Professor Watchlist

Ruben Espinosa is Professor of English and Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University (ASU). According to his faculty profile, Espinosa’s studies are chiefly focused on the work of William Shakespeare. 

On September 16, 2024, ASU’s Humanities Institute hosted a panel with Espinosa and Professor Curtis Austin on cultural appropriation concerning the plays of Shakespeare. The event is described by the university as such: 

“What constitutes cultural appropriation, and when is it unethical? Should we adopt voices beyond our own, and if so then what factors must be weighed beforehand?”

“Pressing on hard research questions may lead to ethical dilemmas of how to speak in relation to another. This panel will discuss what it means to think, research, and write across cultures and ways of being.”  

In an audio recording of a lecture obtained by the College Fix, Espinosa connected the alleged “white exceptionalism” of January 6 rioters U.S. Capitol protesters to Shakespeare. These two are both claimed to be symbols of “white exceptionalism” and “racial hierarchy.” The professor stated:

“It kind of has this origin in anti-immigrant sentiments, right, all the way to January 6th, when we think about that white exceptionalism, and this notion of a kind of white ownership of Shakespeare.”

Espinosa believes that “Shakespeare is the epitome or the marker of white exceptionalism” and sits at the top of the “racial hierarchy.” Thereby, he attached the poet to “whiteness” exclusively over humanity independent of race. 

In 2021, Espinosa published a book titled “Shakespeare on the Shades of Racism.” The publisher’s description states:

“Shakespeare on the Shades of Racism examines Shakespeare in relation to ongoing conversations that interrogate the vulnerability of Black and brown people amid oppressive structures that aim to devalue their worth. By focusing on the way these individuals are racialized, politicized, policed, and often violated in our contemporary world, it casts light on dimensions of Shakespeare’s work that afford us a better understanding of our ethical responsibilities in the face of such brutal racism.”

Please send information and tips on Ruben Espinosa to Watchlists@tpusa.com.

Published – September 30, 2024