[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2005/2006

Sex, Lies and Power Tales in Renaissance Italy
FIST 250 FA
Crosslistings:
ITAL 252
WMST 123

This course is aimed at first year students with an interest in the politics of sexuality and the theories and practices of power in Renaissance Italy. The texts will include love poems by Petrarch, anti-Vatican invectives by humanist poet Piccolomini aka pop Pius II, outrageous satires by Leon Battista Alberti (on rapist-castrato demi-god Momus), power theories by Machiavelli, pornographic accounts by Pietro Aretino, and more. The texts will be enriched by art and architecture sources and contextualized in the lively and deadly violent world of secrets and lies of the Italian Renaissance.

MAJOR READINGS

Petrarch, ITALIAN POEMS
Pius II, MEMOIRS
Alberti, MOMUS
Machiavelli, THE PRINCE
Aretino, DIALOGUES

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Weekly reading reports (1-2 pages), one midterm exam and one final paper (8-10 pages).

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RLAN    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459