Renaissance Studies
Renaissance
Studies courses
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Director of undergraduate studies: Carlos Eire, 203 HGS, 432-1357, carlos.eire@yale.edu
FACULTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROGRAM OF RENAISSANCE STUDIES
Professors
Leslie Brisman (English), *Edwin Duval (French), *Carlos Eire (History), Roberto González Echevarría (Spanish & Portuguese), Bruce Gordon (Divinity School), Karsten Harries (Philosophy), K. David Jackson (Spanish & Portuguese), *Lawrence Manley (English), *Giuseppe Mazzotta (Italian), Steven Pincus (History), *David Quint (Chair) (English), *John Rogers (English), *Ellen Rosand (Music), Francesca Trivellato (History), *Christopher Wood (History of Art), Craig Wright (Music)
Associate Professor
Anne Dunlop (History of Art)
Assistant Professors
Angela Capodivacca (Italian), James Kearney (English), Brian Walsh (English)
*Member of the Executive Committee for the program.
The major in Renaissance Studies is a special major in the humanities whose purpose is to contribute to an integrated understanding of the Western cultural tradition (see also Humanities). It is an interdisciplinary program that introduces students to that period in European history conventionally termed the Renaissance—roughly the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy, the sixteenth century in northern and western Europe, and 1500–1660 in England. Students in the major study several aspects of this rich civilization, including visual arts, social and political history, history of ideas and philosophy, religion, literature, and history of music. Such study of a distant era demands and fosters a capacity for intellectual flexibility; students in the program are invited to learn the various languages of the era's visual arts, of early Protestantism and the Counter-Reformation, of records and objects, of Renaissance music, lyric poetry, epic, drama, and prose narrative. The program's challenge lies partly in the need to grasp systems of communication different from our own but possessing their own coherence and intricate relationships to each other.
Competence in at least one foreign language is essential for an understanding of this complex period. A student entering the program is expected to have the equivalent of two years of college language study in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Latin. Knowledge of a second foreign language is not required but would be helpful. Beyond this prerequisite, a student majoring in Renaissance Studies takes at least twelve term courses focused on some aspect of Renaissance culture. Four of the courses must be in different disciplines: one each in English literature, history, history of art, and a relevant foreign literature (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, or Latin) at an advanced level. One required course must be taken by the junior year: RNST 223b. Seniors are required to take a senior seminar, chosen in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies, and the senior essay, RNST 495a or b. The remaining courses required for the major may be taken in an area of concentration that the student chooses in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.
Renaissance Studies as a second major. Students may wish to plan a major in Renaissance Studies in conjunction with a major in a related discipline, such as (but not limited to) a relevant language or literature program, English, Literature, History, History of Art, or Music.
Senior requirement. Students take a senior seminar, usually in the fall term of the senior year. They also write a senior essay, which should grow out of their previous study and which normally should involve more than one field. The senior essay is typically written in the spring term.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR
Prerequisite: 2 years of college-level French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Latin, or the equivalent
Number of courses: 12 term courses beyond prereq (incl senior req)
Distribution of courses: 1 term course dealing with the Renaissance in English lit, hist, hist of art, and a foreign lit
Specific course required: RNST 223b
Senior requirement: Senior sem and senior essay (RNST 495a or b)
