URBS 326 - Machiavelli and his Contemporaries

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as HIST 326) This course examines the life and writings of the fascinating and often misunderstood Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), and places him in dialogue with other political thinkers, courtiers, and artists, of his time, such as Baldessare Castiglione, Tullia d’Aragona, and Benvenuto Cellini. The course explores several of Machiavelli’s political writings, plays, and letters in tandem with the works of other writers as we explore a period that witnessed both the height of Italian Renaissance culture and power in Medici Florence, papal Rome, Venice, Milan, and Naples, as well as profound reversals with invasions by French, Spanish, and German troops, the loss of self-governance, and Machiavelli’s own exile from office. The late 15th and early 16th centuries was a fertile period for political thought, humanism, philosophy, and explorations of gender, sexuality, and self identity. Machiavelli and his contemporaries offer a lens to explore it with close readings of their works. Nancy Bisaha.

Recommended: HIST 116 and HIST 117.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS