Amy Cook: The "Nothing" Narrative in Shakespeare's Henry V: Staging Mathematical Blends

February 14, 2012

3:30PM - 5:30PM

Ohio Union, Suzanne M. Scharer Room

2012-02-14 15:30:00 2012-02-14 17:30:00 Amy Cook: The "Nothing" Narrative in Shakespeare's Henry V: Staging Mathematical Blends Amy Cook is Assistant Professor of Theatre History, Theory, and Literature at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her work specializes in the intersection of cognitive science (particularly cognitive linguistics, theories of embodied and embedded cognition, and empathy), and theories of performance, theatre history and dramaturgy, early modern drama, and contemporary productions of Shakespeare. Her book, Shakespearean Neuroplay: Reinvigorating the Study of Dramatic Texts and Performance through Cognitive Science, provides a methodology for applying cognitive science to the study of drama and performance. With Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a test subject and the cognitive linguistic theory of conceptual blending as a tool, Cook unravels the “mirror held up to nature” at the center of Shakespeare’s play. She is co-chair, with John Lutterbie, of the Cognitive Science in Theatre and Performance Working Group at the American Society of Theatre Research conference (2010 and 2011).Selected previous work:“Wrinkles, Wormholes, and Hamlet: Looking at The Wooster Group’s Hamlet as a manifestation of science and a challenge to periodicity” [pdf], TDR 53, no. 4 (Winter 2009): 92-103.“Interplay: The Method and Potential of a Cognitive Scientific Approach to Theatre" [pdf], Theatre Journal, special issue on Performance and Cognition, December 2007. Ohio Union, Suzanne M. Scharer Room America/New_York public

Amy Cook is Assistant Professor of Theatre History, Theory, and Literature at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her work specializes in the intersection of cognitive science (particularly cognitive linguistics, theories of embodied and embedded cognition, and empathy), and theories of performance, theatre history and dramaturgy, early modern drama, and contemporary productions of Shakespeare. Her book, Shakespearean Neuroplay: Reinvigorating the Study of Dramatic Texts and Performance through Cognitive Science, provides a methodology for applying cognitive science to the study of drama and performance. With Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a test subject and the cognitive linguistic theory of conceptual blending as a tool, Cook unravels the “mirror held up to nature” at the center of Shakespeare’s play. She is co-chair, with John Lutterbie, of the Cognitive Science in Theatre and Performance Working Group at the American Society of Theatre Research conference (2010 and 2011).

Selected previous work:

“Wrinkles, Wormholes, and Hamlet: Looking at The Wooster Group’s Hamlet as a manifestation of science and a challenge to periodicity” [pdf], TDR 53, no. 4 (Winter 2009): 92-103.
“Interplay: The Method and Potential of a Cognitive Scientific Approach to Theatre" [pdf], Theatre Journal, special issue on Performance and Cognition, December 2007.