Course descriptions: summer 2009
Students attending the Rome Center Summer Session must select two courses (6 semester hours) from the following offerings.
- Classical Studies: Classical Civilization
- Communication
- English
- Fine Arts
- History
- International Film and Media Studies
- International Studies
- Italian Language
- Italian Literature in Translation
- Medieval Studies
- Peace Studies
- Rome Studies
- Theology
Classical Studies: Classical Civilization
CLST 307 Art of the Roman World (FNAR 337)
This course is an introduction to the art of the Roman world from c. 3000 B.C.E. to c. the fifth century CE. It focuses on major trends and developments in Etruscan, Roman and later Greek art, including architecture, painting, mosaic, and sculpture through close study of individual examples. (Lavelle)
Outcome: Students should be able to recognize and be able to interpret selected examples of ancient Roman art, including painting, mosaic, sculpture, architecture, and other types; they will be able to apply their art-critical and ¿appreciation skills to other types of art.
CLST 390 Fieldwork in Greek Sites and Museums [one semester hour]
The course is an introduction to the civilization of ancient Greece through visits to important sites in the country and the study of significant artifacts of art and architecture associated with. Among the sites that that students could visit are Athens, Mycenae, Sparta, Olympia, and Delphi. The purpose of the course is to offer students essential acquaintance with and understanding of the history, art and culture of ancient Greece. The chronology of the course is from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity, but the focus of the course will be primarily on Classical Greece. (Lavelle)
This one semester hour course will take place at the conclusion of the five-week session. Students will travel from Rome to Athens for the week (06/20 - 6/27) to visit the scheduled sites and museums. Students are responsible for all expenses related to this course, including the additional credit hour of tuition ($580).
Communication
CMUN 268 International Advertising and Communication
This course will build an understanding of the cultural, language, social, national and business factors that drive international advertising. A key outcome is to broaden student perspectives on how organizations communicate with Italian and other international audiences. (Ritchell)
English
ENGL 289 Society in Literature: Catholic Writers in Rome
This course will focus on four Catholic American writers of the 20th century: Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O’Connor, and Walker Percy. Using Paul Elie’s book, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, the course traces how these prominent artists and intellectuals, steeped in the modernist/postmodernist concerns of their era, find in Roman Catholicism a philosophical, aesthetic, and ultimately imaginative hermeneutic for their art and their own pilgrimage of faith. To this end, we will read how Elie weaves a story about 20th century conversions that are both religious and literary. We will correlate these artists and their work to four fundamental “Catholic” tendencies that help situate how the Catholic expression of aesthetics becomes central to their art. Finally we will both imbibe and discuss how the art of Rome and the Church of Rome historically illustrates these Catholic tendencies. Rome will be thus not only the background for the course, but the lived experience of a religious and artistic culture that informed these writers. (Bosco, SJ)
Fine Arts
FNAR 394 Special Topics in Art History: Architecture in Rome (ROST 390)
The framework for this course is a survey of Rome's architectural urban history from classical antiquity to the beginning of Industrialization in the 18th century. The development of what the Romans built for almost 2000 years will begin during Republican Rome and continue until the Romantic period. This course will relate the evolving process of architectural creations during the Early Christian, Renaissance and Baroque periods and connect visual and literary associations with the classical past and modern Rome. (White)
FNAR 394 Special Topics in Art History: Caravaggio
(Kopsiafti)
HIST 335 Italy in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (INTS 335 / ROST 335)
This course studies the political, social, religious, economic, and intellectual currents in Italy from the defeat of Napoleon to the present. (Wingenter) Writing Intensive
International Film & Media Studies
IFMS 297 Narrative Filmmaking in Rome
A hands-on introduction to writing, directing, and editing the short film. Students participate in the development, production, direction, and post-production of a short subject up to ten minutes in length. The class has no prerequisites, and includes a field trip to Rome's famed Cinecitta film studio. (Martini)
Note: Students will share camera and editing equipment to make their films, but any students who own small digital cameras and/or a laptop that has editing equipment on it are encouraged to bring those to Rome for this course.
