Renaissance and Early Modern

"Renaissance/early-modern studies" refers to a group of courses in a particular period of British history. Many current scholars object to the term "Renaissance" because it means "re-birth," which, they feel, implies that the medieval period which preceded it was dead! Some who work in the field of Renaissance/early-modern studies use the terms interchangeably, and others see the time period expanded by the term "early-modern." The year 1485 is usually considered the beginning of the Renaissance in England, which is a bit later than the Italian Renaissance, and the period ends with Milton's Paradise Lost in the 1660s. This is generally the range of time that our English department refers to when we use either term, although you might hear the term "early-modern" referring to even later periods of study. Why would a student want to take these courses? Well, for one thing, to understand what it means to be "modern," one must understand what it means to be "early modern," since much of our culture today was shaped in the early-modern period. Students have sometimes been surprised to learn that some of the most cutting-edge theoretical work is being done in early-modern studies. Whether or not you have dabbled in early-modern studies previously, there are depths that will intrigue you and delights that will astonish you.