Cogut Institute for the Humanities

Cate Gutowski ’27 is an undergraduate concentrating in English and Political Science. Bridging her studies in English literature and political theory, her thesis is tentatively titled “The King’s Prerogative: Mysteries of State in Jacobean Law and Drama.” It draws on British historical definitions of the terms “prerogative” and “mysteries of state” to question how these concepts influenced dramaturgical representations of the law in the early 17th century, concentrating on plays that respond to James I’s efforts to assert the prerogative authority of kings over written law. Outside of the Cogut Institute, she is a Laidlaw Scholar through the Swearer Center for Public Service, a French Teaching Assistant, and a Teaching Fellow for the National Education Opportunity Network, a role in which she has helped bring two Brown University English courses to high-school students.