An interdisciplinary introduction to the Renaissance as it spread beyond Italy, both as it took root in Northern Europe and made an impact around the globe. This class will examine how the cultural forms of the Renaissance – art, architecture, philosophy, politics, music, drama, and literature – developed through engagement with ancient Roman and Greek models and expanded across Europe (in such places as the Iberian Peninsula, France, England, Scotland, Germany, the Low Countries, and Poland). It will also explore how Renaissance culture shaped and was shaped by interactions between Europeans and peoples in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Taking into account the contexts of religious conflict, technological change, colonization, gender dynamics, and cross-cultural exchanges brought about by warfare and global networks of trade, this class will use a variety of disciplinary frameworks to examine the Renaissance as an expansive cultural phenomenon.