The Renaissance remains one of the most defining moments in world history – a period during which the very essence of modernity came into being as a result of the seismic shifts that occurred in social, political, cultural and religious trends across Europe and the Middle East.

All of the joys, tensions, anxieties, fears, hopes, aspirations, and prejudices experienced by individuals and groups in the Renaissance are reflected in the exciting, innovative, and visionary English literature of the period that will form the focus of this course. 

In an era of fear, division, and exclusion, the literature of the past can actually teach readers in the present how to understand and embrace difference, and to show compassion and empathy towards others. In this course, then, we will see just how salient Renaissance literature is to our understanding of how the individual belongs to the world and how a just society should be ordered.