Roger Harcourt

27th May 2025

The BSA is saddened to announce the death of Roger Harcourt, who became the first schoolteacher to be appointed to an honorary fellowship of the BSA in 2018. Roger was a dedicated headteacher whose passion for education extended far beyond the classroom. For many years, he not only led his school with distinction but also inspired countless students through his dynamic teaching and direction of school Shakespeare plays. His legacy includes the renowned Shakespeare camp at Stratford-upon-Avon, latterly “Ariel Stratford”, which he ran for over 55 years. This enriched the lives of hundreds of young people (and many old too), coupling his drive for inspiring and educating others with his deep sense of community.

A full obituary appears in The Guardian
Tributes to Roger are being collected online
Donations in Roger’s memory can be made to the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation and Cancer Research UK

2023 BSA Honorary Fellow: Farah Karim-Cooper

19th December 2023

We are very pleased to announce that Professor Farah Karim-Cooper is our 2023 Honorary Fellow. Farah is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at King’s College London and Head of Higher Education & Research at Shakespeare’s Globe London.

Farah has made – and continues to make – sustained and meaningful contributions to the field of Shakespeare studies, not only through ground-breaking scholarship and public-facing writing, but also through her consultation work on the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, and the education and public outreach programmes at the Shakespeare’s Globe London.

Her pioneering work, activism, and leadership in anti-racist Shakespeare are exemplary, reaching world-wide online audiences. Throughout her career, Farah has also pursued an active commitment to making her fields of study more equitable and inclusive, including coordination of events that have focused on issues of race in scholarship and performance – events that have opened up a range of incisive, candid conversations between scholars and practitioners alike, and which are helping to reshape the field.

She created and currently serves on the steering committee of the first ever Early Modern Scholars of Colour network in the UK. This anti-racist collective aims to address the challenges faced by scholars of colour, while working to nurture and enable students, Early Career Researchers and academics of colour to develop academic and pedagogic networks; find and create intellectual spaces that are inclusive and progressive; and enable inclusive practices in the discipline through mentoring. These examples of Farah’s service encapsulate her tireless commitment for building scholarly communities, and opening up Shakespeare studies to scholars whose voices have for too long been marginalised or excluded from the conversation.

Image credit: Sarah Lee.