Rome exhibits layers of history going back over two millennia—Etruscan tombs, Republican meeting rooms, imperial temples, early Christian churches, medieval bell towers, Renaissance palaces and baroque basilicas. In this city a phenomenal concentration of history, legend and monuments coexists with an equally phenomenal concentration of people busily going about their everyday lives. While tourists visit the Vatican, the Forum Romanum and the Trevi Fountain, many visitors often miss the many other sights that make the whole of Rome a museum—a living museum with a population of three million, with a vibrant culture.
The interdisciplinary Rome program utilizes the entire city as a classroom or studio. While the program is designed to immerse students fully in the experience of being in Rome, excursions will provide students a wider perspective on the history, culture and daily life of Italy as a whole. Students will live in furnished flats to provide an opportunity to practice Italian language skills and experience Roman daily life. Students are affiliated with the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci (SLdV), one of the leading language and culture schools in Italy.
All students will take four courses.
Italian Language and Culture (1 credit)
This course will build upon the foundation of Italian language study completed at HWS prior to the program. A variety of visits to local sites will complement in-class instruction and a series of "labs" will introduce students to various aspects of Italian culture and society. Students with more advanced Italian skills will be placed in an upper level class.
Imaging Rome (1 credit)
For as long as it has been around, Rome has been a city that captures the imagination. Over the millennia it has evolved from a few hills to an empire to a modern nation with the images and memories of these periods continually getting mobilized for different reasons: the Fascist appropriation of Rome as an imperial city is a case in point. This course is both an introduction to the images that painters, artists, and writers have created from the ancient to the modern period as much as it is a workshop in which students will have the opportunity to fashion their own image of the city. As part of our analysis, we will examine a wide variety of Roman representations in different media (visual, aural, written), using them as a window into the meaning of the city at particular periods in its long history.
Layers of Rome (1 credit)
Students in this course will encounter Rome as an enormous palimpsest – a manuscript page that has been erased and rewritten over the ages with layer after layer of words and images, fragments that show through the gaps.
The Sketchbook: Visual Notes and Analysis (1 credit)
When we walk around a city, how do we learn to know it through the slow, physical process of drawing? How do we know what is "Italian" and what is not when we observe contemporary designed objects, buildings, landscapes in Italy? From the park bench to the streetscape to the city plan, we will learn about the culture of design and design as a reflection of historical and contemporary Rome through drawing, using drawing as a means of thinking, observing, and discovering. Drawing is the primary skill gained and developed in this class, although the intellectual work of the class will be more advanced, dependent on readings about visual communication, representation, and drawing as an "old media" means of learning to understand and consider, a process more involved than simply looking and snapping pictures. This course will primarily use the sketchbook as a medium for drawing what we see, observe, and discuss. Everyone will learn basic drawing skills as part of the pre-departure orientation. Aptitude in any kind of drawing is NOT required or expected for enrollment or acceptance into this course.
Although the Rome program can accommodate students of many academic disciplines, the course offerings are geared primarily to those studying media and society, art history, aesthetics, arts and education, European studies and studio art. It may also be of interest to those pursuing architectural studies or modern languages. However, specific courses in a given semester will depend on the expertise of the faculty director(s) leading the program.
This program is open to all sophomores, juniors and seniors in good social and academic standing with a minimum GPA of 2.5. Students will be required to have successfully completed an intensive Italian language course along with a Reader's College orientation course during the fall semester preceding the program. Due to the challenging nature of study abroad, student academic and disciplinary records will be carefully screened.
Students reside in independent apartments while in Rome and will stay in hotels or hostels during excursions.
Program-related excursions vary from year to year depending on the courses offered and the interests of the faculty director(s). The program typically includes a combination of overnight excursions outside Rome, designed to provide students insight into other areas of the country, and day trips to important sites in and around Rome. Visits to Pompeii and Venice are tentatively planned for Spring 2012.
Students will be charged standard HWS tuition and room fee and a $550 administrative fee. This will cover credit for a four-course semester, all course-related expenses (including excursions) and housing. Students should plan to bring their board fee to Rome to cover meals. Additional expenses not covered include airfare, books, visa, and personal expenses (laundry, entertainment, ground transportation and independent travel). We estimate airfare for this program at $700-$800 from the East Coast, visa at $25 and books at $250. It is difficult to give an accurate estimate of personal expenses because student spending habits differ considerably. We would suggest a minimum of $1500 above and beyond meal expenses. However, students on a tight budget should be able to manage with less. If you are concerned about finances, we strongly encourage you to talk to the CGE staff who can offer information and advice based on your specific situation.
NOTE: The information above is subject to change. Please see the CGE for more information.
