Directed by David Cressy (Ohio State University) and Lori Anne Ferrell (Claremont Graduate University), this NEH Summer Institute for College and University Teachers will map the fault lines that trembled beneath the surface of early modern society, a time and place that figure largely in our histories of literature, religion, constitutionalism, and science. Religious and cultural stresses released by the Protestant Reformation threatened the ideals of harmony, peace, and consensus that were so often proclaimed in official pronouncements of Church and State; they threatened, too, the very grounds of authority, certainty and truth. "Cultural Stress" will examine how English society coped with these stresses during the period from the Elizabethan age through the English Revolution (c. 1558-1660) by focusing on four critical sites of cultural engagement: Court, Church, Theatre, and Parliament. In each case, the institute will return to the primary sources that testify to a society in crisis, including writings by James I, court masques, sermons, plays, parliamentary records, and pamphlets.

Visiting faculty include Sharon Achinstein (University of Oxford); Alastair Bellany (Rutgers University); Thomas Cogswell (University of California, Riverside); Janette Dillon (University of Nottingham); Chris Kyle (Syracuse University); Diarmaid MacCulloch (University of Oxford); Lauren Shohet (Villanova University); Alexandra Walsham (University of Exeter); Tom Webster (University of Edinburgh); and Paul Yachnin (McGill University). Program runs from 23 June through 31 July. Stipend is $3,700.