UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO - VICTORIA COLLEGE
2014-2015 FALL/WINTER
VIC240Y1Y - An Introduction to Europe in the Renaissance
VC206; Tuesdays, 11:00 – 1:00 pm
INSTRUCTOR:
TEACHING ASSISTANT:
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE WEBSITE:
Professor K.R. Bartlett ([email protected])
Leah Fabisoff ([email protected])
VC202; Mondays 4:00 pm, Wednesdays 2:00 pm
https://portal.utoronto.ca
Valid as of August 22, 2014. Any subsequent versions of this syllabus issued by the instructor will take
precedence.
Accessibility Needs (www.accessibility.utoronto.ca)
If you require accommodations for a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom
or course materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to Europe in the Renaissance, a course in the history of culture and ideas. We will
begin in Italy to investigate the rise of a mercantile economy within the various city states of the peninsula,
leading to social mobility, a new sense of civic responsibility and the desire to develop new ideas to inform these
changes. The role of Petrarch and the structure of the republic of Florence will be used as models of how this new
value structure produced humanism, the central cultural expression of the Renaissance. The example of classical
antiquity, represented by cultured statesmen like Cicero, provided a model for a new personal and collective
ideology. The desire to define the community in secular terms and the creation of the autonomous individual
drove Italians to define new forms of literature, art and architecture, all in a desire to know themselves and their
fellows. Linear perspective, correct anatomy and portraiture all reflected the imperative to share experience and
reproduce what the individual eye sees. Architecture conformed to ancient principles to recreate the intent of
classical buildings and their significance to the community; and patronage of art and architecture became
indicators of social and economic success, as well as an individual’s level of cultivation. The result was a
transformation of the European mentality, known as the Renaissance.
In the second term we will take these ideas and see how they developed north of the Alps, where a Christian
perspective remained strong and monarchical governments predominated. Humanism was reinterpreted as
Christian Humanism and the texts to be studied were not just the works of pagan authors but the fathers of the
Church and even the Bible. Consequently, Northern Humanism manifested itself differently but still owed much
to its Italian roots.
To pursue these themes, weekly readings will come from primary sources, reinforced by a text book on the Italian
Renaissance. The lectures and written assignments will be interdisciplinary to encourage students to employ
evidence from various traditions to construct a mosaic of the experience of the past. This is not a traditional
History course, but a cultural study of a phenomenon: the Renaissance in Europe.
REQUIRED READINGS
Bartlett, K.R. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance. 2nd ed. Toronto: UofT Press, 2011
Bartlett, K.R. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. Toronto: UofT Press, 2013.
All these books are available at the UofT Textbook Store, as will readings on Northern Europe (available by
November, 2014)
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COURSE WORK AND GRADING
Assessment Tool
Grading Weight
Due Date(s)
Short essay
In-class Test
Research Essay
Final Exam
20%
20%
25%
35%
28 October
2 December
17 March
Final Exam Period
SUGGESTED ESSAY TOPICS
ESSAY TOPICS - TERM 1
Your paper should be about 750 words and is due on October 28. It should be the result of some outside reading
and lecture material; but I am also interested in your own thoughts on the subject. If you wish to do a topic not
listed below you must speak to the professor or your tutor in advance.
1. What was the Renaissance?
2. Why did the Renaissance first begin in Italy?
3. Was Petrarch the first "Renaissance Man"?
4. What is humanism?
5. Why was humanism received so enthusiastically in Florence?
ESSAY TOPICS - TERM 2
The essay should be between 1500 and 2000 words and is due in class on March 17. If you wish to do any other
subject, you must obtain permission in advance. Unless you have been granted permission in advance for an
extension, a penalty of 4% per day (including week-ends) will be deducted.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
The effects of the French Invasions of Italy in 1494
Humanists as political thinkers.
The Artist as Courtier
Women in the Renaissance
Renaissance Mysticism and Italian Cynicism: Pico and Guicciardini
The art of the Northern Renaissance as a reflection of Christian Humanism.
Henry VIII, OR Francis I OR Charles V as a Renaissance prince.
The importance of Printing in the Renaissance.
The discovery of the New World and the European reaction.
The Humanist as courtier in Northern Europe.
Humanism and education in Northern Europe.
The transmission of Italian Humanist principles to the North (or artistic, architectural, or literary styles).
The Renaissance in England or France.
Assignments
Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity
and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source
documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting
plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the
Turnitin.com web site.
During the first month of the course you will be provided with an access code to help you register in your
teaching assistant’s section on the Turnitin.com website. Once you have registered in your section, you can
access the student user guide to learn the procedure for logging on and sending an electronic copy of your paper to
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Turnitin.com. Even if you have submitted a hard copy with rough work to your teaching assistant, you
must still send an electronic copy to turnitin for the paper to be considered as accepted. If your
submissions to turnitin is late, your assignment will be graded as a late assignment according to the course
guidelines. Feel free to raise questions concerning the use of Turnitin.com with your teaching assistant.
