WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2008-2009       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
Painted Humanism and Secret Renaissance: War and Peace in Italy
ITAL 233
Fall 2008
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: ARHA 226, MDST 230

It is a well-known fact that the recuperation of classical models was fundamental for the early modern cultural movements that we identify by the terms "humanism" and "Renaissance." Students today are perhaps less aware that politics rivaled aesthetics as a central concern of this age. Conspiracies, war, and other forms of violence--their causes, manifestations, and consequences--are as crucial as any reflection on notions of the classical for understanding the culture and cultural phenomena of Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. In this course we will focus on the conversation that emerges along these lines, between aesthetics and politics, in the literature and visual arts of the period. We will give special attention to the relationship between covert and overt modes of communication by analyzing how secret language unfolds in opposition to the obvious public forms of address. Our inquiry will involve a wide variety of genres and styles: private epistles and public orations; dialogues, diaries, dramas; epic and lyric poems; treatises and novellas; coded diplomatic letters; and historiographic and autobiographic recollections. We will study as well pertinent works of art by the prominent painters, sculptors, and architects of Renaissance Italy.

Essential Capabilities: Intercultural Literacy, Speaking
Int Lit: To be enhanced focusing specifically on a rich and remote historical context (Renaissance Italy).
Speaking: in daily class discussion students will evaluate different media, including literary and historiographical texts as well as visual artworks.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RLAN
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (ITST)(RMST)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on NOV-07-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459