ITAL5581 · Romance Languages and Literatures

Renaissance Women Voices

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

Course is conducted in Italian. In this course we will explore the fascinating lives, ambitions, and enterprises, private and public, of the women of the Italian Renaissance, as revealed by the writings they themselves have left to posterity. The texts in question span a wide range of genre including letters, essays, diaries, and poetry and come from women occupying a wide range of socio-economic status, from patricians to nuns to artists. The topics of their concern are still those of today: identity and education, the complexities of motherhood and marriage, women's involvement in the workplace, and the pervasive issue of violence against women. Hearing these women's voices will enable us to arrive at a more complete, more accurate picture of this history-changing moment in Western civilization.