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Loyola University Chicago John Felice Rome Center
Your Roman education adventure begins here.
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Professor Alexander Ever teaches his class in a museum in Rome

Fusion Programs

A unique learning experience: half in Rome and half elsewhere in Italy

The John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago welcomes you to Italy for a unique adventure this summer. Both Fusion Experiences combine content from two different subject areas, as well as theory with practice in two different regions of Italy (Rome, Lazio and Abruzzo or Sicily). The two class combinations have been intentionally selected so that the courses complement each other. Students will apply what is learned in the classroom to their  hands-on experiences in two different places, providing a comparative perspective. 

Summer 2024 marks the seventh year of the Fusion program, where students can choose one of two tracks:

  • Discovering Italy: Food, Wine & Photography of Rome and Abruzzo
  • Digging Up Sicily: Hidden Treasures and Lost Cities of the Ancient World

Students selecting a Fusion Experience will start and end at the JFRC campus, but travel to Abruzzo or Sicily for several weeks in the middle. Students are required to enroll in both classes that constitute a fusion experience. 

The two courses included in the Sicily Fusion program are CLST 334R: Introduction to Classical Archaeology and CLST 276: The World of Classical Rome. 

The two courses included in the Abruzzo Fusion program are FNAR 115: Foundations of Photography and LITR 268R Italian Culture Food & Wine

 

Gola di Sagittario photo walk with students

Benefits of a Fusion Experience

Students who choose the Fusion experience will take two classes connected to each experience from two different subject areas. These courses fuse theory with practice, as students will be applying what is learned in the classroom to out of the classroom, hands-on experiences. The program also fuses two different regions of Italy into one experience for a comparative perspective.

Learn More about the Summer Session

Option 1: Discovering Italy: Food, Wine & Photography of Rome and Abruzzo

This Fusion brings together photography and the food systems present in Italy today. In five weeks you will learn everything you have always wanted to know about the city of Rome, as well as one of Italy’s most beautiful regions: Abruzzo. Together we will explore the history, the culture, the customs, food systems and the cuisine of the city and countryside of Italy, and you are invited to explore and to see it all through a different lens – in the literal sense of the word. This “Fusion Experience” brings culture and digital photography together in one package. You will learn to observe and to record both the past and the present, and to appreciate the widest variety of flavors and tastes, to grasp culture and nature, and to understand how it has formed a city, a country, and its peoples throughout the centuries – until the present day!

building

JFRC Abruzzo Summer Fusion

Watch Video

After two and a half weeks in Rome, at the campus of the John Felice Rome Center, you will transfer to the breathtakingly beautiful region of Abruzzo. From there you will explore this spectacular part of Italy, learning about many aspects of life in the countryside, which is so rich in history and traditions, especially when it comes to food and wine.

While in Rome students will attend classes both at the JFRC and off campus in the city Rome. Together we will discover some of Rome’s most interesting neighborhoods (Testaccio, Trastevere, Esquillino, and the Jewish Quarter). Here you will learn the basics of photography and the food culture of Italy in general and more specifically of Rome.

Students take part in Shepherd for a Day hike in Abruzzo

After two weeks in Rome, we will travel to Abruzzo where we will be staying in a traditional agriturismo located near the small village of Anversa degli Abruzzi. During this time, we will be visiting various points of interest in the food and wine of the region. Activities in Abruzzo will include: a cheese making demonstration at La Porta dei Parchi’s dairy farm, a visit to chocolate factory Confettificio William Di Carlo, Casa Vinicola Pietrantoni winery and wine cellar, and a visit the Della Valle Olive Grove and Press. We will work as shepherds for a day, following the sheep up the mountain where they eat the fresh mountain herbs and grass. Students will also participate in several cooking classes where they will learn how to make pasta, traditional Abruzzese dishes, and examine the cultural and historical significance of these dishes. 

