Introductory description

This module analyses the cultural, economic, political, social, and religious history of Venice and its empire from the late fourteenth to the late sixteenth century, within the broader context of the Italian Renaissance. Taught in Venice, it familiarises students with the city via a series of site visits and guided tours of major galleries and cultural sites.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The module will be structured around 5 x 2-hour thematic seminars, each preceded by a 2-hour site visit/on site lecture on the same theme.
Theme 1: Government. Site visit: The Doge’s Palace and Piazza San Marco
Theme 2: Art and Culture. Site visit: The Accademia Gallery
Theme 3: Religion. Site visit: The Scuola Grande di San Rocco and the Frari Church
Theme 4: The Material World. Site visit: Rialto
Theme 5: Society. Site visit: The Jewish Ghetto

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

•  To evaluate and critique the cultural, economic, political, social, and religious history of Venice and its empire from the late fourteenth to the late sixteenth century.
•  To understand how the history of Venice can be accessed through a diverse range of textual, visual, and material sources, including the city of Venice itself and its former territories.
•  To analyse and compare different types of sources, and enhance their ability to develop a historical argument.
•  To engage with historiographical debates and think about the history and legacy of different historical concepts.
•  To encourage independent research, historiographical engagement, and the development of critical analysis.

Indicative reading list

Burke, Ersie C., The Greeks of Venice, 1498-1600: Immigration, Settlement and Integration (Turnhout, 2016)
Carboni, Stefano (ed.), Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797 (New Haven, 2007)
Chambers, David, and Brian Pullan (eds and trans), Venice: A Documentary History 1450-1630 (1992; rept. Toronto, 2001)
Chojnacka, Monica, Working Women of Early Modern Venice (Baltimore, 2001)
Chojnacki, Stanley, Women and Men in Renaissance Venice: Twelve Essays on Patrician Society (Baltimore, 2000)
Contarini, Gasparo, The Commonwealth and Government of Venice, trans. Lewis Lewkenor (London, 1599)
Davis, Robert C., The War of the Fists: Popular Culture and Public Violence in Late Renaissance Venice (New York, 1994)
Dursteler, Eric R. (ed.), A Companion to Venetian History 1400-1797 (Leiden: Brill, 2013)
Howard, Deborah, The Architectural History of Venice (New Haven, 2004)
Huse, Norbert, and Wolfgang Wolters, The Art of Renaissance Venice: Architecture, Sculpture and Painting, 1460-1590, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Chicago, 1993)
King, Margaret L., Venetian Humanism in an Age of Patrician Dominance (Princeton, 1986)
Marinella, Lucrezia, The Nobility and Excellence of Women and the Defects and Vices of Men, ed. and trans. Anne Dunhill (Chicago, 1999)
Martin, John Jeffries, Venice’s Hidden Enemies: Italian Heretics in a Renaissance City (Berkeley, 1993)
Molà, Luca, The Silk Industry of Renaissance Venice (Baltimore, 2000)
Ravid, Benjamin, Studies on the Jews of Venice, 1382-1797 (Aldershot, 2003)
Rosand, David, Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State (Chapel Hill, NC, 2001)
Salzberg, Rosa, Ephemeral City: Cheap Print and Urban Culture in Renaissance Venice (Manchester, 2014)
Sansovino, Francesco, Sansovino's Venice, ed. and trans. Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks (London, 2017)
Sanudo, Marin, Venice, cità excelentissima: Selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo, ed. and trans. Patricia H. Labalme and Laura Sanguineti White (Baltimore, 2008)
Vivo, Filippo de, Information and Communication in Venice: Rethinking Early Modern Politics (Oxford, 2007)

Research element

The module makes extensive use of primary sources and students will engage also with museum collections and archives.

Interdisciplinary

The module draws particularly on the study of art and architectural history and material culture studies as well as ranging across political, religious, cultural and social history.
The module is designed to provide the students with an understanding of relationships between the different disciplinary areas within the Humanities and Social Sciences, particularly History, Politics and Sociology. It also invites to the students to make connections with other disciplinary areas covered in their main study programme. It provides the students with a critical understanding of dominant traditions and methodologies associated with the main phenomena covered in the module and enables the students to transcend disciplinary boundaries. The interdisciplinary course cohort provides contact opportunities and learning to see from different perspectives is a core aspect of the learning experience.

International

The module will be taught in Venice and likely involve students from different educational backgrounds. Students will engage with comparative and transnational methodologies and will do so in an intercultural context.
The module draws on cases from different contexts and different geopolitical areas. The assessment involves students working in groups which will allow for a global and local outlook to be built into the module’s work. The international and diverse course cohort provides contact opportunities and learning to see from different perspectives is a core aspect of the learning experience.

Subject specific skills

See learning outcomes

Transferable skills

Work effectively with others in group tasks and in teams; Plan and manage time in projects; Develop strong analytical skills; Find, evaluate and use previous research at a level appropriate for a second year module. Use a range of tools and resources effectively in the preparation of course work. Use appropriate analytic methods to analyse research data on Indigenous America. Read academic papers effectively in the context of an intensive programme; Communicate clearly and effectively in discussions; Communicate ideas effectively in writing.