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Professor of English, Executive Director of the Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humanities

teaches the history and practice of writing in English, as well as across the humanities, including courses cross-listed with Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Educational Studies, Environmental Studies, Media Studies, Theatre, and Search. He has offered interdisciplinary seminars devoted to  ; the history of citizenship; early modern racial discourse; and the legacy of philosopher Michel de Montaigne. In addition to his Rhodes classes, he has taught for the Liberal Arts in Prison Program; the Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning; the ; British Studies at Oxford; and local primary and secondary schools. Professor Newstok has received the 2012 Campus Life Award for Outstanding Faculty Member; the 2016 for Outstanding Teaching; and the 2021 for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity. In 2026 he was named an honorary , in recognition of his outstanding work and achievements as a member of the community of English.

Dr. Newstok has published six books: a scholarly edition of ; a collection of essays on (co-edited with); a monograph on ; an edition of Michael Cavanagh's ; (winner of the 2025 ); and a collaboration with John Guillory on an archival history of the cultural technique of "," which includes a . His involvement with Digital Humanities initiatives dates back to 1996, when he created the first . Newstok has since organized the Memphis visit of Robert Darnton, co-founder of the ; hosted a Rhodes lecture about quantitative textual analysis by Director ; and served on the of the . He's currently editing , in a new version by award-winning translator .

Newstok′s work has been recognized by grants and fellowships from the , the , the , the , the , the , the , the , the , the , the , the , and the . In addition to collaborating with William Short on at , he has conducted archival research at the Allen Memorial Art Museum (Oberlin College); the Bancroft Library (University of California; Berkeley); the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Yale University); the Berg Collection (New York Public Library); the Bodleian Libraries (University of Oxford); the British Library; Cambridge University Library Archives; the Center for Popular Music (Middle Tennessee State University); Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library; Eberly Family Special Collections Library (Penn State University); the Federal Theatre Project Collection (Library of Congress); the Filmoteca de Catalunya; the Filmoteca Española; the Folger Shakespeare Library; the Special Collections Research Center (George Mason University); Houghton Library (Harvard University); the Huntington Library; the Lilly Library (Indiana University); the Morgan Library; the Newberry Library; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; the Special Collections Research Center (University of Michigan); and the Woodson Research Center Special Collections & Archives (Rice University).

In his prior role as the Founding Director of the Pearce Shakespeare Endowment, Newstok hosted scores of visiting scholars and artists in partnership with Memphis-area cultural organizations, including , for which he was a trustee.  He was a founding board member of the , an online lyceum that provides humanities tutorials for free to the public. He previously served as Co-Director (with Dr. Judith Haas) of Postgraduate Scholarships; Humanities faculty member of the Rhodes Board of Trustees; President of Rhodes′ chapter; education Vice-President of ; parent representative of the ; and trustee of , the state chapter of the . He has been invited to speak about the humanities at Agnes Scott College; Arizona State University (cancelled due to the pandemic); the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers; Austin College; Centre College; The College of St. Scholastica; European College of the Liberal Arts (now Bard-Berlin); Marist University; Marymount University; the Mechanics’ Institute; Mississippi State University; the Modern Language Association; the National Humanities Center; New York University’s Faculty Resource Network; the Ohio Valley Shakespeare Conference; Sewanee: The University of the South; Shakespeare’s Globe; Southern Methodist University; Southwestern University; University of Alabama; University of Dallas; University of Geneva; University of Mississippi; University of Murcia; University of New Mexico; University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; University of St. Thomas; University of Zurich; Washington College; Yale University; and numerous podcasts and public radio programs.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Book Projects

, on the place of the Zenith City within the American cultural imagination

, a selection of Michel de Montaigne’s writings, translated by  (, under contract) 

, Shakespeare, and Race, supported by the  and the   

: Residual Bilingualism and Philological Citizenship in English Renaissance Literature, supported by the 

Books

, with John Guillory (University of Chicago Press, 2025)

“an extraordinarily comprehensive bibliography compiled by Scott Newstok—a gift to the discipline”—, The Nation 

“That literature is further itemized in the book’s annotated bibliography and accompanying online archive, both compiled by Scott Newstok . . . an astonishing and faintly Ozymandian monument of scholarly metadata.”—, n+1

“I would like to praise the book for its inclusion of an extraordinarily helpful resource in the form of an annotated bibliography of close reading. Compiled by Scott Newstok, this nearly forty-page bibliography is a chronology of major critical interventions on the question of close reading. It is simply invaluable to the researcher to have to hand such a thorough gathering of critical sources on close reading. For this, scholars owe Scott Newstok a large debt of gratitude.”—, Front Porch Republic

(Princeton University Press, 2020).

