Deadlines nearing for NSU trip to Oregon Shakespeare Festival

(Tahlequah, Okla.)--If you love Shakespeare, want to travel to Oregon and are a current student at Northeastern State University, then the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is for you. But you need to hurry and sign up because deposits for the trip are expected by March 29.

As part of the fall 2012 intersession, NSU students can study live-performance plays for class credit at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore.

Sponsored by the NSU College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Languages and Literature, the trip is July 31-August 7 and instructed by Dr. John Mercer, professor of English at NSU-Broken Arrow.

Angela Given, a senior from Coweta who is assisting with course publicity for her capstone project, recommended the class to students, saying it was exciting and educational.

Students receive a unique opportunity to immerse themselves, not just in the plays of Shakespeare but in live theater, she said. This trip enables students to see Shakespeares plays as they were meant to be seen on stage and discuss them with classmates and Dr. Mercer.

Olaf Standley, library technician at NSUBA, took the trip as a student and learned much and had fun at the same time.

Dr. Mercer prepared us so that we understood the plays very well before we saw them, he said. They were performed by one of the leading acting companies in the United States. That, combined with the trip to Crater Lake, made the class a once in a lifetime experience. The bonus was receiving three hours of college credit. This is terrific class for anyone regardless of their field of study.

This years class will attend four plays by Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Henry V and the infrequently performed Troilus and Cressida. Attendees will also see The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa, Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella and Animal Crackers.

The cost of the trip is $1,220 which includes round-trip airfare, ground transportation, dormitory housing, breakfasts, theatre tickets and educational sessions with the acting company. The group will also take a day trip to Crater Lake National Park.

A discount of $25 is available to the first seven students who sign for the trip and make the deposit by March 29.

Partial scholarships are available for undergraduate and graduate students. Scholarship application materials must be submitted by March 15 and are available on Dr. John Mercer's page. To receive an awarded scholarship, a student must enroll in Study Away: Shakespeare for the fall 2012 intersession and pay the remaining cost of the trip.

Students may earn three hours of undergraduate credit in English, humanities or theatre or three hours of graduate credit in English. The cost of the trip does not include tuition and fees.

Members of the public may attend the trip with the class, but spaces are limited. Non-students are not eligible for discounts or scholarships.

For more information about the trip, course and scholarships, contact Mercer at 918-449-6541.