Project Shakespeare's Theaterscape Program Margo Katherine Wilke Undergraduate Research Internship Program Term Spring 2026 Status Accepted Research Area GIS, Data Mining, Drama History, Description Our project creates interactive maps for four major early modern playhouse districts in Shakespeare's London: the Blackfriars, the Cockpit, the Curtain, and the Fortune. These maps are accompanied by curated documentary materials that give insight into the urban contexts that surrounded 16th- and 17th-century playhouses. Doing so, we start to explore what it was like to live near, work in, or visit a playhouse in Shakespeare’s London: who ran businesses nearby? What routes did people take to and from these areas? What was theatre’s relationship to the parish church? Who were the movers and shakers in playhouse communities, where did they live, and what did they do? Supervisor Paul W White Mentor Type of work required 1) helping out with Renaissance English manuscript transcription (using AI-enhanced handwritten text recognition software: Transcribus; 2) learning (if necessary) rudiments of GIS mapping and building online maps of London playhouse neighborhoods; 3) completing spreadsheets documenting people, institutions, places, events from research on sixteenth century texts (printed and in mss form; completing other information-gathering tasks and critical analysis. Lots of options here. Websites https://shakespearestheaterscape.org/about-the-project/ Qualifications Some background in humanistic studies--e.g. history, language and literature; knowledge of database design or GIS mapping is welcome though not essential; can be some "learning on the job." Credit Hours 0 Weekly Hours 3 (estimated)