Guest Speaker Series - Art History Encounters presents The Politics of Power in Renaissance Venice

Power is exercised and articulated in a multitude of ways. This presentation will consider the way power dynamics in Renaissance Venice shaped relations between empires, social classes, religions, and between the sexes. The politics of power could be reinforced but also at times subverted, through political structures, the Church, social organizations, and artistic expression. Renaissance Venice offers an ideal context to explore the imposition of and resistance to authority with its imperial connections, its sophisticated political culture, its international communities, and its matchless beauty. Monica Chojnacka holds undergraduate degrees from Kalamazoo College and the London School of Economics and Political Science. She earned her Masters and Ph.D. in European History from Stanford University. She has taught for the University of Georgia, and the University of Maryland, and now lives full- time in Venice where she lectures frequently to University groups about Venetian and European history. She has published books and articles on Venetian history as well as a cookbook of Venetian cuisine.