MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
1. The title of the module
The Idea of the Renaissance
2. The Department which will be responsible for management of the module
Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS)
3. The Start Date of the Module
Spring 2010
4. The cohort of students (onwards) to which the module will be applicable.
2010-11
5. The number of students expected to take the module
6-10
6. Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and consultation with other relevant
Departments and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
None
7. The level of the module (eg Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or Postgraduate [M])
M
8. The number of credits which the module represents
Note: undergraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 120 credits per year and postgraduate full-time
students take modules amounting to 180 credits per year for a Masters award
30 Credits
9. Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn Term / Spring Term
10. Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
None
11. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
MA in History & Philosophy of Art; MA in Medieval and Early Modern Studies
12. The intended subject specific learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to programme learning
outcomes
Upon completion of the module The Idea of the Renaissance students will:
1) Have gained an advanced knowledge of the historical concept of the Renaissance, and the varied uses to
which it has been put in cultural history, including the varying ways in which it is used in different
academic disciplines.
2) have studied in detail a number of relevant cases that allow for a focused analysis and advanced
understanding of the ‘rebirth’ or ‘revival’ of antique forms in works of art or literature, such as the
paintings of Botticelli or the poetry of Poliziano.
3) have studied in depth a selection of key Renaissance texts that articulate the concept of cultural rebirth:
for example, Vasari’s Lives of the Artists.
4) have acquired an advanced knowledge of the historiographical tradition of writing on the Renaissance,
including such landmark figures as Burckhardt, Warburg and Panofsky, as well as more recent writing
on the subject (e.g. Greenblatt).
5) have a developed understanding of a number of themes that can be related to the concept of Renaissance,
including humanism, modernity, individualism etc.
These learning outcomes relate directly to subject-specific learning outcomes specified in the MEMS Taught
MA Programme Specification, at §12.C.10-13.
The MEMS Taught MA Programme Specification can be found here:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/humanities/facultyoffice/postgradspecs09-10/index.html
13. The intended generic learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to programme learning outcomes
Upon completion of the module The Idea of the Renaissance students will:
1) have developed to an advanced level skills of critical reading and analysis of a range of
primary and secondary sources, both visual and verbal. (MEMS Taught MA Programme, §12.C.10)
2) have developed to an advanced level the key skills of written communication, problem
solving, and have attained responsibility for their own learning. (MEMS Taught MA Programme,
§12.B.3-9)
3) have used relevant Information Technologies to research and present their work. (MEMS Taught
MA Programme, §12.D.19)
4) have developed to an advanced level the key skills of oral communication and working
with others in a group, as well as gaining confidence in participating in critical discussion and debate
while remaining open to the viewpoints of others. (MEMS Taught MA Programme, §12.D.14-18)
5) have advanced in their use of relevant learning and reference resources (including visual resources)
within the Templeman Library and the internet, and have used them effectively to support their
arguments and analyses. (MEMS Taught MA Programme, §12.D.14-18)
6) have improved their ability to write coherent, informed and logical arguments in a well-organised
and well-presented essay. (MEMS Taught MA Programme, §12.B.3-9, D.14)
14. A synopsis of the curriculum
Beginning within Art History, this postgraduate module will take an interdisciplinary approach to explore ‘The
Idea of the Renaissance’. It will seek to analyse the uses to which the term ‘Renaissance’ has been put, and its
continued relevance for the academic study of an ill-defined period of European cultural history (1300-1600?).
Unlike other descriptive terms used to define historical periods – ‘medieval’, ‘baroque’ and certainly ‘early
modern’ – the idea of cultural ‘rebirth’ at least had its origins within the thought of the period, and with this
concept of rebirth came also a sense of an altered relationship between a modern present and past antiquity.
While few scholars would now agree with the total cultural history that the idea of the Renaissance defined for a
nineteenth-century thinker like Burckhardt, the concept still has meaning and currency in art historical, literary
and philological studies. To give an indicative example, the module might begin with a classic case study: the
Primavera of Sandro Botticelli, and the parallels that exist with the Stanze of Angelo Poliziano in the novel way
in which both artist and poet revive the art of antiquity. It would then develop beyond a particular case to
approach other aspects and other questions raised by the ‘Idea of the Renaissance’: how is the Renaissance
different from earlier revivals of classical antiquity (what Panofsky called ‘renascences’) and what precisely of
antiquity did it revive (the forms or the substance – i.e. paganism); how is the Renaissance related to
‘humanism’; to ‘modernity’; to an emphasis on the lives of significant individuals (most recently discussed as
‘self-fashioning’). Was the Renaissance purely an Italian phenomenon, or did Northern Europe, including
England, have its own Renaissance? Has the idea of the Renaissance distorted our view of what came before:
‘the Middle Ages’? Drawing on other case studies – for example, the relationship between manuscripts and
printed books – this module will address these questions and also provide a historiographical survey through
selected readings of the concept of the Renaissance.
15. Indicative Reading List
Angelo Poliziano, Stanze, 1475.
Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists, 1550.
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, 1860.
Walter Pater, The Renaissance, 1873.
Aby Warburg, The Renewal of Pagan Antiquity, 1932.
Erwin Panofsky, Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art, 1965.
Stephen Greenblatt, Renaissance Self-Fashioning, 1980.
Walter Melion, Shaping the Netherlandish Canon, 1991.
16. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours and the total study hours which
will be expected of students, and how these relate to achievement of the intended learning outcomes
The module will be taught by means of a weekly two hour seminar (adding up to 20 timetabled contact hours).
These will broadly divide into lectures given by the module convenors, seminar discussions on primary texts and
case studies, and student presentations. During reading weeks there will be trips to London to view Renaissance
art works, manuscripts and documents. For a 30 credit module students should do at least 300 hours of study,
most of which will consist of private study guided by reading lists and handouts. These teaching methods are
designed to deliver the subject specific and generic learning outcomes specified by the MEMS Taught MA
Programme, §12.B.4-9.
17. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended learning outcomes
Assessment will be by an essay of up to 5000 words on a topic chosen from those defined by the tutors or by the
student in agreement with tutors. The assessment will measure knowledge, research effort and ability, critical
acuity, the relevance and organisation of material, linguistic sophistication and quality of presentation. All these
qualities are closely related to subject-specific and generic learning outcomes specified by the MEMS Taught
MA Programme, and especially §12.A.1-2.
18. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
The Templeman Library is well-stocked with books for this module. The Kent Print Collection has a number of
significant Renaissance prints that can be employed as teaching tools. It will also be possible to make use of the
resources of the Cathedral library.
19. A statement confirming that, as far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum, learning and teaching methods
and forms of assessment do not present any non-justifiable disadvantage to students with disabilities
The teaching methods and forms of assessment do not present any nonjustifiable
disadvantage to students with disabilities.