Women in the Renaissance
HIS 4294-82657
Fall 2009
Th 3-5:30 p.m.
39A/1034
Dr. E. Furdell
I.
Our seminar will explore the shifting answers to the question
posed by the late historian Joan Kelly thirty years ago in her
path-breaking essay, "Was There a Renaissance for Women?" We will
read and discuss several common texts, and each student will
prepare a paper on some aspect of women's lives during the era
called the Renaissance. Readings will examine the place of women
in several European nations in all professions and in all class
strata; we will also chart the lives of the few powerful women of
these centuries, called viragos by those who found their rule
unwomanly. For on-line syllabus and links: www.unf.edu/~efurdell/
II.
Readings:
King, Women of the Renaissance (Chicago 1991)
Davis, Women on the Margins (Belknap 1997)
Ozment, Burgermeister's Daughter (Harper 1997)
Klapisch-Zuber, Women, Family and Ritual in
Italy (Chicago 1987)
Sobel, Galileo’s Daughter (Penguin 2000)
Sim, Tudor Housewife (History Press 2005)
Renaissance
All books are available in paperback editions in the UNF
Bookstore, but you may be able to find better deals on-line via
amazon.com, abebooks.com or barnesandnoble.com.
The short essay
by Joan Kelly can be read through the reserve desk (under the
undergraduate course number) in the UNF library; it's in Women,
History and Theory, a collection of her essays. Xerox it if you
wish to peruse and notate at home.
So much has been done in women’s history since she challenged
scholars to explore the Renaissance era. Read each assignment for
the course in its entirety before class and come prepared to
discuss. Meaningful participation is vital and will be graded as
40% of the course. Failure to engage in dialogue will result in
pop quizzes to test reading comprehension and factored into the
40%.
The instructor will have study guides available for each
book the week before it is due for discussion. These will form the
basis of class activity.
Attendance is critical; three
undocumented absences will lower the course grade a full step.
III.
Schedule:
Aug. 27
Introduction
Sept. 3
For discussion, read Kelly's essay on reserve in UNF
Library; Library resource tour 3 p.m. in 2102B
10
Read Klapisch-Zuber; paper topics must be approved
and dates for delivery determined
17
Read Sims
24
Read Ozment
Oct. 1
Read Sobel
8
Read Davis
15
Workshopping rough drafts in class
22
Presentations (based on the luck of the draw)
29
Presentations
Nov. 5
Presentations
12
Presentations
19
Presentations
26
Thanksgiving holiday
Dec. 3
IV.
All re-writes due by class time (no final exam)
Student Papers:
Each undergraduate student will prepare a 15-page typed paper
on a woman of the Renaissance era. The subject must be approved
by the instructor, and choosing a subject early will enable you to
maximize the resources orientation planned for you by the
reference staff. Papers will be based on library research, will
have
appropriate
documentation
(footnotes/endnotes)
and
a
bibliography which includes at least six books, not texts or
encyclopedias, and two scholarly periodical articles. Papers will
conform to conventions of English and style; I prefer Kate
Turabian's manual using the Chicago style system. We will have a
workshop session, with each student reading a rough draft of
another's paper and suggesting improvements; a copy of the
critique will go to the instructor for inclusion in the
participation grade.
Each student will deliver a summary version of the paper or
make a similar 15-minute presentation to the class on a date to be
determined by the luck of the draw.
Papers are due to the
instructor the night of the presentation and will be returned the
following week. No late papers will be accepted; you must present
your work on the date assigned. A re-write is encouraged if it
will raise your grade; all re-written papers are due to me by 6
p.m. April 29. Papers will count 50% toward the final grade and
your class presentation 10%.
Here are some suggested subjects:
Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis
Louise Labé, Renaissance Poet
Mary Sidney: Inspiration for the Elizabethan Renaissance
Mary Wroth, 16th-Century English Writer
Madeleine Scudery, French Précieuse
Margaret of Anjou and the Wars of the Roses
Marquise de Rambouillet, First Salonnière
Catherine de Medici and the Massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day
Isabella of Spain: Visionary or Fanatic?
Marquise de Sévigné: A Woman of Letters
Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen
The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I and Marriage
Isabella d'Este and the Gonzaga Family
Margaret Tudor: "The Greater Shall Attract the Lesser"
Lucrezia Borgia: Villainess or Victim?
Anne Boleyn and the Church of England
Margaret of Parma and Cardinal Granvelle
Caterina Sforza: Renaissance Virago
Bess of Hardwick: Another Elizabeth in Elizabethan England
Margaret of Austria and the League of Cambrai
St. Teresa of Avila: Doctor of the Church
Christine de Pisan: Advice to Ladies
Joanna I and Joanna II of Naples: A Dynasty from Hell
St. Catherine of Siena and the Babylonian Captivity
Elizabeth Barton, Holy Maid of Kent
Anne of Brittany and the Two French Kings
Margaret More Roper: A Daughter's Learning and Virtue
Sofonisba Anguissola: 16th-Century Artist
Artemisia Gentileschi: 17th-Century Artist
Marguerite of Navarre and The Heptameron
Mary I: History's "Bloody Mary"
Mary, Queen of Scots: A Fool for Love?
Margaret Beaufort: Tudor Patroness of Universities
Judith Leyster: 17th-Century Dutch Painter
Katherine of Aragon and the D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Margaret Maultasch, the "Ugly Duchess" of Tyrol
Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy
Joan of Arc: Mystic or Witch?
The Duchess of Newcastle and the Royal Society
Lady Grace Mildmay and the Medical Duties of an English Wife
Justine Siegemundin and Renaissance Midwifery
Tsarina Sophia Palaelogina and the Russian Court
Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen
V.
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 11:00 to noon; Th 2-3 p.m. and by appointment
Bldg. 8/2427 or call 620-1862
e-mail: efurdell@unf.edu