Health and the Environment from Antiquity to Renaissance Venice

This module is not available in 2024/25

This residential module will take place in Venice.

Health and the environment are closely connected in ancient thought. As part of the wider 'cosmos' or universe, the same principles apply across creatures - human health and illness thus reflect the essential qualities of their environment (air, water, landscape, climate, food...). Similar ideas continue to operate in Renaissance Europe and inform state responses to rising epidemics such as the plague, accelerating the development of public health strategies. Venice offers a particularly stimulating case study: a very special environment (lagoon, small islands with high density) in combination with its maritime empire and connections created challenging conditions which the State attempted to bring under control.

This module will take you from ancient ideas on health and the environment, contagion, and epidemics, through to early modern understanding of ancient thought and new diseases. You will study in depth the distinctive case of Renaissance Venice, through texts and related site visits. You will develop the ability to think critically about how and why it is important to think of the environment in relation with health; how and why ancient epidemics matter to our understanding of the new ones; and how public health as a field emerged from responses to earlier health crises.

Who is this module open to?

Pre-requisites: An A-Level in History, Ancient History, Classical Civilisation or equivalent.Some study of ancient or early modern world at higher secondary level or undergraduate level, or other relevant experience. Applicants without this are welcome to contact the department to discuss: classics@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window. Classics and Ancient History undergraduates are automatically eligible

Not for credit/ Co-curricular (0 CATS): Open to all degree level students at Warwick.

Credit bearing:

Open to all intermediate level (second year) students at Warwick.

Open to students from partner institutions.

CX391-15 - Finalist, taken in intermediate year for 15 CATS credit to final year (2024/25)

Key dates

This module is not available in 2024/25.

Costs

Students would be required to fund their travel to, and living expenses (accommodation and subsistence) in Venice for this module.

Warwick students may be eligible to apply for Turing funding if taking two WIISP modules back-to-back in Venice and residing for at least 28 days.

Location

This is a residential module and will be taught in Venice, Italy.

What's special about our modules?

This programme will challenge your thinking, develop your confidence and open up a world of new opportunities. You’ll consider new ideas, apply theory to real world issues working in teams and individually, and develop new networks, connections and friendships. This will provide you strong analytical and research methods skills which also enhance your employability profile for a globalised world of work, derived from a transformative blend of online learning and intercultural engagement.

Access to Intercultural Training will provide further enhancement of your skills.

The intensive nature of our programme lets you focus purely on your chosen modules.

You should expect around two weeks of daily face-to-face sessions (on location) and possibly one week of preparatory online activities. The aim is to work in groups consisting of incoming students (from partner institutions) and Warwick students during the module. Assessments will consist of a mix of group and individual activities.

There are no additional programme fees for Warwick students to take our modules.

Where will you be taught?

Our intensive modules are taught in various ways: mostly face-to-face (combing some online learning and face-to-face teaching). Modules will be based at Warwick central campus, or our overseas residentials will be based at selected European locations relevant to module content. Our modules are designed to be taught in an intensive way, combining physical teaching, and online activities.

All participants will be expected to attend all lectures and group work activities in real time; this might include some online activities in the prep week (where listed in Key dates). As modules are intensive there is not expected to be free time during the teaching period for you to undertake other activities; there will be limited time available during the teaching period to explore the surrounding area.

Students are responsible for checking their own visa requirements and all associated applications and costs.

For overseas modules students are responsible for identifying and booking their own accommodation.

Dr Caroline Petit

Dr. Caroline Petit is Associate Professor of Classics and the History of Medicine, and a member of the Warwick Centre for the Study of the Renaissance. She specialises in ancient medicine and its transmission and reception up to the Renaissance, especially the Greek doctor Galen.

Caroline Petit

Module aims

Through a series of thematic lectures, students will examine ancient and early modern ideas about health and evaluate various historical responses to health crises in their respective environments. The students will be invited to reflect on notions of health, illness, the environment and what possible responses can be offered, both at a personal and collective level. Students will be invited to engage meaningfully with the historical case and environment of Venice through local visits and tasks. They will be asked to communicate between themselves and to different types of audiences in the aftermath of the module.

