This is the only Renaissance MA in the UK to offer students the opportunity to spend a full term in Venice (Italian language lessons included). This MA covers the period c.1300-c.1650 across Europe. It provides a foundation in the art, history, literature, philosophy, religion and science of the period, exploring their interconnections with the social and political context. Strongly interdisciplinary, it is taught by academics drawn from the Departments of Classics, English, History, History of Art, and from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

Core Modules

• Order and Disorder: Religion, Society and Culture in Early Modern Venice (taught in Venice)
• Renaissance Culture and Society (taught at Warwick)
• Research in Medieval and/or Early Modern Art/Architectural History
• Dissertation

Optional Modules

Previously, a selection of the following options have been offered:

• Italian Renaissance Humanism
• Critical Foundations of Renaissance Studies
• Books, Subversion and the Republic of Letters
• Leonardo: Art and Science
• The Development of English Drama, 1558-1659
• Themes and Approaches to the Historical Study of Religious Cultures

Teaching

You will spend the autumn term in Venice, studying the city’s art, history and culture and being taught by Warwick staff. The programme includes site visits, study sessions in Venetian workshops and behind-the-scenes visits to the warehouses of Venice’s museums. Modules focusing on Venetian culture, religion and art form the opening term. During the spring term, you’ll explore the dissemination of Renaissance culture in Europe by completing an interdisciplinary Core Module, attending weekly skills training sessions, and completing an additional module in Renaissance studies of your choice, selected from relevent offerings of any of the associated departments in the Humanities. You will be encouraged to follow the training offered in Palaeography and/or Latin for Research. We may, subject to the government’s Brexit agreement, be able to continue exchange opportunities with Paris and Venice during the summer term.

Contact Hours

For Term One and Two, students will have an average of 8 contact hours during each week.

For Term Three there will be around 2 contact hours. There will be less as students will be concentrating on the dissertation.

Class Sizes

6-10 students per class.

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. You will write four essays in total, the first two linked to the two modules you study in Venice in the autumn, and the next two linked to the two modules you take in the spring term. Each essay (each 5,000 words) will equip you to write and research your dissertation (15,000 words), which you will prepare over the late spring and summer to submit in September. During this time you will be requested to submit a literature review at the start of term three. You will receive close one-to-one tuition from members of staff to guide you through your programme of research and writing. Your dissertation is equal to one third of the mark with the four module essays making up the remaining weighting towards your final mark.

Skills from this degree

• Advanced interdisciplinary understanding of European Renaissance Culture
• Advanced synthetic and analytical skills
• Linguistic, palaeographical, and bibliographical skills
• Research and Information managements skills
• Advanced written and oral communication skills

Minimum requirements 2:i undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject

English language requirements 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 Students
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications. For more information please visit the international entry requirements page.

For up-to-date information concerning fees, funding and scholarships for Home, EU and Overseas students please visit Warwick's Fees and Funding webpage.

Additional Course Costs

Travel to Venice for Term One modules; possible extra living allowances as the cost of living can be more expensive than in the UK.

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

There are a number of different ways to visit the University of Warwick throughout the year. We host bespoke PG visits, where you can talk directly with your chosen department and explore our campus through a personalised tour. Some departments also host their own events and open days, where you can learn more about your department or course of study. To find out more about all of these opportunities, visit our Postgraduate Visits page.