After ten days in Abruzzo, you will return to Rome with a private bus transfer. On returning to Rome we will regroup and review for the final before finishing the semester.  

FNAR - Foundations of Photography

The digital camera (and its accompanying online and software interface) is a documentary machine, an expressive device, and a useful instrument for examining the fusion experience in contemporary Italian culture. You will learn the proper and most effective use of the camera as an imaging device, and as an apparatus for surveying the historical and urban milieu of Rome, as well as its relationship to communities in Abruzzo. As crossroads of cultural, socio/historical and contemporary environments, Rome and Abruzzo will provide a rich territory of living and archival material with which to trace the networks of exchange that define these adjacent, ancient landscapes. Toward this end you will learn to frame, record, and compose photographic images, while exploring the documentary possibilities of the digital environment, including recording of historical and contemporary forms, and using images to convey content through visual narrative. In this class you will become familiar with how photographs are manufactured and processed in the camera, in the digital environment, in our culture and that of others, as well as how images are created and/or assembled to frame and present concepts and ideas. In addition, you will examine images and visual culture as framed by the Eternal City, and through its historical relationships to a medieval town in Abruzzo. 

 Taking pictures in the Gola del Sagittario

LITR 268R - Italian Culture: Food & Wine

Perhaps the best way to learn about the Italian people is to examine the history and culture of the country’s food and cooking traditions. By learning about urban and rural food systems, we will gain a greater understanding of Italy and Italians themselves. In this course students will analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments and points of view regarding food systems, food culture and history. 

In Rome we will examine the food of the Italy's capital city both in the past and present. Together we will look at urban foodways and how they are connected and disconnected from the countryside. In visiting several Roman neighborhoods we will examine several areas which have been critical in developing the foodways of Rome today. We will also spend time examining the spaces where food is grown and sold in the city: urban gardens, open-air markets and supermarkets. Together we will analyze the relationship between the city and the countryside in terms of food systems. 

When we travel to Abruzzo – in addition to witnessing first-hand the production of typical products: olive oil, pasta, cheese, chocolate, wine, etc – we will examine the specific traditions and history of the region’s food, taking special interest in the rural and agricultural space of region. This context will allow for a comparative analysis of the food culture of both Rome and Abruzzo, in addition to the urban and rural foodways of both places. Here students will appreciate the importance of being close to the production of the food and drink we consume.

 

Option 2: Digging Up Sicily: Hidden Treasures and Lost Cities of the Ancient World

In this unique Summer Program students will learn about the city of Rome – Umbilicus Mundi, the navel of the world, the centre of civilisation, by far the greatest city in Antiquity – and how it established itself as the world’s superpower in Classical Antiquity, occupying almost all the parts of the then-known world. The magnificent island of Sicily was Rome’s first colony outside Italy – its first step towards world domination.

This “Fusion Experience” of two courses will bring history and archaeology together in one package. Students will learn how essential it is to combine all the information available to them, whether it is in written records or hidden in the ground, in order to grasp a better understanding of our past – to be learnt today, to work towards a better future. Ancient sources and modern books will give them the text – with their own hands they will be able to dig up the actual context!

After two weeks in Rome, students will transfer to the island of Sicily, to the province of Ragusa, to Cífali Favarotta. There, they will be uncovering a Roman villa, which has its foundations in much earlier times, before the Romans discovered Sicily, and which continued right into the Middle Ages, beyond the Arab invasions, until Byzantium took control of the island. Many layers of history can be found in the Sicilian soil – but students will be looking for the times of Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. Students will be staying close to the archaeological site (and not far from the Sicilian beaches!) in a beautiful agriturismo – an old, converted farmstead, with all the modern comforts that one could possibly wish for after a day of digging up the past!

 

CLST 276 – The World of Classical Rome

The World of Classical Rome takes us on a journey – a journey through time. This course investigates the historical development of the Roman people through study of their history, politics, society and culture especially in the 1st centuries BC and AD, the turning points of Republican and Imperial Rome. The key objective of this course is to survey the history of Rome in the period of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, with some flirtations to earlier and later periods. Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge about the significant political, cultural and social accomplishments, events, institutions, trends, questions, and concerns, and the major figures of the age.

