Renaissance Europe II (Syllabus & Reading List) 2024-25-Term 2
RS201 & RS301 ~ Renaissance Europe II. 'Renaissance Ecologies'
The Renaissance (1400-1700) registered profound transformations in people’s attitudes towards knowledge, artisanship, and nature. Innovative technologies in navigation and printing allowed people and information to travel faster and further than ever before. Humans became increasingly aware of their place in nature and their impact on the physical environment (seen both on a global scale and in the relationship between city and countryside). A utilitarian approach towards nature and its resources coexisted with broader cultural notions that saw humans and societies as microcosms, profoundly shaped by their environments. This was a period of religious reforms, of artistic developments, of interaction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ environments and frameworks of thought, of land interventions and unpredictable climatic shifts.
The course will expose students to a multitude of intertwined topics, including religious and magic views of nature; tensions between indigenous knowledge and dominant authorities; response to changes posed by specific climatic conditions and foreign ecologies; environmental configurations of the early modern society; food and exploitation of natural resources (hunting, fishing, and farming); gemstones and natural philosophy. By looking at the interconnection of Renaissance culture with its diverse ecologies, this course hopes to ultimately inform new ways of thinking about our present relationship with the natural world. Module convenor, Dr Delia Moldovan.
Classes are on Mondays, 16:00-18:00, in room FAB 1.09, unless otherwise stated below and in tabula
Module codes are: RS201-15 (intermediate year students) and RS301-15 (final year students)i
Assessment method is 100% essay. Yr 2 students-1 x 3500-word essay chosen from a list of given titles; Yr 3 students-1 x 4000–4500 word essay, on a freely chosen topic determined in consultation with the module convenors and/or tutors.
To register your interest in either (or both) modules, please complete the short form HERE.
Week 1: Introduction to Module – Anca-Delia Moldovan, Teresa Grant
Week 2: Renaissance Mysticism and the Natural World: The Case of Saint John of the Cross (in translation) – Maria Czepiel
Week 3 Witchcraft and Soil Sterility: The Investigations of a French Magistrate in the Pyrenees Matteo Leta
Week 4 Ecological and Indigenous Knowledge in Early Modern Venice – Bryan Brazeau– 27 Jan
Week 5 The Challenges of Travel: The Art Historical Evidence – Louise Bourdua
Week 6: Reading Week - No Class
Week 7 Inns as Microcosms in Renaissance Society – Beat Kümin
Week 8 Debates on Ecology and Renaissance Hunting – Ingrid De Smet
Week 9 Ecology and Agriculture in the Renaissance – Anca-Delia Moldovan
Week 10 The Nature of Gems in the Renaissance – Michael Bycroft
Link to full reading list via Warwick library HERE (forthcoming)
20 point marking scale/criteria
Essay questions (TBC)
Essay deadline: Tuesday 22nd April 2025 (noon)
Word limits:
RS201 (second year students) 3,500
RS301 (final year students) 4000-4,500