Location:

Rome, Italy

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Summer

Program Overview

Program Description:

This is a four-week, one-course summer program (offered only on odd-numbered years) in the city of Rome and on the Bay of Naples in Italy. The program invites participants of all backgrounds to discover and explore monuments and other material remains substantiating ancient Roman history and culture, and to reflect on the influence of the ancient Roman world up to the modern day. Although some background in Latin, Roman history, and/or Italian art and archaeology is a plus, the course is designed to give any student a firm understanding of Roman civilization and its significance to Western and American culture.

This course, Rome: History of the City, examines the history of the Roman city, especially the city of Rome, from the earliest times to the present day. Rome is prominent as one of the supreme centers of urban culture in the western world. Here, as nowhere else, one can read a continuous record of the successive rises, declines, and re-emergences of the city in its Italian context and as a central expression of our civilization. In this course, students will experience the history of the city directly and personally through walking lectures and guided tours of major sites, monuments, and museums. Visits to other ancient sites in Italy help students discern Roman urban realities and ideals. The sites themselves function as "text"; students experience and analyze Rome and other cities in a "hands-on" fashion that cannot be duplicated in the classroom.

Setting Description:

All teaching is on site at archaeological sites, museums, re-purposed ancient buildings such as churches, and “restored” classical monuments. The program begins in the Bay of Naples to investigate Pompeii, Herculaneum and other well-preserved sites. The second part of the course is based in Rome itself. Day trips include Capri, Naples, Paestum, Benevento, and Ostia. Students will learn from one another as well as the faculty and sites, and emphasis will be on making connections among monuments, eras, and cultures.

Cost:

See website for details.