Early Modern Studies

Understand how we got here

Many of the fundamental ideas about our world today were shaped centuries ago. Between the 16th and early 19th centuries, thinkers and artists built some of the intellectual and cultural foundations of the modern world. In the Early Modern Studies Program you:

Explore the historical impact of European culture
Encounter ground-breaking art and artists like Shakespeare, Mozart and Michelangelo
Examine issues surrounding gender and race in early modern history, philosophy, literature, political thought, science, and the visual arts
Think critically about colonialism, and the impact of interactions between Europe and the wider world
Assess the significance of witchcraft, vampires, and maritime piracy in the early modern period
Learn about how shifting ideas about religion and science changed the way we understand our place in the universe.

Find out what’s new in the program

EMSP+ News & Events Courses

Summer 2022 Reading List

Study abroad in Florence

An optional month-long, Early Modern studies course taught in Florence, Italy, lets you consider the art, literature, philosophical and politics of Early Modern Italy (1280-1580) through daily visits to the city’s churches, places and museums.

Find out more

Publish your work

Babel is an interdisciplinary academic journal written, edited, and published annually by the Early Modern Studies Students’ Society. The first group of Babel editors would surely never have guessed that their successors in 2021 would be putting this journal together from three different provinces, at the end of an entire year of remote learning. However, this year’s Babel is a testament to that passion and perseverance. It’s also a demonstration of the breadth of the Early Modern Studies program and society; there are papers from every year at King’s, from two FYP papers to papers from students in their final year, and the papers cover topics ranging from philosophy to Shakespeare to dye production.

Read the latest volume

Course Requirements

Combined Honours

An EMSP student is required to take the program’s three core course doublets:

EMSP 2001.03 & EMSP 2002.03 (or EMSP 2000.06)
EMSP 3001.03 & EMSP 3002.03 (or EMSP 3000.06)
EMSP 4001.03 & EMSP 4002.03 (or EMSP 4000.06)

plus at least six credit hours EMSP electives.

The requirements for the second honours subject are dependent on that department, and vary from program to program. Early Modern Studies Program students may fulfil the honours requirement in either of the two honours subjects. Usually this subject will be the one in which the student has taken more classes. In the Early Modern Studies Program, completion of the Honours Seminar (EMSP 4501.03 & EMSP 4502.03) fulfils the requirement of the honours qualifying examination; alternatively, with the approval of the director, an honours thesis (in conjunction with EMSP 4551.03 & EMSP 4552.03) also fulfil the requirement of the honours qualifying examination. Both the Honours Thesis and Honours Seminar are full-year classes. They are normally taken as part of a regular course load.

MINOR

You can take a minor in EMSP to complement your degree. Engage in an interdisciplinary exploration of the birth of the modern world.

Complete a minimum of 18 credit hours to a maximum of 27 credit hours including:

One of the core course doublets:
- EMSP 2001.03 & EMSP 2002.03 (or EMSP 2000.06)
  *Both EMSP 2001.03 & EMSP 2002.03 must normally be taken in the same academic year to meet this requirement.
- EMSP 3001.03 & EMSP 3002.03 (or EMSP 3000.06)
  *Both EMSP 3001.03 & EMSP 3002.03 must normally be taken in the same academic year to meet this requirement.
- EMSP 4001.03 & EMSP 4002.03 (or EMSP 4000.06)
  *Both EMSP 4001.03 & EMSP 4002.03 must normally be taken in the same academic year to meet this requirement.
6 credit hours at the 3000 or 4000 level. EMSP 3001.03 & EMSP 3002.03 (or EMSP 3000.06) OR EMSP 4001.03 & EMSP 4002.03 (or EMSP 4000.06) will also fulfill this requirement).
6 credit hours at any level.

Explore courses

Core Courses

: Structures of the Modern Self I; EMSP 2001.03

Fall; Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

: Structures of the Modern Self II; EMSP 2002.03

Winter; Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

: Humanity, Nature, and Environment in the Early Modern Period I: Renaissance to the Age of Reason; EMSP 3001.03

Fall; Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

: Humanity, Nature, and Environment in the Early Modern Period II: Enlightenment to Romanticism; EMSP 3002.03

Winter; Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

: Conceptions of State, Society and Revolution in the Early Modern Period I; EMSP 4001.03

Fall; Frazee Room

TR 1005-1125

: Conceptions of State, Society and Revolution in the Early Modern Period II; EMSP 4002.03

Winter; Frazee Room

TR 1005-1125

Electives

: Structures of the Modern Self I; EMSP 2001.03

Fall; Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

: Structures of the Modern Self II; EMSP 2002.03

Winter; Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

: Violence and Wonder: Baroque Art; EMSP 2215.03 / EURO 2101.03

Fall; Online/Synchronous

TR 1005 - 1125

: Women Artists in Early Modern Europe; EMSP 2216.03/GWST 2216.03

Winter; Classroom 1

MW 1005-1125

: Picture and Poetry in Early Modern Culture; EMSP 2230.03

Winter; Scotiabank Room

MW 1605-1725

: Women and Gender in Early Modern Science; EMSP 2310.03/GWST 2310/HSTC 2310

Fall; Archibald Room

TR 1305-1425

: The Vampire: Modernity and the Undead; EMSP 2313.03/CTMP 2313.03

Fall; KTS Lecture Hall

T 1735-2025

: Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe; EMSP 2320.03/GWST 2320.03/RELS 2320.03

