Italian humanism created an idea of the human being and of the dignity of human being; it has formed the background for some of the most beautiful works of art, and it has shaped the art of investigating texts and images that we are still pursuing today. The seminar traces the influences of the artistic and scholarly achievements of Renaissance humanists in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian and South Slavic cultures. The seminar begins with key humanist texts from the Renaissance to the present. It identifies poets, artists, philosophers and scholars that perceived themselves as a part of the humanist tradition. It investigates the answers that were offered by humanists to social and political crises. We will also ask how humanist ideas have shaped the idea of scholarship in the humanities and how it has created criteria for scholarly excellence. A part of the seminar will be dedicated to the phenomenon of Jewish (Hebrew) humanism in Eastern Europe and its historical roots.

A working bibliography can be found here. Please feel free to join the zotero group in order to use the bibliography for your essay or M.A. thesis. You will find many source texts and studies on ILIAS.

The module will be taught, for the last time, in the winter semester 2022/23. The semester begins on October 4, 2022; the seminar takes place at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and at 2 p.m. on Thursdays.