"Insightful and joyful, this book is a masterpiece. It invokes and provokes rather than explains. It reminds rather than lectures. It is different than any book I have ever read. And it works. Drawing on the past in the best sense of the term, it reminds us that we are part of a long tradition. Few books make the case for liberal education as creatively as this one does."—Johann N. Neem, author of What's the Point of College? Seeking Purpose in an Age of Reform

"Ranging widely from the classics right up to the present with apt quotations, all in service of ideas we lose at our peril, How to Think like Shakespeare winningly blends respect for tradition with thoughtful steps toward a more equitable society. It is the work of a Renaissance man in both senses."—Robert N. Watson, author of Cultural Evolution and Its Discontents: Cognitive Overload, Parasitic Cultures, and the Humanistic Cure

Editor, by Michael Cavanagh (Catholic University of America Press, 2020)

"Exactly what it sets out to be: a primer - not a companion, although I can imagine young teachers having it on their desks as they try to begin to teach undergraduates and themselves its extraordinary power. A humane and useful contribution to Milton studies."—Annabel Patterson, Yale University

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) (co-edited with )

Reviews: African American Review, Borrowers and Lenders, , CHOICE, , Discoveries, GRIOT, Journal of the Northern Renaissance, , , Seriously Shakespeare, , , , , , , Theatre Survey, , , The Upstart Crow

"Weyward Macbeth is an astonishingly wide-ranging volume, taking in an impressive swath of theatrical and cultural history. . . . This is a provocative collection, certain to animate discussion of Macbeth, and much more, for some time to come." — W. B. Worthen, Alice Brady Pels Professor in the Arts, Barnard College, Columbia University

"Weyward Macbeth deserves reading--and re-reading . . . it′s an intellectual delight." — James Hatch, Professor Emeritus, The Graduate Theatre Program at the City University of New York

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)

Reviews: , Cahiers Élisabéthains, , , FMLS), , Journal of the Northern Renaissance, Modern Language Review, Mortality, , , Reformation, , (RES),Seventeenth-Century News, The Shakespeare Institute Review, Sixteenth Century Journal, (Poetry), (Drama), (THE), Times Literary Supplement (TLS), Zeitschrift fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik

"Quoting Death exemplifies new formalism at its best. Ludic and strikingly original . . . An innovative stylist, Newstok writes in short, carefully honed sections that stand apart as brilliant mini-essays in their own right. In the speed and intellectual elegance with which he moves from historical specifics to profound meditations on aesthetics and the pathos of humanity′s efforts to overcome death, Newstok becomes a latter-day Thomas Browne." --John Watkins, Studies in English Literature

Editor, (, 2007)

Reviews: , , Around the Globe, As We Like It, , , , , , (EMLS), , , , , Études Anglaises, Folio, A Groat′s Worth of Wit, , Interdisciplinary Humanities, (JEMCS), , , Kritikon Litterarum, , , , , , Raritan, , , , , Rocky Mountain Review, , , , Shakespeare Matters, Shakespeare Newsletter, , Shakespeare Scene, Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Yearbook, , Shenandoah, , , Southern Humanities Review, Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, (SEL), Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (SMART), , Theatre Survey, Théâtres du monde, (THE), , , , & The Use of English.

Articles

“‘Here Lies’: Sincerity and Insincerity in Early Modern Epitaphs Onstage,” (2017)

"The Crafts of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Liberal Arts," (April 2, 2015); reprinted in , ,

"" (July 11, 2013); reprinted in Liberal Education (November 2013) and Reinventing Liberal Education (2014).

"′," Shakespeare Survey (2013)

"," (2012)

"George W as Henry V," co-authored with , Shakespeare Yearbook special issue on "" (2011)

"Certain Tendencies in Criticism of Shakespeare on Film," co-authored with , special issue on "After Shakespeare on Film" (2010)

"," (2010)

Interview with Welcome Msomi, (Summer 2009)

"The Poetics of Closure: Epitaphs Ending Renaissance Elegies ‘Here,’" "Literature of the Graveyard" special issue of Studies in the Literary Imagination (Spring 2006)

"re: vs." Review of the play Quinnopolis vs. Hamlet. Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespearean Appropriation (2006)

Editorial preface to Kenneth Burke essay, (Autumn 2006)

"Renewing Burke’s “Plea for the Shakespearean Drama,” (Spring 2006)

",” Shakespeare Bulletin (Spring 2005)

"Right Pitches Dubya as Henry V," AlterNet (May 28, 2003)

Contributions to Books

“How to Think like Ira Aldridge,” Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race (2021)

“Learn How to Die,” Memory and Mortality in Renaissance England (2021)

“Making ‘Music at the Editing Table’: Echoing Verdi in Welles’s Othello,” , ed. James. C. Bulman (Oxford UP, 2018)

"Creative Imitation: The Survey as an Occasion for Emulating Style,” (West Virginia UP, 2018).