One of the main problems concerning the studies of Rome and of the Ancient World in general is always one of evidence. Also in this particular case one has to rely on biased, and often fragmented literary sources. Archaeology and epigraphy supplement the literary evidence, but also provide information that partly stands completely on its own. All the evidence has to be weighed with extreme care and consideration. At the end of this course, students are expected to be aware of all the problems and debates concerning a few key themes taken from this time span, and the sensitivities regarding the evidence at hand. They need to demonstrate an understanding of the working of historical mechanisms. They need to be able to evaluate and critically analyse this historical period, having acquired a set of skills to scrutinize the available source material. They need to demonstrate that they are able to comprehend, paraphrase, summarise, and contextualise both the primary sources and the discussions around them.

 

Students pose in front of vista in Sicily

 

CLST 334R – Introduction to Classical Archaeology

With special, though not exclusive, reference to the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, this course offers an updated appreciation of modern Archaeology with its scientific methodologies for the recovery, the interpretation and the presentation of the surviving evidence from the past. At the same time the students will have a chance to see a few key-points in the historical process that has brought our discipline to its present form. Beyond mass-myth and misconceptions, the course introduces and discusses fieldwork, finds, sites and museums as “tools” for research and knowledge, also in connection with the extremely complex problems met in the conservation and in the presentation of the evidence.

The students will be introduced to the complex methodologies used not only to protect and interpret archaeological “data” but also to transform them into historical reconstructions and eventually in understandable educational messages accessible both in sites and museums. In this context, reference will be made some widely debated problems like the “commodification” of Cultural Heritage or the use of it for stressing (or actually fabricating) collective identities.

This course will also guide the students to see how something like Archaeology was first born and how much mankind’s approach towards the past has changed, within the Mediterranean world, from ancient Greece to modern Europe. This overview of the historical processes of which modern Archaeology is the result will culminate with the truly exceptional case-study of our Roman villa in Sicily.

 

Students dig at archeological site in Sicily

This program gives students the opportunity to participate in the scientific methodologies of Archaeology.

Group of students dig at archeological site in Sicily

Students will participate in the recovery, interpretation and presentation of the surviving evidence from the past.

A unique learning experience: half in Rome and half elsewhere in Italy

The John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago welcomes you to Italy for a unique adventure this summer. Both Fusion Experiences combine content from two different subject areas, as well as theory with practice in two different regions of Italy (Rome, Lazio and Abruzzo or Sicily). The two class combinations have been intentionally selected so that the courses complement each other. Students will apply what is learned in the classroom to their  hands-on experiences in two different places, providing a comparative perspective. 

Summer 2024 marks the seventh year of the Fusion program, where students can choose one of two tracks:

  • Discovering Italy: Food, Wine & Photography of Rome and Abruzzo
  • Digging Up Sicily: Hidden Treasures and Lost Cities of the Ancient World

Students selecting a Fusion Experience will start and end at the JFRC campus, but travel to Abruzzo or Sicily for several weeks in the middle. Students are required to enroll in both classes that constitute a fusion experience. 

The two courses included in the Sicily Fusion program are CLST 334R: Introduction to Classical Archaeology and CLST 276: The World of Classical Rome. 

The two courses included in the Abruzzo Fusion program are FNAR 115: Foundations of Photography and LITR 268R Italian Culture Food & Wine

 

Option 1: Discovering Italy: Food, Wine & Photography of Rome and Abruzzo

This Fusion brings together photography and the food systems present in Italy today. In five weeks you will learn everything you have always wanted to know about the city of Rome, as well as one of Italy’s most beautiful regions: Abruzzo. Together we will explore the history, the culture, the customs, food systems and the cuisine of the city and countryside of Italy, and you are invited to explore and to see it all through a different lens – in the literal sense of the word. This “Fusion Experience” brings culture and digital photography together in one package. You will learn to observe and to record both the past and the present, and to appreciate the widest variety of flavors and tastes, to grasp culture and nature, and to understand how it has formed a city, a country, and its peoples throughout the centuries – until the present day!

