GREENVILLE, Pa.—Thiel College Professor of English and Pedas Chair of Communication Mary Theresa Hall, Ph.D. recently published a book review of “The Shakespearean Death Arts: Hamlet Among the Tombs,” edited by William E. Engel and Grant Williams.
Published by the University of Chicago Press and appearing in Volume 54, Joint Issues 3-4 (June 2024) of The Sixteenth-Century Journal of English Studies: The Journal of Early Modern Studies, the review highlights the work of 15 essayists and the two editors whose scholarship considers Shakespeare’s plays from the premodern death arts (ars moriendi) tradition whose major focus is on death, dying, and the dead. The “art form” of death serves as the focus of each essay. Although the topic is somber, the essayists’ choices of passages from Shakespeare’s corpus highlight precise activities that constitute death and its dramatic portrayal. Unlike contemporaries, premodern audiences considered such funereal activities and performance rituals expressed in these dramas to be, not macabre fascinations, but, rather, depictions of the natural order. The essayists explain how the death experience is translated through the characters in linguistic, performative, rhetorical, literary, genre, dramaturgical, religio-cultural, and topographical ways, all of which allow the reader to consider a well-known play from multiple and unique perspectives. Each essay not only exemplifies Hamlet as a singular play in the ars moriendi tradition, but also invites a deeper, spiritual dimension and approach to death that is usually avoided or not discussed. This volume is valuable and salutary in providing wide-ranging essays on the audience’s universal fascination with the world beyond the grave and the universality of the human condition.
Hall was also recognized with a pair of honors this year. She was formally recognized as the James Pedas ’50 H ’89 Chair of Communication in February and the first floor of Greenville Hall was named in her honor in May. The first floor of the building built in 1872 by the citizens of Greenville will be called Hall Commons.
Hall began teaching at Thiel in 1999. She served as Associate Academic Dean for the College from 2016 to 2018. In 2022, Hall was named the Dietrich Honors Institute Student Advisory Board the inaugural DHI Professor of the Year Award. Hall has also served the College as the faculty chair. Her work has been published in academic journals and presented at academic conferences. She was also named the Thiel College Professor of the Year for the 2021-2022 academic year, which is a distinguished award given to professors who exemplify service and hard work both in and out of the classroom. Hall received her bachelor’s degree in English and secondary certification in English and French from Seton Hill University; a master’s in literature from Carnegie Mellon University; and a Ph.D. from Duquesne University.
About Thiel College
Thiel College is an independent college founded in the Lutheran tradition. Located in Greenville, Pa., the College offers 60 majors and minors, 24 varsity sports, and an 11:1 student-faculty ratio. The College is also home to a new Master of Science in speech-language pathology and 2Master of Business Administration. Both master’s degree programs offer innovative and accelerated five-year paths which allow students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years. The speech-language pathology program also has an accelerated 15-month graduate-level program. The M.B.A. program also has a 12-month post-graduate program.A dedicated faculty paired with dynamic research and internship opportunities produce numerous graduate school and job placements. Coeducational from its beginnings, the College remains committed to combining tradition with innovation as it celebrates 150 years.