Joseph Pearce

Joseph Pearce is the editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions of  Othello,  Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, King Lear, and  Macbeth, with more in the works.  He is the author of  Shakespeare on Love: Seeing the Catholic Presence in Romeo and Juliet and two other books on Shakespeare: The Quest for Shakespeare: The Bard of Avon and The Church of Rome and Through Shakespeare’s Eyes: Seeing the Catholic Presence in the Plays. Professor Pearce has also authored books on great Christian writers such as G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. His conversion story can be read in his autobiography  Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love. Professor Pearce has hosted two 13-part seasons of The Quest for Shakespeare for  EWTN. Professor Pearce is Senior Editor at the Augustine Institute, Editor of the Journal of the Cardinal Newman Society, and Tolkien & Lewis Chair of Literary Studies at Holy Apostles College.


Professor Pearce teaches the following courses:
(Click on hyperlinked titles to view a video about the course.)

How to Read Great Literature
Narnia for Young Adults: The Theology of the Chronicles of Narnia
Tolkien for Young Adults: The Theology of Middle Earth
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Merchant of Venice
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
King Lear
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Everlasting Man
Frankenstein: Misunderstood Monster
Picture of Dorian Gray
Bede and Beowulf

Student testimonials:

"Professor Pearce is an awesome instructor and I really did learn a lot!!"

"I really like the way Professor Pearce teaches. He leaves all the questions for the end so that the lecture doesn't go off topic. Also he makes his lectures interesting and easy to understand! "

"This class really helped me to understand the play in its fullness. It was a very eyeopening experience!!!"

"Mr.Pearce explained the books so well! I thought I had done a lot of research on [Lord of the Rings], but I realized how much more there was to learn!"

"This was an awesome way for me to further understand J. R. R. Tolkein's The Hobbit. I feel like I now know all of his double meanings and easter eggs. I would definitely recommend this course to any kid (or adult!) who is interested in The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings Trilogy."

"I love how he explained the story and the parallels that I would never have seen "

"The class was great! Prof. Pearce's explanations helped me to understand the background information in Chesterton's work, the events that prompted him to write "The Everlasting Man", and the reasons why he used certain arguments."

"I already had a great love for The Chronicles of Narnia, but in learning more about the books helped me appreciate them even more!"

Parent testimonial: 

"Professor Pearce is an outstanding instructor. He helped my 5th grade son to see that there is much more to the story of The Hobbit than just the literal tale."