After two and a half weeks in Rome, at the campus of the John Felice Rome Center, you will transfer to the breathtakingly beautiful region of Abruzzo. From there you will explore this spectacular part of Italy, learning about many aspects of life in the countryside, which is so rich in history and traditions, especially when it comes to food and wine.

While in Rome students will attend classes both at the JFRC and off campus in the city Rome. Together we will discover some of Rome’s most interesting neighborhoods (Testaccio, Trastevere, Esquillino, and the Jewish Quarter). Here you will learn the basics of photography and the food culture of Italy in general and more specifically of Rome.

Students take part in Shepherd for a Day hike in Abruzzo

After two weeks in Rome, we will travel to Abruzzo where we will be staying in a traditional agriturismo located near the small village of Anversa degli Abruzzi. During this time, we will be visiting various points of interest in the food and wine of the region. Activities in Abruzzo will include: a cheese making demonstration at La Porta dei Parchi’s dairy farm, a visit to chocolate factory Confettificio William Di Carlo, Casa Vinicola Pietrantoni winery and wine cellar, and a visit the Della Valle Olive Grove and Press. We will work as shepherds for a day, following the sheep up the mountain where they eat the fresh mountain herbs and grass. Students will also participate in several cooking classes where they will learn how to make pasta, traditional Abruzzese dishes, and examine the cultural and historical significance of these dishes. 

After ten days in Abruzzo, you will return to Rome with a private bus transfer. On returning to Rome we will regroup and review for the final before finishing the semester.  

FNAR - Foundations of Photography

The digital camera (and its accompanying online and software interface) is a documentary machine, an expressive device, and a useful instrument for examining the fusion experience in contemporary Italian culture. You will learn the proper and most effective use of the camera as an imaging device, and as an apparatus for surveying the historical and urban milieu of Rome, as well as its relationship to communities in Abruzzo. As crossroads of cultural, socio/historical and contemporary environments, Rome and Abruzzo will provide a rich territory of living and archival material with which to trace the networks of exchange that define these adjacent, ancient landscapes. Toward this end you will learn to frame, record, and compose photographic images, while exploring the documentary possibilities of the digital environment, including recording of historical and contemporary forms, and using images to convey content through visual narrative. In this class you will become familiar with how photographs are manufactured and processed in the camera, in the digital environment, in our culture and that of others, as well as how images are created and/or assembled to frame and present concepts and ideas. In addition, you will examine images and visual culture as framed by the Eternal City, and through its historical relationships to a medieval town in Abruzzo. 

 Taking pictures in the Gola del Sagittario

LITR 268R - Italian Culture: Food & Wine

Perhaps the best way to learn about the Italian people is to examine the history and culture of the country’s food and cooking traditions. By learning about urban and rural food systems, we will gain a greater understanding of Italy and Italians themselves. In this course students will analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments and points of view regarding food systems, food culture and history. 

In Rome we will examine the food of the Italy's capital city both in the past and present. Together we will look at urban foodways and how they are connected and disconnected from the countryside. In visiting several Roman neighborhoods we will examine several areas which have been critical in developing the foodways of Rome today. We will also spend time examining the spaces where food is grown and sold in the city: urban gardens, open-air markets and supermarkets. Together we will analyze the relationship between the city and the countryside in terms of food systems. 

When we travel to Abruzzo – in addition to witnessing first-hand the production of typical products: olive oil, pasta, cheese, chocolate, wine, etc – we will examine the specific traditions and history of the region’s food, taking special interest in the rural and agricultural space of region. This context will allow for a comparative analysis of the food culture of both Rome and Abruzzo, in addition to the urban and rural foodways of both places. Here students will appreciate the importance of being close to the production of the food and drink we consume.

