Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241

Renaissance painting was vitalized by learning, social purpose, politics, history, and—above all else—art for its own sake.  How and why did the artists of the Renaissance manage to fuse so many perspectives into one art form?  And how does any art historian go about the task of deciphering these multiple levels of meaning?

The classical adage “civilization follows commerce” took on new intensity in the Renaissance as mercantile and banking dynasties such as the De Medicis of Italy and the Fuggers of Germany established European-wide networks of commerce and became patrons of the arts and sciences.  During this era, in fact, art itself became a business; hence to understand the interaction of these two forces requires multiple perspectives.

The Divine Comedy by the late medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri at once summarized the Middle Ages and suggested the impending era of Renaissance humanism.  As a philosopher and theologian, Dante mastered the thought of his time.  As a polymath with interests in Roman history, Latin literature, and the latest developments in science, optics especially, Dante anticipated the preoccupations of the ensuing centuries in Western European thought and literature.

A conversation with Daniela Bleichmar and Vanessa Schwartz.

A conversation with Alexander Marr.

A conversation with Kate Flint.

A conversation with Akira Lippit.

Covering Quadrants:  (3) the tapestry of knowledge; and (4) communication.

Covering Quadrants:  (1) critical and integrative thinking; (2) study of the polymaths 

How and why do we feel emotion? Anger, love, hurt, compassion, empathy, regret, and happiness are just some of the feelings that a song, a scent, or an old photograph of someone can conjure inside of us. Emotion and emotional memory are fundamental to our lived experience as human beings. What is the evolutionary purpose of emotion? Of emotional memory? We turn to Jonathan Gratch to get in touch with the process and purpose behind our feelings.