Winter; Alumni Hall

Lecture: T 1735-1925

Tutorial 1: T 1935-2025 Alumni Hall

Tutorial 2: T 1935-2025 Archibald Room

Tutorial 3: T 1935-2025 Classroom 1

Tutorial 4: R 1735-1825 Archibald Room

Tutorial 5: R 1735-1825 KTS

: The Origins of Science Fiction in Early Modern Europe; EMSP 2340.03/HSTC 2340.03

Winter; Scotiabank Room

TR 1305-1425

: Magic, Science and the Occult: from Antiquity to Postmodernity; HSTC 2120.03/EMSP 2360.03/HIST 2990.03/RELS 2120.03

Fall; KTS Lecture Hall

MW 1135-1255

: Imagining the Other: Non-Human People and the Environment; EMSP2410.03

Winter; Scotiabank Room

M 1735-2025

: The Pirate and Piracy; EMSP 2480.03/HIST 2750.03

Winter; KTS Lecture Hall

TR 1305-1425

: Ideas of the Sea and Seafaring: Intercultural Perspectives; EMSP 2490.03/CTMP 2207.03/HSTC 2220.03

Fall; KTS Lecture Hall

TR 1305-1425

: Humanity, Nature, and Environment in the Early Modern Period I: Renaissance to the Age of Reason; EMSP 3001.03

Fall; Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

: Humanity, Nature, and Environment in the Early Modern Period II: Enlightenment to Romanticism; EMSP 3002.03

Winter; Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

: The Ideal World of Enlightenment: Desire and Freedom; CTMP3110.03/EMSP3210.03

Fall; Frazee Room

T 1735-2025

: The Real World of Enlightenment: Time and History; CTMP3115.03/EMSP3220.03

Winter; Frazee Room

T 1735-2025

: Love, Lust and Desire in Italian Renaissance Art; EMSP 3280.03/GWST 3280.03

Fall; KTS Lecture Hall

MW 1005-1125

: In Search of the Philosopher's Stone: The History of European Alchemy; HSTC3121.03/EMSP3321.03 / HIST3990.03 / RELS3121.03

Winter; Archibald Room

TR 1005-1125

: Science and Religion: Historical Perspectives; HSTC 3200.03 / EMSP 3330.03 / RELS 3200.03 / HIST 3075.03

Fall; Classroom 1

TR 1605-1725

: Theories of Punishment; EMSP 3430.03/CTMP 3170.03

Fall; Online/Asynchronous

: Conceptions of State, Society and Revolution in the Early Modern Period I; EMSP 4001.03

Fall; Frazee Room

TR 1005-1125

: Conceptions of State, Society and Revolution in the Early Modern Period II; EMSP 4002.03

Winter; Frazee Room

TR 1005-1125

Honours Thesis & Colloquium

: Early Modern Studies Honours Thesis; EMSP 4551.03 and EMSP 4552.03

Fall

Winter; Scotiabank Room, NAB

Cross-Cultural Encounters with the Islamic World

Ideas of the Sea

Dalhousie Selectives

Students enrolled in the Combined Honours or Minor program in EMSP can opt to have a maximum of one 3-credit hour “selective” course at Dalhousie University to count toward the EMSP part of their degree. The Registrar’s Office at King’s should be notified if students wish to pursue this option. Not all selectives are offered each year. Please consult the current timetable for this year’s offering.

Early Modern Studies

Understand how we got here

Find out what’s new in the program

Study abroad in Florence

Publish your work

Course Requirements

Combined Honours

MINOR

Core Courses

Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

Frazee Room

TR 1005-1125

Frazee Room

TR 1005-1125

Electives

Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

Scotiabank Room

TR 1435-1555

Online/Synchronous

TR 1005 - 1125

Classroom 1

MW 1005-1125

Scotiabank Room

MW 1605-1725

Archibald Room

TR 1305-1425

KTS Lecture Hall

T 1735-2025

Alumni Hall

Lecture: T 1735-1925

Tutorial 1: T 1935-2025 Alumni Hall

Tutorial 2: T 1935-2025 Archibald Room

Tutorial 3: T 1935-2025 Classroom 1

Tutorial 4: R 1735-1825 Archibald Room

Tutorial 5: R 1735-1825 KTS

Scotiabank Room

TR 1305-1425

KTS Lecture Hall

MW 1135-1255

Scotiabank Room

M 1735-2025

KTS Lecture Hall

TR 1305-1425

KTS Lecture Hall

TR 1305-1425

Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

Archibald Room

M 1235-1425

W 1235-1325

Frazee Room

T 1735-2025

Frazee Room

T 1735-2025

KTS Lecture Hall

MW 1005-1125