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Academic Year 2005/2006

The Italian Renaissance
COL 106 SP
Crosslistings:
HIST 121

This course explores the intellectual history Renaissance Italy. Between 1350 and 1550 Italian writers, thinkers and artists struggled to recover a Golden Age, the world of the ancients, and ended up inspiring a new one. What forms did the Italian Renaissance take? Who created and supported it and why? Whom did it include and whom did it exclude? What were its lasting consequences? After getting to know the Italian social setting for the Renaissance, we will focus on the intellectuals, writers and artists of fifteenth-century Florence and Rome. In keeping with the approach of the College of Letters the course emphasizes close reading of original texts in translation and studies literary, historical, and philosophical works in their historical contexts.

MAJOR READINGS

Some secondary sources, but mainly primary sources (historical, literary and philosophical) including:
Machiavelli, THE PRINCE
Machiavelli, MANDRAGOLA
Plato, THE SYMPOSIUM
K. Bartlett, THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE: A SOURCEBOOK
E. Cochrane & J. Kirshner, READINGS IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION, VOL. 5 THE RENAISSANCE
B. Kohl and A. Smith, eds., MAJOR PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

3-4 page bi-weekly papers, active participation in discussion.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Attendance and participation in class discussion.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

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-30-2006

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