Roundtable: Reconsidering the Global Renaissance

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

The 2000s and early 2010s have seen a proliferation of studies on the Global Renaissance. Global Renaissance scholarship understands the world of the fifteenth to seventh centuries to be much more culturally fluid than has been traditionally understood and takes as a central focus the interactions and influences of non-European cultures with Renaissance-era Europe, seeing such interactions as having broad and enduring significance. Yet some have suggested that the high-water mark of this scholarly focus has passed and that, rather than reflecting a paradigm shift in Renaissance studies, Global Renaissance studies may turn out to be a passing scholarly fad spurred by contemporary geopolitical factors. This roundtable will discuss the state of Global Renaissance scholarship, consider the degree to which this scholarship has indeed achieved a fundamental reorienting of Renaissance studies, and assess the promise of this approach for future scholarship.

Sub Unit

• Associate Organization / Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies

Organizer

• Karen Christianson, Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies

Chair

• Kaya Sahin, Indiana University

Discussants

• Simon Ditchfield, University of York, Vanbrugh College

• Heather Madar, Humboldt State University

• Julia Schleck, University of Nebraska, Lincoln