Social Proof- Professors

Last week I determined that I need to move on and e-mail professors for their opinions and methods on teaching Shakespeare.

So I asked several BYU professors (Zach Hutchins, Rick Duerden responded) and one professor at the University of North Texas (Madhuparna Mitra) who all teach Shakepeare classes. Dr. Mitra teaches exclusively English majors while BYU offers a Shakespeare class to either English or non-English majors.

How do you introduce a Shakespeare text? Do you encourage use of cheat sites like Sparknotes? 
    Hutchings: "I provide introductory lectures and handouts;students can use sparknotes if they want"
    Duerden: "I tend to assume that they can follow the plot and characters on their own, so class time is spent on interpretation rather than clarifying what happens in the play. I post plot outlines online along with other handouts. If they turn to Sparknotes, Cliff notes, etc., that's okay with me"
     Mitra: "Depends on the play. I will teach Macbeth by laying out the historical context..."

How do you ensure that the students are reading the original text (not just using Sparknotes)?
    Hutchings: "I require them to write response papers that are grounded in a very specific bit of text (and that follow the ideas in that isloated bit of language throughout the rest of the play). If they can do that without reading the whole text I'd be surprised and impressed."
    Duerden: "I ask directly on exams if they have read and re-read/studied each play. When I used Blackboard, quizzes asked the same for each play. Exams also test for deeper knowledge than such study guides usually offer."
    Mitra: "Tests require the students to analyze specific lines/quotations. This is hard to do if you have not read the original."

Do you bring in media to help in teaching the text (audio plays, films, etc)? 
    Hutchings: "I show film clips as they help to make a point about the play's ideas- not just for entertainment or plot comprehension."
    Duerden: "Yes, at least one clip per class. We try to sample from two to four different performances, as well as lighter stuff like Reduced Shakespeare Company."
    Mitra: "Yes, I post the BBC productions of the plays I teach on Blackboard, and encourage my students to see them, and use clips in class occasionally."

Some various commonalities:
   They all assign reading Shakespeare as homework, some re-read important passages for discussion purposes.
   They all expect the reading to be able to follow along and read the original text without much difficulty.
   They all use videos as an aid to teaching Shakespeare.

I am grateful these professors responded to my e-mail and these responses will help guide me through my research paper.