"Reading Shakespeare Tropically," (2017)

"Death," , SAA volume on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare′s death, ed. Dympna Callaghan and Suzanne Gossett (Bloomsbury, 2016)

"Loving and Cherishing ′True′ English: Shakespeare′s Twinomials," , ed. Michael Saenger (McGill-Queen′s UP 2013)

"After Welles: Re-do Voodoo Macbeths," in (2010)

"Appendix: Selected Productions of Macbeth Featuring Non-traditional Casting," co-authored with Brent Butgereit, in (2010)

"Elizabeth I’s Death Rehearsal," Goddesses and Queens: Iconography of Elizabeth I (Manchester UP, 2007)

Entries in (Greenwood Press 2006)

Reviews

Annabel Patterson, (2013)

Eric Langley, Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries in (2011)

Anthony Guneratne, Shakespeare, Film Studies, and the Visual Cultures of Modernity in (Spring 2010)

Stephen Cohen, in (December 2008)

Amy Scott-Douglass, Shakespeare Inside: The Bard Behind Bars in The Upstart Crow (2007)

Russ McDonald, in (Fall 2007)

Lawrence Rhu, Stanley Cavell′s American Dream in (Winter 2006)

Lectures and Symposia

Annual James D. Kennedy Lecture in Shakespeare, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2019)

Keynote lecture, Ohio Valley Shakespeare Conference (2018)

Keynote lecture, University of Dallas, biennial Shakespeare conference (2018)

Organizer, Plenary Session on "The End of Study ,” with John Guillory and Marjorie Garber, Shakespeare Association of America Annual Meeting (March 31, 2018)

Conference paper, “Hearing ‘Here,’” Space, Place, and Image in Early Modern English Literature, Lausanne (2017)

Organizer, “Jews & Muslims in Shakespeare’s World,” Rhodes College (2017)

Conference paper, “Hearing ‘Here,’” Space, Place, and Image in Early Modern English Literature, Lausanne (2017)

Invited speaker, “Off Target: Archery, Assessment, and Craft,” Jno Owens Conference, Austin College (2017)

Keynote lecture, “How to Die Like Shakespeare, ”Shakespeare's Globe (2016)

Keynote lecture, “,” Medieval Association of the Midwest, (2016)

Invited Speaker, “Crafty Shakespeare: Theatre as Intellectual Workshop,” University of Mississippi (2016)

Organizer, “,” Rhodes College (2016)

Invited speaker, “,” Beth Sholom Lehrhaus, Memphis (2016)

Panel discussion, “Adapting Dido,” Opera Memphis (2015)

Presenter, "Shakespeare and Film" panel, (March 29, 2014)

Invited speaker, "," (March 18, 2014)

Invited speaker, "Echoes of Verdi in Welles′ Othello," , (February 20, 2014)

Organizer, "The Past and Future of the Book" symposium, Rhodes College (October 11, 2013)

Participant, "Versions of the Winter′s Tale," Summer Institute in Literary Studies, (June 23-28, 2013)

"How the American Macbeth Became ′Black" invited lecture, (May 24, 2013)

Organizer, "Global Hamlets" symposium, Rhodes College (October 5, 2012)

Seminar member, "Professions and Identity," International Shakespeare Conference, (August 2012)

Organizer, "1611: A Symposium on the 400th Anniversary of the ′King James′ Bible," Rhodes College (November 10-11, 2011)

"How Macbeth Became ′Black,′" invited lecture, (February 2011)

"Returns to Philology," graduate seminar at the (September 2010)

"Teaching Writing in the Liberal Arts College," faculty workshop at the European College of Liberal Arts(ECLA) (September 2010)

Organizer, "Green Shakespeare: A Symposium on Environmental Studies and the Bard," Rhodes College (March 26, 2010)

"," What′s the Word radio program (September 2009)

Seminar member, "Shakespeare Spin-offs," Shakepeare Association of America Annual Meeting (April 2009)

"Shakespeare and Presidential Politics," invited lecture, Centre College (October 2008)

Seminar member, "Shakespeare′s Medieval Tautologies: Loving and Cherishing English," International Shakespeare Conference, (August 2008)

Seminar leader, "Burke and Shakespeare," Kenneth Burke Society Triennial Conference, Villanova University (June 2008)

"Welles, Verdi, Othello," Film Music Conference, Bradford International Film Festival (March 2008)

Organizer, "Shakespeare in Color: A Symposium on Macbeth and African-American Performances and Appropriations," Rhodes College (January 25, 2008)

"Civics Lessens: Un-condensing the Seminar," invited lecture, Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies symposium (April 14, 2007)

Organizer, Roundtable on "The Military Theatre: Drafting Shakespeare," Shakespeare Association of America Annual Meeting (April 13, 2006)