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Academic Year 2000/2001

The Italian Renaissance
COL 106 SP

What was the Italian Renaissance? Who brought it about and why? Whom did it excite and whom did it exclude? What were its lasting consequences? The Italian Renaissance is a contested historical moment today: Was it a secular philosophy celebrating the individual or a public relations campaign benefiting the ruling powers of church and state? This seminar looks at the origins of the concept of the Renaissance and then seeks answers to these questions in the society and culture of Renaissance Italy (1300-1600) itself. Italian thinkers and artists responded to a variety of pressures and opportunities in these centuries; we will analyze the literary, philosophical, and artistic works of the Italian Renaissance in their historical context.

MAJOR READINGS

M. Baxandall, PAINTING AND EXPERIENCE IN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ITALY K. Bartlett, THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE: A SOURCEBOOK B. Kohl and A. Smith, eds., MAJOR PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Also, the writings of Petrarch, Boccaccio, Valla, Alberti, Machiavelli, Cellini, and Michelangelo, among others.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Short bi-weekly papers, final paper (8 pp.), oral report.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Attendance and participation in class discussion. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA COL    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

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