Dr. Douglas

Hayes

To those who ask, Dr. Hayes describes his research as "the language of the stuff that comes before Shakespeare". Fascinated by the rhetoric of medieval and Tudor drama, he's particularly interested in that of the Vice figure, ie. the bad guy of early English and Scottish theatre.

Aside from trips to the British Library and the National Library of Scotland to produce editions of early drama and poetry, Dr. Hayes has undertaken some very exciting projects. He's currently partnering with software engineer Dr. Richard Khoury to develop and rhetorically analyze an electronic linguistic corpus based on the York Cycle, a collection of biblical plays celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi.

As a board member for the Poculi Ludique Societas, the Medieval and Renaissance Players of the University of Toronto, he oversaw the successful staging of this phenomenon over 12 hours by 350 international actors. "This proved that the whole cycle could be performed on wagons in one day and provided entertainment for a large audience who sat and watched 15th-century Biblical drama from dawn to dusk!"

Dr. Hayes balances his extensive pre-Shakespeare studies with his commitments to his students. As the department's graduate coordinator, he stresses that English at Lakehead offers a world of opportunities.

"Graduate students in English are working with our SSHRC-funded researchers, giving papers at international academic conferences, and going on to careers and PhD programs around the world." He adds that the department is at the cutting edge of new directions for English studies, yet small enough to offer a supportive environment and excellent mentoring.

"Students considering English studies at Lakehead will find both the support of a congenial group of grad students and a faculty that strives to balance course offerings and research in all the traditional areas with those in First Nations literatures, gender, cultural, and postcolonial studies, film, creative writing, and rhetoric in new media."