The MA in the History and Culture of the Dutch Golden Age is an interdisciplinary programme designed to give students a thorough understanding of the political, economic and social fabric of the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic, its intellectual atmosphere, and its varied artistic and literary products and conventions. A reading knowledge of Dutch is essential. The programme is taught on an interdepartmental basis. Students follow three core courses, on the history, art history, and literature of the Dutch Golden Age.
Teaching takes the form of lectures, small-group seminars and individual tutorials.
In addition, students prepare a dissertation in the form of a substantial report on an approved topic linking the different subjects covered in the taught courses. The course covers the political, economic, social and intellectual history of the Netherlands from the foundation of the independent Republic to the time of William and Mary. It includes such topics as the emergence of the Dutch Republic as a major European power, the Dutch expansion overseas, the country's political, philosophical and religious controversies, its constitutional structure and economic primacy. This course explores the stunning richness of Dutch seventeenth-century art, from Van Mander to Rembrandt and from Heemskerck to Vermeer. While the main focus is on the individual works and genres and their interpretation, attention is also paid to contemporary writings on art theory and to the social and economic context of the production and consumption of art in the Dutch Republic.