Site visits (including the Jewish ghetto, cemeteries, lazzaretto in Venice as well as sites in nearby Padua) will help the students imagine and experience the particular challenges to health posed by the Venetian environment, and the community responses to them (medical, religious, artistic, political).

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Preparatory work will take place remotely (set texts, group tasks and discussions) ahead of the course. Indicative topics to be covered through week 1 and 2 through lectures and seminars:

Health and the Environment: Ancient Ideas
Epidemics: Texts and History
Ancient Medical Texts in Renaissance Venice
Medical Teaching in an Expanding World: The case of Padua
Health and Healing in Venice
Responses to Epidemics in Renaissance Europe
and Veneto
The plague of 1575

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should haveo:

Enhanced their research, writing and communication skills
Developed skills in the close analysis of a range of ancient and early modern texts
Gained an awareness of some of the methods used by medical historians
Thought critically about how different communities have engaged with health and illness in different contexts
and the potential impact of social, political, economic, and religious factors on such engagement
Expanded their knowledge of several health-related themes, both in antiquity and the early modern world
Thought critically about individual and community responses to health issues, ancient and modern

Indicative reading list

Set texts:

Hippocrates, Airs, Waters and Places; Girolamo Mercuriale, On pestilence (tr. Craig Martin)

Interdisciplinary

The module is designed to provide the students with an understanding of relationships between Classics (and Ancient History), the History of Medicine, the History of Art, and Renaissance Studies. It also invites to the students to make connections with other disciplinary areas covered in their main study programme. The material will include textual, artistic and archaeological material. The module provides the students with a critical understanding of dominant traditions and methodologies associated with the main phenomena covered in the module and enables the students to transcend disciplinary boundaries. The interdisciplinary course cohort provides contact opportunities and learning to see from different perspectives is a core aspect of the learning experience.

International

The module draws on cases from different contexts, including different geopolitical areas, professional environments and linguistic contexts. The content and assessment invite the students to reflect on the societal relevance in different environments of the phenomena covered in the module. The assessment involves students working in groups with academic and non-academic stakeholders, and a global and local outlook will be built into the module’s work. The international and diverse course cohort provides contact opportunities and learning to see from different perspectives is a core aspect of the learning experience.

Transferable skills

Critical thinking
Problem solving
Active lifelong learning
Communicating clearly and effectively both in discussions and in writing
Information literacy, including finding, evaluating and using previous research
Professionalism
Working effectively with others in groups and tasks
Project and time management
Using a range of tools and resources effectively in the preparation of course work
Developing strong analytical skills by using appropriate methods to analyse research data

Study time

Type	Required
Lectures	8 sessions of 1 hours (5%)
Seminars	4 sessions of 1 hours (3%)
*External visits*	5 sessions of 3 hours (10%)
*Online learning (independent)*	1 session of 1 hour (1%)
*Private study*	92 hours (61%) Independent reading and study in preparation for lectures and tutorials Writing and preparing assessments
*Private study*
*Assessment*	30 hours (20%)
*Total*	150 hours

Assessment

You must pass all assessment components to pass the module:

	Weighting	Study time
Poster presentation (10 minutes)	40%	10 hours
	Individual poster, following preparatory group work in class on site; presented to peers online the following term.
Essay (4,000 words)	60%	20 hours
	Essay on one of the themes studied and discussed in the module.

Feedback on assessment

Poster: non-assessed student presentation and feedback sheet
Essay: feedback sheet and 1:1 session

Before you apply

You can take a maximum of two WIISP modules, and cannot take them at the same time.

Please note

Warwick students will need to check with their department before applying to take a WIISP module
Students from partner institutions will need to apply via their home institution
You are expected to fully engage and participate in the module, including in any group activities, if not your registration will be cancelled
Module details provided on these pages are supplementary to module details in the module catalogueLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window. Subsequently individual module pages (moodle/my.wbs) will provide live details
All modules require minimum numbers to run. This is set by each module leader.

How to apply

If you want to make an enquiry before applying, please contact the WIISP team at WIISP at warwick dot ac dot uk

Apply - Warwick students

Warwick International Intensive Study Programme (WIISP)

Health and the Environment from Antiquity to Renaissance Venice