Prof. Geraldo U. de Sousa teaches at the University of Kansas, and is the Chair of the Program Committee for the Annual International Congresses of the Mediterranean Studies Association:https://www.mediterraneanstudies.org/. His extensive publication record includes Shakespeare's Cross-Cultural Encounters (Macmillan/Palgrave); numerous articles on Shakespeare, early modern studies and culture, and Luso-Brazilian Studies; and the well-received book, "At Home in Shakespeare's Tragedies": http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&isbn=9780754668862&lang=cy-GBProfessor Sousa's scholarship centers on Shakespeare and early modern English drama. Situated on a broad spectrum of the study of culture, his research addresses cross-cultural and interdisciplinary issues, and therefore focuses on the intersection of various disciplines, including literature, theater and stage history, early modern history, anthropology, and art history.In "Shakespeare's Cross-Cultural Encounters," he explores an ethnographic perspective in Shakespeare's dramatic representation of ethnic, racial, religious, and gender strife arising from the encounter of a dominant European society and members of foreign cultures. This book situates Shakespeare's texts in the historical and cultural context of a large body of early modern ethnographic/anthropological literature about race or ethnicity, gender, and environmental influences on cultural practice. The predominantly historical method, involving research of primary sources, archival materials, and manuscripts, is also attuned to gender and feminist studies, anthropological approaches to literature, and the intersection of literature, iconography, and art history.His most recent book, At Home in Shakespeare's Tragedies, focuses on representations of the house, home, household, and domestic space in Shakespeare's major tragedies. As in his earlier book, he takes a markedly interdisciplinary approach here as well. He is not only interested in historical housing conditions in early modern Europe but also in phenomena of perception and the tragic functions of home in Shakespeare's great tragedies. Ideally, the house offers shelter and protection; as home and center of family life, it symbolizes security, continuity, and stability. Shakespeare repeatedly foregrounds the house as a site of strife, disruption, and instability; therefore, the house embodies discontinuities that rip the fabric of everyday life apart.For example, in his discussion of Othello, he contrasts Venetian and African housing conditions and the pervasive nature of darkness in the play, blurring boundaries, redefining the perception of architectural space, and revealing assumptions about family life in Europe and in Africa. He turns to art history, especially Caravaggio's paintings, in his discussion of the special lighting effects that Shakespeare's play requires. The house becomes a central symbol for the radical reshuffling of the social order, rearranging of interior space, and re-imagining social and cultural reality.Professor Sousa's work addresses the cross-cultural, global interconnectedness of literature and culture. For example, in his monographs, he connects Shakespeare's plays and such issues as Jewish life in early modern Europe; history of Gypsy migration in the British Isles; early modern race relations and the African presence in Portugal, England, and Venice; and representations of Africa in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The cross-cultural theme also appears in various essays with a marked interest in Luso-Brazilian studies. In "Alien Habitats," Professor Sousa connects The Tempest to ecological issues in England (deforestation) and logging in South America.The essay "The Merchant of Venice: Brazil and Cultural Icons" deals with the staging of Shakespeare and Brazilian race relations. In "Portugal, North Africa, and Dryden's Don Sebastian," Professor Sousa explores the conflict between Portugal and Morocco, as represented in Dryden's 1689 verse tragedy. In "Travel, Imagination, and the Strangest of Theaters," he researches representations of Burma and Hindu rituals in a 16th-century Portuguese text. His work as editor of Mediterranean Studies brings together his expertise and interest in global issues.