Renaissance culture - Afternoon

Course Programme

14:00 Forget All Wrath, Unchastity, Arrogance: The curious powers of Reformation music Dr Bettina Varwig

This lecture explores the transformations in musical culture in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Vernacular hymns and more elaborate church music could be harnessed as a powerful means of instilling the new faith in people's souls, hearts and bodies; but music's seductive sensual appeal potentially made it an alarmingly dangerous pursuit.

15:15 Tea

15:45 God, nature, and knowing: scientific thinking in the Renaissance Piers Bursill-Hall  

The ancient texts that came into Italy in the earlier 15th century gave rise to Renaissance humanism. The mix of ancient Greek ideas, a Christian mis-reading of Plato, and an anti-rationalist reaction to scholasticism bred an explosion of competing new ideas about nature and how to know about nature. What distinguishes all subsequent western science has its roots in the radical freedom of new ideas of the Renaissance.

17.00 Finish

Piers Bursill-Hall was educated in France, America, Canada, and England and has spent most of his academic life in the Department of Pure Mathematics at Cambridge. He has taught undergraduate courses in history of mathematics and most aspects of history of science at Cambridge and elsewhere. Despite an irrepressible sense of humour, he is, however, serious about scholarship and teaching. He believes that lectures should be lectures, and does not use PowerPoint. His research and teaching has concentrated on history of Ancient, Renaissance, and Enlightenment science, mathematics and mathematical arts, the history of medicine, and more recently on early Islamic mathematics and science.

Lunch

A selection of sandwiches will be available to purchase in the Terrace Bar.

Additional requirements

ICE is committed to providing equality of opportunity and to a proactive and inclusive approach to equality. We aim to support and encourage under-represented groups, promote an inclusive culture, and value diversity.

Further information about student support.

Entry requirements

No academic qualification is required, and most courses are suitable for students who are new to the subject.

All teaching is in English (unless a foreign-language course). If your first language is not English, you need to satisfy yourself that you have the required near-native command of the language to get the maximum benefit from studying with ICE.

This course takes place at Madingley Hall, home to the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education.

About Madingley Hall

Madingley Hall itself is an impressive manor house dating back to the mid-16th century. The decoration of the Saloon and the formal Stair Hall was carried out 200 years later, and the whole fabric was renovated with great care around 1900. About four miles from the centre of Cambridge, the Hall stands in several acres of beautifully-maintained gardens and overlooks a landscape which has changed relatively little since it was laid out by Capability Brown. It is just four miles from the centre of Cambridge, and only 60 minutes from London, with excellent links to London airports.

Getting here

For more information see directions to Madingley Hall

We now have a mini-bus service which runs between the station and Madingley Hall. For the timetable and further information, please see our Lifelong Learning page or contact the reception desk at ICE.