Renaissance and Early Modern Studies (MA)

Course content

You'll take a mix of core and option modules. These modules are taken from one of our eight contributing departments: English , History , History of Art , Archaeology , School of Arts and Creative Technologies , Philosophy and Politics . Topics could range from historic building analysis to early modern fashion, and Shakespeare to the representation of women.

You'll also complete parts I and II of the Department of History's research training programme - this will equip you with the skills you need to complete an extended research project.

With support from the Research Training Programme, you'll later decide on a topic that you'd like to study to a much greater depth, and complete your dissertation.

Throughout your time at CREMS, you'll also have access to optional classes in Latin, palaeography and modern languages.

Modules Dissertation Modules Core modules Approaches to Renaissance and Early Modern Studies Research Training Option modules You will study three option modules. Our option modules vary from year to year, depending upon the interests and availability of staff. In previous years, options have covered topics such as: Archaeology Presenting Historic Houses Sustainable Conservation Challenges English Cosmopoetics: Renaissance Science and Poetry Early Modern Theories of Everything Greening the Renaissance. Theology, Science & the Natural World, 1600 - 1700 Healing, Harming, Feeling: Medical Hermeneutics in Early Modern Literature Shakespeare Why Read Literature?: Lessons from the Renaissance (and Beyond) Letterpress Printing Reading Dante's Comedy: Text and Context History Becoming British? Cultures and Identities in the Early Modern Atlantic World Persecution and Toleration in Early Modern Britain Smell and the Past: Noses and Environments From the Rome to Virtual Reality Topics in the History of Political Thought Violence in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700 Women in Early Modern England: Gender, Print and Politics All the City's a Stage? Performance and Ritual in Late Medieval Europe Medicine and Spiritual Healing in the Early Modern World Pleasure and Violence: Sex and Consent in Medieval Europe 1300-1500 Representing Power in Early Modern England The Supernatural in Early Modern Europe, c.1450-1750 Taking Pleasure in the Eighteenth Century: England, 1650-1800 History of Art Fashion: Theories, Materials and Images (1540-1940) Art, Magic and the Miraculous in Medieval and Renaissance Italy Interpreting Northern Renaissance Art South Asian Renaissance: Early Modern Indian Court Painting, 1526-1857 The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course. For further information please get in touch . Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning. Dissertation Research Dissertation In summer, you'll complete a research dissertation of 12,000-14,000 words. With support from the Research Training Programme, you'll decide on your topic and submit a proposal during the spring. You'll then be assigned a dissertation supervisor, who will discuss and guide the direction of your research. Recent dissertation titles have included: Hadephobia and the Servants of Hell: Poetic Theology and the Function of Myth in the Art and Literary Culture of Renaissance Europe. The Representation of Regnal Authority during the Reign of Mary I in English Chronicles and Ballads. The printing of Greek books in 16th century England: more than an experiment? The 'Restoration' of the Tower of London: public perception and propaganda in the reign of Charles II. Magic on the Jacobean Stage: Witchcraft, Theurgy and Gender in 17th-Century England.