General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Core modules

Renaissance Culture and Society

The core module provides an overview of selected methodological and topical issues important for studying the Renaissance and the early modern periods. This ensures you are familiar with a number of different disciplinary approaches to the period (e.g., literature, history, history of art). This module gives you the opportunity to sample the broad expertise of members active in the Centre; prepares you, if you wish, to go on to further study; and encourages you to become effective at sharing and communicating knowledge.

Dissertation

This module forms a core part of this taught MA. As the capstone of such a course, it invites you to develop and display your research and writing skills within the context of an original study of materials related to the Renaissance. The dissertation is developed in consultation with an academic supervisor; normally the research takes place between the end of Term Two and over the summer term.

Optional modules

Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

• Inventing the Renaissance
• Books, Subversion and the Republic of Letters
• Italian Renaissance Humanism
• The Development of English Drama, 1558-1659
• Themes and Approaches to the Historical Study of Religious Cultures

Teaching

During the first term, you will be in Venice. There you will take a module in History (including several site visits) and the online Core Module. You will also be able to join the online palaeography and Latin classes delivered by the Renaissance Centre. You will be at Warwick for the rest of your course. In term 2 you will be able to take two modules of your choosing and start preparing your dissertation topic (which you will write under supervision over the summer).

Class sizes

Class sizes tend to be small (five to twelve students), allowing plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.

Typical contact hours

MA modules typically run as seminars of two hours each, but you will have more like 6–8 hours a week of teaching if you avail yourself of the language and skills classes offered or paid for by the Centre.

Assessment

Our aim is to develop your research and writing skills to the point where you are able to present cogent, complex and original arguments based on your research of images, buildings, artefacts, documents and other primary sources.

Each individual module is assessed through essays. Normally you will write an extended essay (5,000 words) for each of your modules, in addition to a dissertation (currently 15,000 words). The dissertation is prepared over the late spring and summer and submitted in September. You will be requested to submit a literature review before starting on your dissertation.

You will receive close one-to-one tuition from members of staff to guide you through your programme of research and writing. Warwick modules are typically assessed by essay only.

Additional course costs

Travel abroad (Venice) for a term there and possible extra living allowances as the cost of living can be more expensive than in the UK.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes.

Your career

Graduates from this course have chosen to progress to PhD study and/or pursue a career in academia, museums or galleries, archives, Higher Education and fundraising.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
• Careers in the Creative Industries sector event
• Working for More than Profit careers fair and sector event
• Making applications

Centre for the Study of the Renaissance

The Centre for the Study of the Renaissance (CSR) is a world-leading research community based at the University of Warwick. It is one of two 'category one' research centres of the University. As an independent and interdisciplinary centre, it has very strong international connections and an active programme of MA and PhD study.

The CSR aims to support – through research, teaching, and outreach – the study of the period stretching from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, at Warwick and beyond. It is particularly dedicated to exploring Renaissance Studies in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary way and within a context of international collaboration. It also promotes activities that intersect with the work of medievalists and early modernists.

Find out more about us on our website.Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate courses

• Culture of the European Renaissance (MA)
• Renaissance Studies (MA by Research)
• Renaissance Studies (MPhil/PhD)

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your taught course fees  

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Scholarships and bursaries

How to apply

The application process for courses that start in September and October 2024 will open on 2 October 2023.

Applications will close on 2 August 2024 for students who require a visa to study in the UK, to allow time to receive a CAS and complete the visa application process.

How to apply for a postgraduate taught course