Exemplary Dissemination Grant

Here is an example of and Undergraduate Research Funding Award Application and dissemination. 

Project Title

Titus Andronicus and Hamlet — The Relevance of Shakespearean Tragedies for the Modern Audience

Conference Name

PCAS/ACAS Conference

Amount Requested

435.96

Purpose, Description, or Abstract

The purpose of attending the conference is to gain practice presenting original work, and to learn through listening to other panelists information applicable to current and future classes. The PCAS/ACAS conference focuses on the application of popular culture to both contemporary and canonical literature. My paper discusses how Shakespearean texts, specifically the plays, are a foundation and critical element of the modern literary educational system. However, rather than appreciating Shakespeare’s works, contemporary students resist reading or watching Shakespearean plays and protest against elements of the plays, such as the Early Modern English used, lack of relevant connections to the Elizabethan entertainment, and specific genres taught. Shakespeare’s works in the tragic genre cause students problems, including myself, because of the seemingly excessive death and gore, interspersed with confusing monologues. I became particularly aggravated with the tragedies Titus Andronicus and Hamlet for those reasons because, at the time, I perceived a lack of a purposeful ending, specifically for the characters in the tragedy. However, research into the tragic genre in texts such as Harmon’s A Handbook to Literature and Bradley’s Shakespeare’s Tragedies illuminated the purpose of Shakespeare’s tragedies: to entertain and produce a constructive reaction, catharsis, in the audience. Contemporary audiences are unaccustomed to the method Shakespeare utilizes to produce the cathartic release of emotions in his tragedies. Students do not have connections to the similar amount of gore and death in contemporary movies, such as Kong: Skull Island, because Shakespeare’s tragedies are often read rather than watched. Therefore, by relating Shakespeare’s tragedies, like Titus Andronicus and Hamlet, to modern movies, the distance between the Elizabethan and contemporary audiences retracts, allowing contemporary students to experience, through both reading and watching the plays, the true purpose of Shakespeare’s tragic works, creating a purposeful ending to each play for the individual student.

Travel

Travel 1
Item Mileage coverage
Cost ($) 167.4
Justification $0.45 over 372 miles
Travel 2
Item Hotel
Cost ($) 75.06
Vendor/Company La Quinta
Justification $150.12 divided between 2 students
Travel 3
Item Event parking pass
Cost ($) 8.50
Justification $17 divided between 2 students
Travel 4
Item Meals
Cost ($) 75.00
Justification $25 per 3 day stay

Registration

Registration 1
Item Conference Registration
Cost ($) 110
Vendor/Company PCAS
Justification Required to attend conference

Timeline

Activity #1
Time Wed. 7:00-8:00PM
Describe Activity Arrive and settle into hotel

Activity #2
Time Thur. 9:45-11:15
Describe Activity Present paper through individual speech and panel Q&A

Activity #3
Time Thur. 11:30-1:00
Describe Activity Attend Shakespeare panel

Activity #4
Time Thur. 3:00-4:30
Describe Activity Attend Tourism and Travel and Literature panel

Activity #5
Time Thur. 4:45-6:15
Describe Activity Attend Creative Writing panel

Activity #6
Time Fri. 9:45-11:15
Describe Activity Attend Art panel

Activity #7
Time Fri. 11:30-1:00
Describe Activity Attend Shakespeare panel

Activity #8
Time Fri. 1:30-2:00
Describe Activity Depart for St. Augustine