The Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies

THE NEWBERRY
Center for Renaissance Studies
Guidelines for teaching a Newberry graduate seminar
We encourage faculty members at consortium institutions to propose seminars in any medieval,
Renaissance, or early modern topic in Europe or the Atlantic or Mediterranean worlds.
To propose a seminar
Complete a seminar proposal cover sheet, downloadable from our website at:
www.newberry.org/RenaissanceSeminarProposal.html. Send it as an e-mail attachment to
christiansonk@newberry.org, along with the following:
A brief course description and any prerequisites necessary
A proposed syllabus, including readings and assignments
A current CV, including a list of graduate courses taught
The deadline for proposals for the 2012-13 academic year is Friday, December 16, 2011.
Compensation
Instructors are compensated by negotiating release time with their departments, and are eligible
to apply for consortium travel funding from their home institution. Visiting instructors may also
apply, provided the host institution is willing to grant a course release.
What makes a good seminar topic?
Design a course that presents medieval, Renaissance, and/or early modern materials from
innovative or multidisciplinary perspectives or in light of some significant, unusual, or new
methodology. Generally, seminars that duplicate courses offered at most universities are not
appropriate.
Courses currently offered on only one consortium university campus, or which offer the
instructor an unusual opportunity to teach a specialized subject, or which may benefit from a
wider pool of participants, are welcome.
Most seminar participants are advanced Ph.D. students and faculty auditors, so readings and
coursework should be appropriate to that level.
To attract the most multidisciplinary group of participants, the language of instruction in
seminars should be English, although the ability to read materials in another language may be a
prerequisite for the course.
Logistics of teaching a seminar
Faculty who teach Center for Renaissance Studies graduate seminars should be tenured
members of their faculties or demonstrate experience in teaching graduate seminars at their
home institutions. Exceptions may be made to this rule for courses of outstanding merit or for
those that make especially good use of the Newberry collections.
Potential instructors should contact their campus representative council member regarding their
proposals before submitting them.
60 West Walton Street Chicago, IL 60610 312.255.3514 renaissance@newberry.org

An ad hoc subcommittee of the Center’s representative council reviews proposals for each
academic year. Once proposals have been approved, the Center schedules and publicizes the
seminars.
Consortium funds may be used to reimburse instructors and participants in graduate seminars
for travel to and from the Newberry, with prior authorization from the given university’s
Newberry committee or representative council member.
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Who takes Center graduate seminars, and how do they get credit?
Courses offered through the Center for Renaissance Studies are designed for graduate students
and faculty auditors. In practice, most participants are students in Ph.D. programs, though some
M.A. students also are welcome. Advanced undergraduates may be admitted only with the
consent of the instructor and if space permits.
Students who wish to earn credit also register at their home institutions in either a special
Newberry course (for several universities in the Chicago area) or an independent-study course.
Advanced graduate students who are finished with coursework may take seminars on a not-forcredit
basis, but they are expected to complete all readings and coursework and to participate
fully in the course. Faculty auditing is also encouraged, when space permits.
Participants from Center for Renaissance Studies consortium schools pay no fee to the
Newberry for graduate seminars. With instructor approval and when space permits, participants
from other institutions may be admitted; non-consortium students pay an enrollment fee.
Graduate seminars usually meet once a week for ten weeks, beginning in late September/early
October or in January.
Recruiting Students
Our consortium representative council members are asked to record courses in appropriate
institutional schedules and to send department chairpersons copies of seminar descriptions.
The Center for Renaissance Studies publicizes graduate seminars in its brochures, on its web
pages, and through e-mail announcements to members of the consortium.
Students wishing to take a graduate seminar must complete and submit to the Center for
Renaissance Studies an online Graduate Seminar Enrollment Application, available on our web
page—even if they have enrolled in a course at their home institution.
Enrollment
Courses may accommodate up to 20 students, except for classes that need to incorporate showand-tell
sessions using Newberry special collections materials on parchment; in that case the
maximum number of participants is 13.
Teachers may cap enrollment at any number, within these limits. Places are assigned on a firstcome,
first-served basis and/or by consultation with the instructor.
Course Materials and Technology
The Newberry Library bookstore can order some books for students to purchase, although most
students now purchase books through other sources, often online. Please submit a list of books,
including ISBN numbers when possible, to the Center for Renaissance Studies at least two
months before the seminar begins.
60 West Walton Street Chicago, IL 60610 312.255.3514 renaissance@newberry.org

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The Newberry reference department can place Newberry books that students will be expected
to consult on a reserve shelf in the Main Reading Room on the second floor. Please submit class
reserve lists at least two weeks before the first class.
Center for Renaissance Studies staff will photocopy syllabi, bibliographies, reading coursepacks,
and other class materials.
Center staff can also arrange tours of the Newberry, orientation sessions with a reference
librarian, and “show and tell” sessions in Special Collections with rare books, manuscripts, maps,
and/or artifacts. NOTE: Dates for Special Collections visits must be reserved as far in advance
as possible, as they fill up quickly.
The Newberry can provide equipment for Powerpoint or slide presentations; reservations must
be made in advance.
60 West Walton Street Chicago, IL 60610 312.255.3514 renaissance@newberry.org