| Unit name | The Italian Renaissance |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST30110 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Austin |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The Italian Renaissance is generally regarded as one of the most important cultural movements in European history, and one of the key stages towards the advent of ‘modernity’. This Special Subject will provide a detailed examination of this phenomenon, paying particular attention to a range of primary sources which emerged from that context. Our approach will be principally thematic, including many of the following cultural and intellectual spheres: history, philosophy, religion, art and architecture, gender and the family, politics, and court culture. Primary sources will vary from year to year, but these may include writings by Petrarch, Bruni, Alberti, Castiglione, Machiavelli and Ficino. Through these discussions we will reflect on both the extent to which these writings reflected the particular qualities of the genres from which they emerged, but we will also examine the extent to which they reflect a common set of underlying attitudes and assumptions. In so doing, we will seek to come to a better understanding of the Italian Renaissance, but also to evaluate its longer-term impact and significance, through to the present day.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of themes relating to the Italian Renaissance;
2. Evaluate the arguments and interpretations put forward by different historians, and to offer reasoned critiques of them;
3. Demonstrate skills of critical analysis applied to a range of primary sources written in Italy between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries (and read in translation);
4. Identify and present pertinent evidence to develop a cogent argument.
5. Present their research and judgements in written forms and styles appropriate to the discipline and to level H/6
Classes will involve a combination of class discussion, investigative activities, and practical activities. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis. This will be further supported with drop-in sessions and self-directed exercises with tutor and peer feedback.
1 x 3500-word Essay (50%) [ILOs 1-5]; 1 x Timed Assessment (50%) [ILOs 1-5]
Paula Findlen (Ed.), The Italian Renaissance: The Essential Readings (2002)
Kenneth Gouwens (Ed.), The Italian Renaissance: The Essential Sources (2004)
J. N. Stephens, The Italian Renaissance: The Origin of Intellectual and Artistic Change before the Reformation (1990)
Alison Brown, The Renaissance (1999)
Michael Wyatt (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Renaissance (2014)
Guido Ruggiero (Ed.), A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance (2002)
John M. Najemy (Ed.) Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, 1300-1550 (2004)
