This panel explores the regenerative power of early modern drama and travel narratives, focusing on how these texts reimagine cultural encounters, expand geographic and imaginative boundaries, and challenge traditional understandings of self and the other, with particular emphasis on the Mediterranean as a vital site of exchange. In harmony with the conference theme of (Re)generation, this panel invites papers that investigate how Shakespeare and his contemporaries engaged with the Mediterranean as a space of constant (re)formation, where diverse cultures, languages, and religions converged, influencing both dramatic form and narrative structure.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Shakespeare and the Mediterranean
Reimagining the Mediterranean: Geopolitical Encounters and Dramatic (Re)generation
Regenerative Exile: Rebirth and Identity in Shakespeare’s Mediterranean Histories and Tragedies
Early Modern Travelogues and Dramatic Adaptation: Transforming the Known World into the Early Modern Stage
Restorative Justice and Political Power in Shakespeare’s Roman Plays: Regeneration through the Lens of Empire
Gender, Movement, and (Re)generation in the Mediterranean Context
Translating Travel Narratives into Early Modern Performance

This panel aims to foster a conversation that reflects on the revitalizing aspects of early modern drama and examines how these texts, with their enduring relevance, continue to inspire innovative forms of scholarship and creative interpretation today. By focusing on the dynamic interplay between dramatic form and Mediterranean travel narratives, this session will highlight the living tradition of early modern literature in the ongoing renewal of the humanities.