The class is taught by Stephen Buhler, an associate professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the winner of a 1999 Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award. The award recognizes excellent teaching and is given annually to faculty selected from the University of Nebraska's four-campus system. Buhler incorporates performance in his graduate and undergraduate classes on Shakespeare, Milton and Renaissance literature. Students may be nervous at first about performing in class but Buhler compares the experience to an Outward Bound program for literature.
Students face a challenge and with each success, they have the confidence to try something new.
Buhler himself isn't afraid to take on new challenges outside the classroom. Performing adds a new dimension to literature. Unfortunately, Buhler said many students lack experience with theater and performance so they approach literature in a passive way. Audiences are primarily consumers. Buhler said Shakespeare's plays are an example of literature that requires the audience to be a part of the process.