International StudiesMedieval Studies
MSTU 364/ITAL 312 Dante and the Medieval World Readings from Dante's Divine Comedy and the Vita Nuova. Emphasis on Dante and the idea of Rome with a special (optional) visit to the Dante museum and other sites during trip to Florence. (Corsi)
Modern Languages & Literatures: Italian
- ITAL 101 Italian I
- For students with no previous study of Italian. Introduction to the basic elements that will enable the student to develop communicative skills and a fundamental knowledge of the Italian people, their language and their culture. (Corsi, Schwarten)
- ITAL 102 Italian II
- Prerequisite: ITAL 101
This course continues the introduction to the basic grammatical elements of Italian, promoting the further development of listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skills while examining the geography and culture of Italy. (LaFranco)
Outcome: Students will be able to understand and write basic Italian sentences and to produce orally and in writing short sentences providing basic personal information about themselves, their activities and plans in Italian.- ITAL 103 Italian III Prerequisite: ITAL 102
This course examines more complex grammatical elements of Italian, and promotes the development of intermediate listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skills. (Schwarten)
Outcome: Students will be able to understand and write more complex Italian sentences and paragraphs, and to produce orally and in writing paragraphs and longer pieces providing accounts of their present past and future activities, and oral and written reactions to Italian cultural products.
ITAL 312 / MSTU 364 Dante- Readings from Dante's Divine Comedy and the Vita Nuova. Emphasis on Dante and the idea of Rome with a special (optional) visit to the Dante museum and other sites during trip to Florence. (Corsi)
- LITR 283 / INTS 283 Dante and the Medieval World
- Readings from Dante's Divine Comedy and the Vita Nuova. Emphasis on Dante and the idea of Rome with a special (optional) visit to the Dante museum and other sites during trip to Florence. (Corsi)
- Outcome: Students will acquire the means for comprehending Dante's epic poem and minor works and will demonstrate the ability to analyze such elements of a narrative poem as plot, character, or thematic development. In addition, they will be taught to consider the complex relation of the events referred to in the poem in the late medieval religious-cultural-historical context. Core choice: Literary Knowledge and Experience.
Peace Studies
PAX 397 Topics in Peace Studies: Human Rights - the View from Rome (ROST 390)
Theory, actuality and application of select human rights issues in the Mediterranean region as viewed from the perspective of Rome. This course includes a 24-hour community service requirement beyond the weekly class sessions. Each student will be placed with a Rome-based non-governmental organization (NGO), the equivalent of a non-profit agency in the United States. The primary objective of this course is for students to better understand the context of their service work in Italy by studying social and political issues affecting Rome and the Mediterranean region. Moreover, in the Jesuit tradition of educating the whole person, each class session will incorporate readings and creative methods to assist students in reflecting on their personal strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview. Through analysis of and reflection on one's service work in Rome, broader applications may be made to Italy in general, a country in the heart of the Mediterranean at the doorstep of the Middle East, the Balkans, and North Africa. A few of the themes to be addressed in this course are: the illegal trafficking of humans from the Balkans and Africa, Italy's stance toward immigration in the face of its declining birth rate, the racism encountered by even legal immigrants to Italy, and the influence of Islam in the Mediterranean region. (Chandler, SJ)
Note: This is a service-learning course and requires commitment in the Italian community.
Rome Studies
ROST 390 Special Topics: Architecture in Rome (FNAR 394)
The framework for this course is a survey of Rome's architectural urban history from classical antiquity to the beginning of Industrialization in the 18th century. The development of what the Romans built for almost 2000 years will begin during Republican Rome and continue until the Romantic period. This course will relate the evolving process of architectural creations during the Early Christian, Renaissance and Baroque periods and connect visual and literary associations with the classical past and modern Rome. (White)
ROST 390 Special Topics: Human Rights - the View from Rome (PAX 397)
Theory, actuality and application of select human rights issues in the Mediterranean region as viewed from the perspective of Rome. This course includes a 24-hour community service requirement beyond the weekly class sessions. Each student will be placed with a Rome-based non-governmental organization (NGO), the equivalent of a non-profit agency in the United States. The primary objective of this course is for students to better understand the context of their service work in Italy by studying social and political issues affecting Rome and the Mediterranean region. Moreover, in the Jesuit tradition of educating the whole person, each class session will incorporate readings and creative methods to assist students in reflecting on their personal strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview. Through analysis of and reflection on one's service work in Rome, broader applications may be made to Italy in general, a country in the heart of the Mediterranean at the doorstep of the Middle East, the Balkans, and North Africa. A few of the themes to be addressed in this course are: the illegal trafficking of humans from the Balkans and Africa, Italy's stance toward immigration in the face of its declining birth rate, the racism encountered by even legal immigrants to Italy, and the influence of Islam in the Mediterranean region. (Chandler, SJ)
Note: This is a service-learning course and requires commitment in the Italian community.
Theology
THEO 180 Interdisciplinary Topics: Christian Backgrounds and Beginnings

