ITAL 34.01 Sex and Gender in the Italian Renaissance
This interdisciplinary course explores conceptions of sex and gender in Italian Renaissance literature and visual art. We’ll trace a social history of love and sex in Renaissance Italy, examine how sex and sexual bodies were represented in literature and in images, and look at how governments and the Church attempted to manage and punish sexual transgression. Themes we will investigate include representations of male and female bodies, gender roles for both men and women, sexual violence, same-sex desire, and cross-dressing.
Open to all students. Text, lectures and discussion in English. Students taking the course for major or minor credit in Italian will attend a weekly x-hour and do all written work in Italian.