Announcing Emma Smith (@OldFortunatus) as speaker at #OER16

We continue announcing our speakers for #OER16 with Emma Smith. Emma has been a long standing champion or open resources at University of Oxford through her involvement in the Jisc funded Open Spires and Great Writers Inspire projects which has focused on making video and audio resources available to the world. Stay tuned for more speaker updates next week, you can subscribe for updates via email or RSS from the sidebar box. Details about Emma’s invited talk our included below:

Emma Smith

Biography

At University of Oxford Dr Emma Smith’s research combines a range of approaches to Shakespeare and early modern drama. She is a fellow of Hertford College and a Professor of Shakespeare studies. She was also one of the first academic colleagues to  champion the use and creation of OER at University of Oxford through her involvement in the Jisc funded Open Spires and Great Writers Inspire projects. Her OER licensed lectures reach an international audience and she continues to produce, publish and share cultural resources online.

Abstract

Great Writers Inspire http://writersinspire.org/ contains lectures, eBooks, contextual essays, a blog, podcasts and interview-format discussions about contemporary and historical great writers. Topics range from in-depth studies of particular plays to talks that ask why we should study the canon writers, from feminist approaches to literature to questions about what literature really is. There are thousands of individual items, as well as curated thematic and historical collections to help students research and interrogate their literary ideas.  The collection is aimed at teachers, lifelong learners and students in sixth-form or university, and all the resources are available for use by individuals and teachers under a Creative Commons licence.

Pedagogy is important to Emma and she continues to work on readerly editions of early modern texts and on books, articles and lectures which disseminate research to the widest possible audience. At OER16 Emma will reflect on her many years producing OER in her own discipline area and the opportunities it has brought for her colleagues, students and her own research.  Her presentation at this conference in Edinburgh will provide  participants with open educational practice inspiration just in time for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on April 23rd.