Europe in the Age of the Renaissance

This course centers on the social and cultural history of Europe from 1350 to 1520 and examines the idea of "Renaissance", or rebirth of classical antiquity, through a range of topics, such as humanism, religious experience, family structure, constructions of gender, systems of communication, popular culture, and intellectual and scientific activities. The class will study a range of primary cultural artifacts, both written (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and Erasmus) and visual (van Eyck, Leonardo, and Raphael).