Keith Jones, Ph.D.

Dr. Keith Jones received his B.A. in English from Covenant College and his M.A. in English Literature and Ph.D. in Renaissance English Literature from Saint Louis University. He served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the English Department of Wheaton College for five years and has been a valued part of the Department of English & History at University of Northwestern since 2004. The Joneses have adopted three children from Vietnam. The experiences surrounding their adoptions continue to teach the family about trusting in God. Adopting children from Vietnam has also expanded Keith’s love of Vietnamese culture, literature, and cuisine.

Specialty Areas

• Shakespeare
• Dorothy L. Sayers
• Shakespeare and Film
• Renaissance Literature
• Composition
• Non-Western Literatures

Select Professional Accomplishments

Recent Publications

• “The Evolution of Folk Traditions in Bob Dylan’s ‘Seven Curses’ and William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.” Forthcoming in an anthology to be published by Cornell University Press.
• “‘In a sieve I’ll thither sail’: Macbeth Comes to Madagascar in Makibefo.” Journal of the Wooden O 21 (2021): 54–70.
• “Almost Shakespeare—But Not Quite.” Critical Survey 33, no. 2 (2021): 43–50.
• “‘Why, you are nothing then: Neither Maid, Widow, nor Wife?’: The Ritual of Comedy and the Rite of Marriage in Measure for Measure.” Word and Rite: The Bible and Ceremony in Selected Shakespearean Works.Ed. Beatrice Baston. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. Print. 65–75.
• Rev. of Allusion in Detective Fiction: Shakespeare, the Bible and Dorothy L. Sayers by Jem Bloomfield (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). Journal of Inkling Studies 15, no. 1 (2025): 146–51, DOI: 10.3366/ink.2025.0255.
• Rev. of Screen Adaptations: Shakespeare’s Hamlet: The Relationship between Text and Film by Samuel Crowl (London: Bloomsbury, 2014). Shakespeare Quarterly 66.2 (2015): 244–247.
• Rev. of Shakespeare on Screen: Macbeth. Edited by Sarah Hatchuel, Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin, and Victoria Bladen. Mont-Saint-Aigan, France: Publications des Universités de Rouen and du Harve, 2014. Shakespeare Quarterly 66.2 (2015): 244–247.
• Rev. of Chinese Shakespeares: Two Centuries of Cultural Exchange, by Alexander C.Y. Huang. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Books & Culture. July / August 2013.

Selected Conference Activity

• “‘The worst is not / So long as we can say “This is the worst”’: Humorous Adaptations of King Lear.” Shakespeare Association of America, 2025.
• “Folk Traditions in Bob Dylan’s ‘Seven Curses’ and William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.” Shakespeare Association of America, 2023.
• “Almost Shakespeare—But Not Quite: Shakespeare and the Modern Novel.” Shakespeare Association of America, 2018.
• “Shakespeare under Apartheid: Janet Suzman’s Othello.” Shakespeare Association of America, 2017.
• “‘In a sieve I’ll thither sail’: Macbeth Comes to Madagascar in Makibefo.” Shakespeare Association of America, 2014.
• “What Happens in Hamlet When Hamlet Goes to Asia.” Shakespeare Association of America, 2012.
• “Depravity and Election: Redemption According to Calvin and Shakespeare.” The Conference on Christianity and Literature, 2009.
• “‘Shine comforts from the east’: The Cultural Collisions Surrounding a Production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Vietnam.” Shakespeare and the World, University of Minnesota Symposium, 2005.

Selected Public Lectures

• “‘This is the worst’: Anxiety and Redemption in King Lear.” L’Abri Fellowship International (Rochester, Minnesota), 2025.
• “‘Creeping like snail unwillingly to school’: Shakespeare and Education.” L’Abri Fellowship International (Rochester, Minnesota), 2018.
• “Around the Globe: Shakespeare Films Around the World.” Front Porch Lecture. Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, Minnesota, 2018.
• “Shakespeare and the Christian Walk” and “Julius Caesar 2018: Great Caesar’s Ghost!” Workshops at L’Abri Fellowship International (Rochester, Minnesota), 2018.
• A series of lectures on Shakespeare in Vietnam at Vietnam National University—Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2018. The lectures included “Notable and Contemporary Approaches to Shakespeare’s Plays,” “Theories of Adaptation and Adaptations of Shakespeare’s Plays,” and “Hamlet in Asia.”
• “‘You’re Reading What?’: Criteria and Consequences of the Young Adult Novel.” Northwestern Christian Writers Conference. University of Northwestern, St. Paul, Minnesota, 2017.
• A series of lectures on Shakespeare in Vietnam at Vietnam National University—Hanoi, Vietnam, 2016. The lectures included “Elizabethan England and the Life and Works of William Shakespeare,” “A Dream in Hanoi: Shakespeare in Vietnam,” “Shakespeare: Globe to Globe and Back Again,” and “What Happens in Hamlet when Hamlet Goes to Asia.”
• “Elizabethan England (with an emphasis on William Shakespeare).” Guest lectures, Bethlehem College and Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2012–2015.
• “Shakespeare: Globe to Globe and Back Again.” Great River Shakespeare Festival Symposium. Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, Minnesota, 2015.
• “The Roman Plays of Shakespeare and the Concept of Virtue.” Lecture and Discussion, L’Abri Fellowship International (Rochester, Minnesota), 2013.
• “Elizabethan England and William Shakespeare.” Guest lecture, Bethlehem College and Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2012.
• “A Dream in Hanoi: Shakespeare in Vietnam.” Lecture and Discussion for the Front Porch Series, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, Minnesota, 2011.
• “Shakespeare in Africa, Asia, and the Americas: How Universal is Shakespeare?” Lecture at the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis / St. Paul), 2010.