We are the Renaissance
What can be said about the European Renaissance?
Renaissance is a French term meaning “rebirth,” from the Italian rinascimento, the Latin ri “again” and nascere “be born,” according to an online resource we like to call Wikipedia.
Well, that sounds pretty succinct and dry. Let’s put some meat on those bones.
The European Renaissance was a time of new beginnings. Out with the old, in with the new. The complacency of men was at an end. At least, it was for some. The good ol’ days of doing one job for one’s bread and butter were over.
This doesn’t mean that everyone was able to quit their day jobs. No, they still needed theologians, literary figures, scientists and philosophers. Those men didn’t just up and quit en masse. Relatively speaking, few men transcended their positions to become what we now call renaissance men. These men combined all of these pursuits and more. They were intrigued by and conquered multiple difficult subjects all for a better understanding of the world they lived in.
I like to call these men Polymaths. I think the term fits better. A polymath is someone who excels in more than one area, typically intellectually. A polymath is not a dilettante. A dilettante dabbles and becomes a “jack of all trades, master of none,” as the saying goes. Polymaths are, at the very least, master of a few and fairly superior in a few more. No doubt, you’ve heard of a few of them in your own time.
If I had an ounce of the intellectual prowess these men possessed and a tenth of their focus, I too could become a great figure in the annals of history. But, wait! Can’t I anyway? Don’t I have the ability to apply myself, focus and learn what I need to accomplish my goals? Isn’t that what they did?
As a graduate student, this should be the goal of every one of us. We aren’t just candidates for a Master in Information and Communication Science. No, we are candidates for a Master in Information and Communication Sciences, with an s. The very sentiment of that statement is that we are here to become knowledgeable in more than one area. We are to become, in respect, polymaths.
The European Renaissance may be over, but for us, we select few, we have the opportunity to apply ourselves and become our own renaissance men and women in today’s world, the here and now. Don’t we owe it to ourselves, at least, to become someone more than we were? We’ve been dilettantes in the past. Undergraduate, anyone? We’ve had our passing interests. We’ve dabbled here and there. Now is the time to become masters.
We are the next generation of renaissance men and women.