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Winter 2025 Course
MRST 111 Medieval and Renaissance Culture: Literature
Special Topic: Giants of Italian Renaissance Literature

Professor Domnica Radulescu
Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:30 pm

This course proposes an overview of some of the major literary and philosophical figures of the Italian Renaissance who have profoundly influenced Western thought and culture. The course starts with a thorough reading of Dante's Inferno, continues with selections of sonnets from Petrarca's Canzoniere, then moves on to a wide selection of stories from Boccaccio's Decameron and concludes with the reading of Machiavelli's The Prince and the play The Mandrake Root. The readings and discussion will focus on the evolution of humanist thought, of literary virtuosity and philosophical concepts as embodied throughout the various genres and centuries represented by this particular selection of authors and works. It culminates with a full-fledged theatrical Renaissance type performance of Machiavelli's play The Mandrake Root.