and the arts in a world of increasing political and cultural divisions.

The focus of the conference will be on how Shakespeare’s works, and their interpretations and creative performances, could help mitigate the present political and social divisions which threaten to undermine the basic principles of a democratic society and a rule-based geopolitical order.

It takes as its starting point the argument that literary texts are “narratives which connect the present with the past, on the one hand, and with utopian futures, on the other,” promoting human solidarity. The overall objective will be to identify shared views and values embedded in Shalespeare’s works, and the widely-varied interpretations they have generated across epochs and cultures, which may provide a key to help overcome the polarization in the world today.

Topics of discussion will include inter alia

• Political disorder, religious polarization and fractured national identities

• Fools, leaders, tyrants and autocrats: integrity, conscience and political power

• Shakespeare and the Holocaust

• Populism, feminism and patriarchy

• Racial issues and mixedness: acceptance or exclusion?

• Dealing with politically contentious issues: which role for editors and directors?

• Performances and stage adaptations: social and political resonance in local cultures

• Reimagining the Canon: social engagement and widening audiences via live theatre and new media

• Translation challenges and cultural identities

The conference, convened by Prof. Tetsu Motoyama (Waseda University) and Dr Jessica Chiba (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham), will feature an impressive panel of 33 leading international Shakespeare experts.

Contributors from prestigious universities and Shakespeare research centres in Europe (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Turkey, the UK, and Ukraine); Asia (Bangladesh, India, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan), and the USA – will share with the audience their perspectives and insights on the most contemporary of universal playwrights.

From 6th to 9th March 2026, from 9am until 6pm

ULB, Institut d’Etudes Européennes
Bd Frankin Roosewelt 39
1050 Ixelles

Free entrance

Contact : vanessa.frangville@ulb.be