Renaissance PhD Summer School

The Annual Renaissance PhD Summer School is a collaborative initiative led by the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick, the Warburg Institute, and the Centre d’études supérieures de la Renaissance (CESR) at L'Université de Tours, with support from the Newberry Library. The programme aims to provide advanced doctoral students in Renaissance studies with intensive skills training, interdisciplinary seminars, and networking opportunities at leading European institutions. There are 25 places available, so applications should be made as soon as possible. The closing date is April 30th 2026, and students will be informed within a few days if their application has been successful.

The inaugural summer school will take place during the week commencing 29th June 2026 at CESR in Tours, France. We are delighted to be joined in this venture by the Medici Archive, the British School at Rome, the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Toronto Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies and L'Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo.

Tuition for the summer school will cost £443 per student (this will include trips, except the train fare to Clos Lucé which will cost under €10). Students should book their own accommodation and travel as soon as they receive confirmation that their application has been successful. We will provide a list of suitable accommodation with this confirmation. Students will also need money to pay for food throughout the trip, and we will offer guidance for lunch and dinner venues. Tours is a reasonably-priced city.

Morning skills sessions in palaeography, iconography and languages will be enhanced by afternoon workshops and early evening keynotes, as well as by visits to local historical sites. Workshops will be led by field experts, including Pascal Brioist (CESR, Tours) on Leonardo's manuscripts; Floris Verhaart (Exeter and Warwick) on women's letters; Jean Sénié (CESR, Tours) on Renaissance patronage; Teresa Grant (Warwick) and Misha Temura (Toronto) on editing early modern plays; Natalya Din-Kariuki (Warwick), Brandi Adams (Arizona) and Urvashi Chakravarty (Toronto) on early modern race. We are delighted to announce that there will be a keynote given by Ruben Espinosa, Director, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

The summer school will also include visits to local chateaux (Clos Lucé, Chambord and Chenonceau), a walking tour of Tours led by David Rivaud, and independent opportunities to visit other sites such as the Loire Valley's famous wineries. Participants will be able to take advantage of CV and Career clinics run by Faculty experts and networking opportunities will be facilitated by formal groupwork with students who have overlapping interests.

The language of the summer school will be English, so upper intermediate understanding is required. To apply to attend the summer school, please fill in the form below. In selecting students, we will attend to your personal statement which should demonstrate your commitment to interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies and explain how the summer school will contribute to your development as a scholar and professional.

All students will choose 2 or 3 skills sessions which they will follow for 5 mornings. B1 level of language is required to follow palaeography classes in other languages. There is a guide to what level of Latin class you should choose hereLink opens in a new window. Please indicate below which classes you would be interested in following so that we can timetable appropriately.

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Full name

University

Department

Title of PhD project

Year of PhD

Home Address line 1

Home Address line 2

Town or city

Postcode

Country

Please write 300 words telling us why you would like to attend the summer school.

Please upload an academic CV here, named ‘last name first name CV’

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Please choose your preferred three skills classes

Iconography

English Palaeography

Latin Palaeography

French Palaeography

Italian Palaeography

Latin language beginners

Latin language intermediate

Latin language advanced reading

Reading early modern English (for intermediate non-native speakers)

Iconography

English Palaeography

Latin Palaeography

French Palaeography

Italian Palaeography

Latin language beginners

Latin language intermediate

Latin language advanced reading

Reading early modern English (for intermediate non-native speakers)

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