Creative Women: Society and Culture During the Renaissance

This is an Enduring Question course and is open to FRESHMEN only. You must take both ARTH1715 and HIST1731. How do women shape culture and society? In 1971, Linda Nochlin posed the trailblazing question, "Why are there no great women artists?" A few years later, in 1976, medievalist Joan Kelly similarly inquired, "Did women have a Renaissance?" Prior to that time, women scarcely appeared in the pages of history and art history books. Since then, scholars have unearthed abundant evidence of women's productivity beyond the domestic sphere. These paired courses examine how women made significant contributions in political, intellectual, creative, and artisanal work during the long Renaissance (1400-1650), as well as explore connections with creative women in our own time.