Kenneth R. Bartlett

Kenneth R. Bartlett (born 1948) is a Renaissance historian, author, and professor at the University of Toronto, where he earned his Ph.D. degree in 1978.[1] He was editor of Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme from 1985 until 1990 and President of the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies from 1982 until 1984. Prof. Bartlett was the Founding Director of the University of Toronto Art Centre, and sat on the Board of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art from 2001-2015. He was the Director of Faculty Programs in Arts and Science for 13 years, and in 2002 he was named the first Director of the Office of Teaching Advancement for the University of Toronto, a position he enjoyed until 2009.[2]

Professor Bartlett currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at the university as Professor of History and Renaissance Studies (Victoria College) and is cross-appointed to the Department of Fine Art [3] and the Centre for Medieval Studies.[4]

As a consultant in faculty development, he has contributed to programs for the University of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman, and Capital University of Business and Economics, Beijing. His consultancy in fine art includes work for public institutions and private collectors. In 2002 he was co-curator of the exhibition “Gods, Saints, and Heroes: Italian Renaissance Maiolica from the Metropolitan Museum,” at the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. He was a consultant for the exhibition “Raphael and His Circle: Drawings from Windsor Castle” for the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in 2000. And two years earlier he was a contributor to the AGO audioguide for the exhibition, “Angels From the Vatican."

Outside of his academic work within the University of Toronto, Professor Bartlett leads cultural tours to Europe with his wife, Gillian, through their business, Bartlett Cultural Connections.[5] He is in demand as a lecturer for such organizations as One Day University,[6] Artful Dining,[7] and ArtEmbassy.[8] He has also appeared frequently on television for such programs as Museum Secrets,[9] The Naked Archaeologist,[10] and History Erased: A World Without Italy.[11]

Professor Bartlett is best known internationally for his 5 video courses prepared for The Great Courses, [12] the most popular of which his is his series of 36 half-hour lectures entitled "The Guide to Essential Italy," developed in conjunction with the Smithsonian.[13] He was also the star of the first ever virtual reality travel tour—a half-hour visit to Venice produced as a joint collaboration by The Great Courses, The Smithsonian, and Oculus [14]