This course explores drama and performance culture in Renaissance Italy (1350-1650). Students explore a variety of dramaturgical genres (e.g., comedy, tragedy, pastoral drama, and commedia dell'arte) to answer this question: How did Renaissance Italians represent, question, and subvert issues related to identity and difference on stage? Assigned readings feature works by Niccolò Machiavelli, Isabella Andreini, and Pietro Aretino, and class discussion will focus on topics such as the history of gender and sexuality, social class, ethnicity and race, disability, and aging.