To Be or Not to Be… Sustainable? How Shakespeare Takes On the Climate Crisis

Statistics about climate change can feel distant and easy to scroll past. Stories, music, and performance can make them feel real. This lecture asks how the arts transform environmental issues into experiences we can see, feel, and imagine.

Cathryn Flores, PhD candidate in English at UC Davis, specializes in Performance Studies and is also a recording artist and former GRAMMY U representative. She takes us from Shakespeare in Yosemite to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 Romeo + Juliet to explore how modern adaptations use performance, music, and pop culture to spark conversations about climate change and conservation.

Rather than treating Shakespeare as a dusty artifact, Cathryn shows how the old playwright can be reimagined for urgent contemporary questions and help create new environmental imaginaries. Expect big ideas, great examples, and maybe a new way to hear the Bard.

Speaker: Cathryn Flores, UC Davis