The Department of Multicultural Diversity and Gender Studies offers courses related to intimacy and sexuality in various eras of human history and societal development. The department also explores the definition of gender roles, contemporary slavery, and Italian culture with a special focus on gender relations in the Mediterranean.
3 semester credits. Beginning with an examination of the “how to” advice manuals common to Italian households during the Renaissance period, this course explores various aspects of sexuality in Renaissance Italy. These aspects range from the aforementioned self-help books aimed at instructing young couples in sexual pleasure, to conception and childbirth, and an examination of the differing social roles of the common prostitute (meretrice) and the high-class courtesan (cortigiana). The theme of male homosexuality will also be explored with special focus placed on the intellectual climate of Renaissance Florence where the prevailing interest in Neoplatonic philosophy may have played a part in creating a more lenient moral climate for homosexuals. Discussions will take cue from Renaissance art in which erotic subjects became increasingly popular in courtly circles in the sixteenth century. Exploratory visits form an integral part of this course.