Assignments are due in class by 11:00 am on the appropriate date noted above.
Late assignments will be subject to a 4% late penalty per day (including weekends), starting after 6:00 pm on the
due date.
Assignments will not be accepted 14 days after the due date, without convincing documentation.
If there are extenuating circumstances (illness, death in family) that prevent you from completing an assignment
on-time you must email the instructor as soon as possible, preferably BEFORE the deadline and NO LATER than
one week after the due date. Requests for extensions will be granted if there are legitimate medical or
compassionate grounds only. Documentation (such as the official UofT medical form, which can be found here:
www.illnessverification.utoronto.ca) must be submitted.
Term Test
Students who miss the midterm test must contact the professor within 1 week of the date of the test. As a matter
of fairness to all students, you will be required to provide proper documentation.
Faculty Final Examinations: The final examination for this course will take place during the April
examination period: April 8th to 30th, 2015. The examination schedule will be posted on February 13th, 2015.
Instructors are not authorized to re-schedule or excuse students from final faculty examinations. If you have any
questions about final examinations please contact your College Registrar’s office for guidance.
Academic Misconduct (http://uoft.me/CodeofBehaviour)
The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters outlines the behaviours that constitute
academic misconduct, the processes for addressing academic offences, and the penalties that may be imposed.
You are expected to be familiar with the contents of this document. Teaching Assistants and Instructors are
required to report any instance of suspected academic dishonesty to the Program Office.
Potential offences include, but are not limited to:
In papers and assignments:
 Using someone else’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement.
 Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor.
 Making up sources or facts.
 Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment (this includes working in groups on
assignments that are supposed to be individual work).
On tests and exams:
 Using or possessing any unauthorized aid, including a cell phone.
 Looking at someone else’s answers.
 Letting someone else look at your answers.
 Misrepresenting your identity.
 Submitting an altered test for re-grading.
Misrepresentation:
 Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including (but not limited to)
doctor’s notes.
 Falsifying institutional documents or grades.
If you have any questions about what is or is not permitted in this course, please do not hesitate to contact me. If
you have questions about appropriate research and citation methods, you are expected to seek out additional
information from me or other available campus resources like the College Writing Centers
www.writing.utoronto.ca/writing-centres/centres/arts-and-science , the Academic Success Centre
www.asc.utoronto.ca , or the U of T Writing Website www.writing.utoronto.ca.
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WEEKLY SCHEDULE
DATE
Sep 9
Sep 16
Sep 23
Sep 30
Oct 7
Oct 14
Oct 21
TOPIC
Orientation & Introduction
Oct 28
Education and Neoplatonism
Readings
-
Medieval Italy
The Republic of Florence
Florence (slides)
Petrarch
Humanism and Civic Humanism
Medicean Florence
SHIR 1-32; CIR. 13-24
CIR. 39-52; SHIR 93-107
CIR. 52-64
SHIR 55-68; CIR. 25-38
CIR. 7-11; 65-90; 80-2; SHIR 69-79.
SHIR 107-110; 225-40; CIR. 238-44
CIR. 97-109; 183-98; SHIR 209-22;
80-90
FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE 28 OCTOBER
Venice
The Venetian Renaissance (slides)
Nov 4
Nov 11
Nov 18
Nov 25
Dec 2
November Break - November 18
SHIR 143-59
-
th
Humanist thought and culture
In Class Test
Winter Break – December 22
nd
to January 2
SHIR 285-317; CIR. 157-81
nd
Jan 6
Jan 13
Jan 20
Jan 27
Feb 3
Courtly Culture: Milan and Urbino
Courtly Culture (Slides: Milan, Urbino Mantua)
The Renaissance Papacy and Church
Renaissance Rome (slides)
Women, Family and Daily Life
Feb 10
Machiavelli & Guicciardini
CIR. 273-9; SHIR 198-206
CIR 279-303; SHIR 186-97
SHIR113-34; 247-55
CIR 199-230
SHIR 35-51; CIR. 111-55
CIR. 231-8; 265-73; 303-7; SHIR
265-82
Exam Schedule will be available on February 13th, 2015.
Feb 17
Reading Week – No Classes
-
NOTE: February 16th is the last day to withdraw from Y courses without academic penalty. After
this date a zero is assigned for incomplete work and the mark is calculated into the grade point
average.
Feb 24
Mar 3
Mar 10
The Culture of the North
Erasmus and Northern Humanism
Voyages of Discovery
TBA
TBA
TBA
ESSAYS DUE 17 MARCH
Mar 17
Mar 24
Mar 31
NOTE:
Renaissance England
Renaissance France; Montaigne
Summary
April 2
nd
TBA
TBA
2015 is the last day to request LWD. See your Registrar’s Office for details.
Examination Period is from April 8th – April 30th 2015.
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