ITAL 312 - Renaissance Italy (In English)

Credits: (3-4)
College Curriculum: COLL 200
Domain (Anchored): ALV
Domain (Reaching Out): CSI

The Italian Renaissance is a period grounded in the philosophical ideal of humanism, most often calling to mind the iconic works of Machiavelli, Boccaccio and Michelangelo, “the heights of genius,” as Hegel calls them. But these works and their authors didn’t exist in a vacuum, and the course will examine aspects of the everyday life of the period that underpin these artistic and literary achievements and mark the transition from the middle ages to the early modern world. While studying these and other works, we will also deepen our knowledge about the architecture and the social makeup of the renaissance city, renaissance ideas of theater and performance, renaissance conceptions of gender and sexuality, renaissance economy, politics, aesthetics, and education. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of the instructor, may enroll in a 4th credit of reading and discussion (one additional hour per week) in Italian.