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My Magna Carta contestant from US wins Grand Prize

National News

Jane Josefowicz (center), from the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island, won the overall Junior Prize in the English-Speaking Union International My Magna Carta Creative Writing Competition.  She is shown here with her parents and the Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States, Dr. Paul Beresford-Hill.  The final round of the competition, where finalists presented their essays orally, was held on October 15 in London at Dartmouth House, the headquarters of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth.  Jane competed against students in the junior division from Australia, Chile, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius and the United Kingdom. 

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The ESU 2015 Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting

National Event Recap

The 2015 ESU Annual Conference, with the theme "General Washington Takes New York," took place October 10 - 12 at the Hilton Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel in midtown Manhattan.  Branch Presidents were specifically invited to a day-long Conclave with National Board Members that took place all day Saturday just prior to the formal opening for the Conference, and the Board of Directors met that day as well.

Organized by National Headquarters staff, the ESU National Conference and Annual General Meeting comprised a series of meetings, lunches, dinners, receptions and tours over the Columbus Day weekend.  Members assembled on Saturday evening, after the morning Board meeting and afternoon Presidents Conclave, for a reception and opening dinner in the hotel's Chrysler Room, which boasted a dramatic cityspace view with the the Art Deco style Chrysler Building towering overhead.  . Prominent historical biographer, Flora Fraser, delivered the keynote address after dinner about her new biography The Washingtons, George and Martha: Join'd by Friendship, Crown'd by Love being published by Knopf later this year.

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ESU Celebrates Shakespeare 400

National Announcement – Fall 2015

On April 23, 1616, William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and his extraordinary legacy began.  Around the globe next year, theaters, universities, museums and schools will celebrate his plays and sonnets and their impact from Renaissance England to the entire world today.  The English-Speaking Union will be taking part in this year-long celebration of the Bard's legacy. Learn more about ESU Shakespeare400. 

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Dr. Paul Beresford-Hill Elected Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States

National News

(New York, September 28, 2015)  Dr. Paul Beresford-Hill MBE was elected Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States unanimously at a meeting of its Board of Directors on September 27.  His two-year term of office began immediately.  Dr. Beresford-Hill was selected to lead the English-Speaking Union of the United States for his global experience as a scholar, educator, administrator and author.

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All the World’s a Stage for ESU Scholars at Shakespeare’s Globe in London

National News

2015 BUSS Scholars in Front of Dartmouth House

This summer, 25 American high school teachers participated as ESU British University Summer School (BUSS) scholars in the three-week Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance program at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London.  The Globe is a reconstruction of the 1599 Elizabethan playhouse on the River Thames, now a major cultural center in England.  Many of the BUSS scholars attended on full scholarships granted by their local ESU Branches.  They will return to their classrooms this fall equipped with new methods to teach Shakespeare.

For three weeks, the ESU BUSS scholars live and breathe Shakespeare, immersed in the life of this famous working theatre.  They are instructed by Shakespearean scholars and members of the Globe Theatre Company responsible for design, direction, movement, music, text and voice.  They have the chance to view Globe productions and concluded their course by performing selected scenes from As You Like It on the Globe stage.

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