| Unit name | Medieval and Renaissance Italy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ITAL10034 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Kay |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Italian |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Medieval and Renaissance Italy produced works of art which are still influencing modern culture. The language for talking about love which was developed in thirteenth-century Sicily and Tuscany can still be discerned in modern pop songs; Botticelli’s birth of Venus is an instantly recognisable icon; the Medici family provided the material for three seasons of a hit TV series. Through close reading and contextual study, you will be encouraged to develop a more nuanced understanding of some of the key texts and images produced in Italy between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. You will be encouraged to consider the cultures of exchange and dialogue (as well as rivalry) that characterised pre-modern Italy and reflect on the ways in which the production, transmission and reception of pre-modern texts influences literary study. There will be opportunities to view manuscripts held in Special Collections and experience printing with moveable type.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The unit enables the study of works widely considered to form the foundations of Italian literary culture. Tutors will provide you with some of the tools and terminology for approaching literary and visual texts from these earlier periods, enabling you to gain confidence and competence in the study of medieval and Renaissance Italian culture. Primary texts will be available in translation for those who do not read Italian. The unit serves as a platform for students who wish to take later Italian and MODL units on topics such as Dante, Renaissance Italy, Boccaccio, the Italian City, and Early Printed Books.
An overview of content
You will study a selection of different text types (e.g. poetry; short stories; letters; visual culture) produced between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The unit is broadly chronological, with the first half focusing on the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and the second half covering the later period. Close reading of texts will be supported with lectures and targeted readings which provide some historical context and introduce you to important critical concepts. You will normally have the opportunity to view manuscripts in Special Collections and explore the invention of printing with moveable type at Bristol Common Press.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
This unit will help you to develop a broad range of skills. If you are a student of Italian, it will help you to develop your close-reading skills in Italian and to compare Italian from different historical periods. If you are not a student of Italian, you will study the written materials in translation and reflect upon the implications of doing so. The unit will help you to reflect upon cultural history and different kinds of continuity and change; it will enable you to develop your critical skills, engaging with a range of scholarly approaches and perspectives; it will help you to gain confidence in producing clear and well-argued written work at university level. You will also be able to appreciate and evaluate the cultural contribution made by Italy during this period, while inviting you to look beyond a fixed and stable notion of ‘Italy’ and ‘Italian’ to appreciate the transcultural complexities and the multilingual realities of the peninsula in the late-medieval and early modern periods. Finally, the unit will give you hands-on access to rare materials in the University Special Collections, enabling you to reflect upon the creation and dissemination of books and manuscripts as physical objects.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of interactive lectures and seminar discussions, in which we discuss together primary material and critical readings prepared in advance. These discussions will help you to consolidate the knowledge and understanding gained in your preparatory reading, and to consider alternative perspectives on the material in question, while the mini lectures will help you to appreciate the wider historical and cultural context of the material. Students will complete weekly readings (typically a short primary text and a short critical reading) in advance of each seminar. Seminars will also you encourage you to step back and reflect upon the wider significance of the material studied and the value of studying earlier periods in the twenty-first century. As part of the unit, students will typically visit the UoB Special Collections and Bristol Common Press and gain some first-hand experience of manuscript and early print culture. This will allow for a more authentic experience of the materials studied and will enable you to reflect upon the transmission and potential vulnerability of texts from these earlier periods.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Focused writing task, 1,000 words (30%) [ILO 5]
Essay, 2,000 words (60%), [ILOs 1-4]
Contribution mark (10%) [ILOs 6]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ITAL10034).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
