The College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Murray State University is pleased to announce that Dr. Joseph Luzzi will be the speaker for the 2024 Johnson Colloquium Series event. The lecture, titled “The Play’s the Thing: Shakespeare’s Poetics and Our World Today,” will be given on Thursday, February 15, at 6 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium. The event is presented in collaboration with the Murray Shakespeare Festival, and admission is free to the public.

The purpose of the lecture is to connect great works of literature to the present-day reality of our lives in an accessible way that is enjoyable for all audiences, regardless of their prior knowledge of Shakespeare. Dr. Luzzi is the Asher B. Edelman Professor of Literature at Bard College, where he also teaches Italian Studies and film courses. He is the author of five books and is in great demand internationally as a speaker and lecturer. For more information about his work, visit www.josephluzzi.com.