A study of the changing conception of the human self in the Renaissance, and of its representation by major authors: Erasmus, Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Castiglione, Machiavelli and others.

Focusing on writers from various geographical areas, the course examines a variety of texts by early modern women (for example, treatises, letters, and poetry) so as to explore the female experience in a literate society, with particular attention to how women constructed a gendered identity for themselves against the backdrop of the cultural debates of the time.

An interdisciplinary approach to questions of gender and sexuality in early modern Europe, with special focus on the representations of the sexual drive, the gender roles of men and women, and varieties of sexual experience in the literature and art of the period.

An interdisciplinary approach to questions of gender and sexuality in early modern Europe, with special focus on the representations of the sexual drive, the gender roles of men and women, and varieties of sexual experience in the literature and art of the period. (Offered as part of the Summer Abroad program)

Focuses on analysis of short stories and longer prose works including, in English translation: Boccaccio's stories of love, fortune and human intelligence in the Decameron; Rabelais' humorous parody of high culture in Gargantua; the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet; and the adventures of picaresque rogues in Lazarillo de Tormes and Nashe's Unfortunate Traveler.

This course examines the various media (printing press, representational art, music, preaching) and social and political forces (family and political networks, censorship, education, etc.) that conditioned the communication of ideas in early modern society.

This course examines the changing views of the Renaissance, from the earliest definitions by poets and painters to the different understandings of contemporary historians. We will pay attention to the interests and biases that have informed the idea of the Renaissance as an aesthetic, social, political, gendered, and Eurocentric phenomenon.

Studies in the development of new forms in music, drama and dance in the Renaissance. The course will consist of seminars and lectures, and may incorporate live performances taking place in Toronto in addition to recordings.

This course will study four Renaissance Italian urban environments, beginning with the medieval city of Siena followed by the construction of Renaissance urban space in republics, principalities, and papal Rome. Field trips and illustrated lectures will introduce students to Renaissance urban, cultural, and political history. (Offered in Siena only)

Studies in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content varies by instructor and topics are listed on the Victoria College programs website: https://vic.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/special-topics-courses/ren349h. Not offered every year.

Studies in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content varies by instructor and topics are listed on the Victoria College programs website: https://vic.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/special-topics-courses/ren349y. Not offered every year.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An interdisciplinary seminar on Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries: humanism, culture and society in the republican period, the rise of the Medici, Florentine Neoplatonism, the establishment of the Medici principate, culture, society and religion.

An interdisciplinary seminar on Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries: humanism, culture and society in the republican period, the rise of the Medici, Florentine Neoplatonism, the establishment of the Medici principate, culture, society and religion. (Offered as part of the Summer Abroad program)

This course explores the intellectual and historical contexts of the Renaissance book and applies a digital humanities approach to its study, focusing on books printed in Western Europe between 1500 and 1700. Through a close examination of early and rare books, students explore three major areas in Renaissance intellectual history: 1) humanist rhetoric, politics, and literature, 2) Reformation studies, and 3) natural history, science, and medicine. Regular guest lectures sponsored by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies will introduce students to scholars from beyond the UofT; the course also involves experiential learning with digital exhibitions and rare books.

An in-depth study in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content in any given year depends on the instructor. Please refer to course website for more information: https://vic.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/special-topics-courses/ren449h

An in-depth study in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content in any given year depends on the instructor. Please refer to course website for more information: https://vic.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/special-topics-courses/ren449y

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An introduction to the history, philosophy, and practice of the major religions of the world, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.

An introduction to critical thinking about religion as it took shape in modern European thought. We examine major thinkers such as Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hannah Arendt, and others. Issues covered include freedom of thought, the relationship between religion and politics, belief and truth, rational ethics in relation to religious ethics. We explore how issues addressed by these classical authors remain relevant in today's world.

Religion can be understood as a set of aspirations that manages and moralizes the most intimate matters of social life, including sexual intercourse, bodily fluids, and mind altering substances. This course engages fundamental theories of religion to consider an eclectic set of case studies that troubles a clean divide between purity and danger.

A first-year course looking at the historical and contemporary relationship between religion and sport. We start with the Ancient Greek Olympics (a funeral ritual) and end with the ever-hopeful gathering of Toronto Maple Leafs fans, Leaf Nation. In between, we look at examples of those sports around the world, in which religion plays a significant role or where sports serves as a religion-like pastime.

Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but in the past few years we have all witnessed the meteoric rise of conspiracies such as QAnon via social media, which have taken on the elements of New Religious Movements. This course examines recent examples of new religious movements that might be thought of as “conspiritualities,” that is, conspiracies with strong cult and religious overtones.

In diverse cultures and throughout history, people have felt a deep connection to their environments. This search for a feeling of connection, or oneness, with nature has led humans into canyons and caves, up mountains and rock faces, and across deserts and oceans. Sometimes nature spirituality occurs within religious traditions, sometimes outside of them, and sometimes even in opposition to ‘religion.’ This course explores the phenomenon of nature spirituality, and the wonder often associated with it. Readings will engage mystics and mountaineers, poets and painters, and farmers and foresters, all exploring the human-nature connection, often in the context of environmental crisis.

Are you happy? Today happiness is a metric by which a growing number of people assess the quality of their lives, with a range of experts offering innumerable life hacks and opportunities to optimize life. But what does it mean to be happy? And how have people tried to achieve this ever-elusive state? Situated squarely within the study of religion, this course considers how different traditions from around the world and for thousands of years have raised similar questions about happiness—not simply for the sake of reflection but also to do something about it. And their answers have varied: fast, meditate, pray, go to the desert, come together, get high, suffer, renounce God, and/or make lots of money. Readings will include selections from social theory and religious texts as well as a few authors who seem to be (against all odds) kind of happy.

Throughout history, many religious movements have envisioned the end of the world. This course will explore the ways in which different religious movements have prepared for and expected an end time, from fears, symbols, and rituals to failed prophecies and social violence. By examining traditions such as Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts through to fears of nuclear apocalypse and zombies, the course seeks to understand the ways in which ancient and modern claims of “the end” reflect the aspirations, anxieties, and religious concerns of communities.

What is God? Who is God? Is Yahweh the same as the Christian God? What about Allah? How do people come to see, hear, or feel God? Belief in God is a core tenet of all monotheistic religions, yet the figure of God is elusive and contested. This course offers an introduction to the study of religion and to how the discipline has engaged with the figure of God. Issues covered include histories of God (including proclamations of the “death of God”); psychological and anthropological views on prayer, divine interventions, and God-human relations; God and empire/colonialism; feminist (and other subversive) re-imaginings of God; and atheism. Regardless of their own belief, students will learn to grapple with an inescapable figure, will learn about lived Islam and Christianity (and to a lesser extent Judaism), and will gain insights into a range of thinking tools offered by the study of religion.

What differentiates a hero from a villain? How are ethical issues addressed in the stories of such characters? Are Batman and Spiderman understood as role models? This course analyzes exemplary narratives from Pop Culture. We will consider examples from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as other forms of popular media. Students will compare these popular narratives with those produced by religious communities.