Utile et dulce, Horace’s famous injunction for poets from Ars Poetica (19 BCE) is more often translated as “instruct and delight,” but it can also be parsed as “instruct or delight.” Must all literature be instructive? Can theater, a group process afford to eschew the delightful in favor of the useful? The plays under discussion attempt a Horatian balancing act as they explore “we-group” versus “other-group” dynamics, a concept that originates with William G. Sumner (Yale 1863). With lessons—or warnings—about group loyalty, war, political oppression, cultural identity, and self-determination, do these playwrights reinforce or subvert the status quo? And how do they entertain?

This is an interactive in-person seminar course that meets weekly over 6 weeks at the following location: Williams & Connolly Conference Room- 680 Maine Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20024

Weekly reading or other forms of materials may be assigned. There are no papers or grades. This course does not offer any credits or certificates. This course is intended for learning for the love of learning.

All texts will be provided by the professor. Plays include:

Our Town by Thornton Wilder (1938)
Fuenteovejuna by Lope de Vega, [translated by Rick Davis] (1619)
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff (1928)
Jitney by August Wilson (1982)
Slavs!: Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness by Tony Kushner (1994)
Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker (2009)

Registrants will receive access to the course website about two weeks before the course starts.

Registrants can cancel and receive a full refund up to September 21. After September 21, there will be no refunds issued. Yale Alumni College courses are subject to schedule changes as well as cancellations. If Yale Alumni College must cancel any course prior to its start due to low enrollment, you will be notified of this by the cancellation date. Upon cancellation of a course, registrants may transfer their registration to another available course or have the registration fee fully refunded.

In the event of a disruption to the original course schedule, including but not limited to; Professor absence, hazardous weather conditions, or local travel restrictions, Yale Alumni College will do its best to reschedule the missed class for the week immediately following the original end date at the same course time and day.