VMI Undergraduate Research Shakespeare Conference 2004-2005

 First Conference, November 12-14, 2004 

For the inaugural conference, the keynote speaker was Jim Warren, the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Shenandoah Shakespeare.

Dr. Ralph Cohen, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Shenandoah Shakespeare, gave conferees a personal tour of the Blackfriars.

Schools that took part were Bridgewater College, Hollins University, James Madison University, Mary Baldwin College, Roanoke College, Virginia Military Institute, and Washington and Lee University.

FOR THE COMPLETE PROGRAM OF THE 2004 CONFERENCE, CLICK here.

Prizewinners for "Best Paper in Session" received a copy of Stephen Greenblatt's Will in the World, and the prizewinner for "Best Paper in Conference" received a copy of Stanley Wells' Shakespeare for All Time. All prize-winners for this inaugural conference are being published in a special section of the 2005 VMI Undergraduate Research Review. The winners in 2004 were:

• Best Paper in Session 1:  Sarah Patterson, Hollins University: "Lady Macbeth's Womb, Motherhood, and Marginality"
  
   
• Best Paper in Session 2:  Ligia Abreu Medina, Washington & Lee University: "Divided He Fell: The Roles of Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril in Shakespeare's King Lear"
  
   
• Best Paper in Session 3:  Jessica Engler, James Madison University: "Weighing the Scales: The Balance of Mercy and Justice in Merchant and Measure" 
  
   
• Best Paper in Session 4 (tie):  Harrison Gregory, Virginia Military Institute: "The 'Closet Scene' in Hamlet: Traditions of Stage and Screen" & Katherine Melson, Mary Baldwin College: "Why Titus Andronicus?" 
  
   
• Best Paper in Conference:  Sarah Patterson, Hollins University: "Lady Macbeth's Womb, Motherhood, and Marginality"

Other presenters and papers: 

• Julia Barb, Bridgewater College: "Hunting Dog Imagery as an Illustration of Obedience in True Love"
  
   
• Jason Cash, Bridgewater College: "Fair Folk and Goblins Damned: The Presence and Purpose of the Supernatural in Shakespeare"
  
   
• Brianna Gray, James Madison University: "The Prophetess: Queen Margaret's Curses and their Significance in Shakespeare's Richard III"
  
   
• Neil Houston, Roanoke College: "Manipulation, Murder, and Macbeth"
  
   
• Will Paulette, Virginia Military Institute: "The Role of Madness in Hamlet"
  
   
• Elizabeth Watts, Roanoke College: "Gertrude's Costly Frailty"
  
   
• Amelia Young, Mary Baldwin College: "Richard III and Thomas More's History"