 

Option 2: Digging Up Sicily: Hidden Treasures and Lost Cities of the Ancient World

In this unique Summer Program students will learn about the city of Rome – Umbilicus Mundi, the navel of the world, the centre of civilisation, by far the greatest city in Antiquity – and how it established itself as the world’s superpower in Classical Antiquity, occupying almost all the parts of the then-known world. The magnificent island of Sicily was Rome’s first colony outside Italy – its first step towards world domination.

This “Fusion Experience” of two courses will bring history and archaeology together in one package. Students will learn how essential it is to combine all the information available to them, whether it is in written records or hidden in the ground, in order to grasp a better understanding of our past – to be learnt today, to work towards a better future. Ancient sources and modern books will give them the text – with their own hands they will be able to dig up the actual context!

After two weeks in Rome, students will transfer to the island of Sicily, to the province of Ragusa, to Cífali Favarotta. There, they will be uncovering a Roman villa, which has its foundations in much earlier times, before the Romans discovered Sicily, and which continued right into the Middle Ages, beyond the Arab invasions, until Byzantium took control of the island. Many layers of history can be found in the Sicilian soil – but students will be looking for the times of Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. Students will be staying close to the archaeological site (and not far from the Sicilian beaches!) in a beautiful agriturismo – an old, converted farmstead, with all the modern comforts that one could possibly wish for after a day of digging up the past!

 

CLST 276 – The World of Classical Rome

The World of Classical Rome takes us on a journey – a journey through time. This course investigates the historical development of the Roman people through study of their history, politics, society and culture especially in the 1st centuries BC and AD, the turning points of Republican and Imperial Rome. The key objective of this course is to survey the history of Rome in the period of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, with some flirtations to earlier and later periods. Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge about the significant political, cultural and social accomplishments, events, institutions, trends, questions, and concerns, and the major figures of the age.

One of the main problems concerning the studies of Rome and of the Ancient World in general is always one of evidence. Also in this particular case one has to rely on biased, and often fragmented literary sources. Archaeology and epigraphy supplement the literary evidence, but also provide information that partly stands completely on its own. All the evidence has to be weighed with extreme care and consideration. At the end of this course, students are expected to be aware of all the problems and debates concerning a few key themes taken from this time span, and the sensitivities regarding the evidence at hand. They need to demonstrate an understanding of the working of historical mechanisms. They need to be able to evaluate and critically analyse this historical period, having acquired a set of skills to scrutinize the available source material. They need to demonstrate that they are able to comprehend, paraphrase, summarise, and contextualise both the primary sources and the discussions around them.

 

Students pose in front of vista in Sicily

 

CLST 334R – Introduction to Classical Archaeology

With special, though not exclusive, reference to the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, this course offers an updated appreciation of modern Archaeology with its scientific methodologies for the recovery, the interpretation and the presentation of the surviving evidence from the past. At the same time the students will have a chance to see a few key-points in the historical process that has brought our discipline to its present form. Beyond mass-myth and misconceptions, the course introduces and discusses fieldwork, finds, sites and museums as “tools” for research and knowledge, also in connection with the extremely complex problems met in the conservation and in the presentation of the evidence.

The students will be introduced to the complex methodologies used not only to protect and interpret archaeological “data” but also to transform them into historical reconstructions and eventually in understandable educational messages accessible both in sites and museums. In this context, reference will be made some widely debated problems like the “commodification” of Cultural Heritage or the use of it for stressing (or actually fabricating) collective identities.

This course will also guide the students to see how something like Archaeology was first born and how much mankind’s approach towards the past has changed, within the Mediterranean world, from ancient Greece to modern Europe. This overview of the historical processes of which modern Archaeology is the result will culminate with the truly exceptional case-study of our Roman villa in Sicily.