“How William Became Shakespeare” Renfro lecture March 24

Dr. Elliot Engel, popular guest speaker for the Renfro Lectureship Program at Northern Oklahoma College, will return to NOC next week to discuss “How William Became Shakespeare,” according to Sheri Snyder, NOC Foundation executive director.

The topic is presented in keeping with the commemoration this year of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Snyder said.

Tickets may be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis for the dinner event scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24, in the Renfro Center.

Tickets are available at the NOC Development Office, Vineyard Library-Administration Building, NOC Tonkawa, or may be reserved by calling (580) 628-6214 for purchase by credit card (Discover, MasterCard or Visa).

Individual tickets are $20 and a reserved table with seating for eight can be purchased for $300. Overflow tickets are available at no charge for the lecture only, which will be live streamed into Renfro Center Classroom 112.

Considered the most insightful, personable and entertaining academic keynote speaker to come out of academia in the last 50 years, Engel earned his Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University and Duke University and has received North Carolina’s Adult Education Award, North Carolina State’s Alumni Professorship, and the Victorian Society’s Award of Merit for his scholarship and teaching.

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Engel now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has written 10 books published in England, Japan, Turkey and the United States. His mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations around the country, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and service in promoting Charles Dickens.

His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and national magazines, including Newsweek . He has lectured throughout the United States and on all the continents, including Antarctica. Four plays which he has written have been produced during the last 10 years.

Engel continues to teach outside the classroom and give literary and historical programs throughout the world. He also presents assemblies at elementary, middle and high schools, and his educational CDs and DVDs are used in classrooms around the country.

Former Oklahoma State Regent for Higher Education Carl Renfro and the late Carolyn Renfro established the Carl and Carolyn Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program with a gift in 2006 to provide support for cultivating and enhancing the cultural and community enrichment offerings to northern Oklahoma at NOC Tonkawa and in the Ponca City area.

The March 24 event is sponsored by the Carl and Carolyn Renfro Endowed Lectureship, Charles and Virginia Starks and Northern Oklahoma College.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend. Dress attire is business casual.