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You are invited to join Professor Henry Staten of the UW Department of English
on a quarter-long journey through literature, art, architecture, history, and
culture. Learn some Italian, become intimate with the streets and museums of
Rome, visit Florence and Venice. No prior Italian language required. The Rome
Program combines courses, on-site visits, and the experience of living in the
center of Rome within walking distance of the Forum, the Coliseum, the Vatican,
and the best open air market in Rome. English majors and non-majors are all welcome.
Students in the program will earn 15 credits and will maintain their UW residency and any financial aid eligibility already established. Credits earned will be recorded on students’ UW transcripts and apply directly to UW graduation requirements.
There are two core courses: “Special Studies in Poetry: Virgil and Dante,” taught by Professor Henry Staten of the UW Department of English and “Literature and the Other Arts & Disciplines: Renaissance Art & Culture in Rome, Florence, and Venice,” taught by Professor Ricardo de Mambro Santos of the UW Rome Center. The courses complement and reinforce each other. Reading and travel, journals and on-site visits are basic to both courses. In addition, students will complete an individual project for 2-credits of Independent Study and a 3-credit Italian language course (prior knowledge of Italian is not required for the program, though of course it could be useful).
During the first half of the quarter we will read Virgil’s Aeneid. Virgil was the greatest poet of ancient Rome; his epic poem, which became central to the education of the Roman ruling class in later centuries, recounts the legend of how Rome was founded by the hero Aeneas after Aeneas escaped from burning Troy. We will spend the rest of the quarter on The Divine Comedy of Dante. Dante’s regard for Virgil was so great that, despite the fact that Virgil was a pagan, he gave him a very special place in the Christian afterlife. When Dante enters hell, he encounters the ghost of Virgil, who then guides him down into and finally out of hell and up through purgatory, with the two carrying on a fascinating dialogue the entire way. Of particular interest to us will be the way in which in this poem Dante conceives the relation of the new, Christian Rome to the ancient Roman Empire. These two poems span the period from ancient Rome to Renaissance Italy, and our study of them will be the basis for our explorations of the history and culture of Rome. (Meets Forms and Genres OR Senior Capstone requirement for English majors.)
Due to its close association with the study – and in certain cases the “rediscovery” – of ancient art, Rome played a central role in the process of codification and diffusion of the new Renaissance visual vocabulary, a role also played by Florence and Venice, respectively, in the early fifteenth and in the late sixteenth centuries. This course will explore the multiple aspects of Renaissance art and culture and the peculiarity of the arts produced in Rome, Florence, and Venice, giving particular attention to the analysis and contemporary reception of artists like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. Through the use of contemporary textual sources, such as Leonardo’s “Book of Painting,” Giorgio Vassari’s “Lives of the most excellent artists” or Michelangelo’s poems, it will be possible to examine the very concept of “artistic creation” as a chain of practical and intellectual activities not only individually motivated but also historically grounded, linguistically codified and socially determined. Given the unique opportunity of being in Rome or visiting Florence and Venice while undertaking the study of Renaissance art, the course will be articulated in two complementary kinds of lessons: a lecture-based series of meetings followed by group discussions and an extensive number of visits to sites particularly significant as examples of Renaissance art and architecture. .(Meets Theories and Methodologies requirement for English majors.)
Each student will design an individual project that focuses on Rome and the experience of being in Rome – a journal, photo essay or personal essay, for example.
This course will provide students with basic conversational skills in Italian, adapted to the level of the individual student. Prior knowledge of Italian is not a requirement for the program.
Application forms are available from the English Undergraduate Advising office, A-2-B Padelford. These forms are not available on-line (if you are unable to come into the English Advising office, you can request that they be mailed to you via snailmail -- contact , English Advising). Students will be accepted on a first-come/first-served basis.
Upon acceptance to the program, students will be required to sign and submit a payment contract. Payments will then be charged to participants’ UW student accounts, and will be payable to the Student Fiscal Services according to the stated schedule. It is the return of the payment contract that secures a place in the program.
November 2: Students applying (and confirming their participation by returning a signed payment contract) by this date will have first priority, but cannot be guaranteed admission. It would be wise to check with the Advising Office (and IPE) before this to see what space is available.
Students applying after Nov. 2 will be admitted on a space
available basis.
Total program costs include program fees of $4650, $200 International Programs and Exchanges fee, and a Rome Center fee equivalent to the amount of Spring Quarter in-state tuition. (Non-residents and residents pay the same amount.) All fees are charged to student’s MyUW account and are paid in the same way as other charges to that account according to the following schedule:
• $ 350.00 non-refundable deposit due December 7, 2007.
•
$ 500.00 due January 18, 2008.
•
$3800.00 due on or before the Spring Quarter tuition due date: April 18,
2008.
•
$ 200.00 IPE fee, due April 18, 2008.
•
$2129.00 Rome Center fee, due April 18, 2008.
Program fees include instructional costs, housing in Rome, transportation and overnight accommodation for field trips. Program fees do not include meals, books, airfare, International Student I.D. Card, or personal spending money. .
Program fees are paid in dollars; most program expenses are paid in euros.
The English Department reserves the right to modify the program fee based
upon dollar devaluation or severe inflation. If such a change occurs, students
will be notified of the increase and an adjustment will be made to the final
program payment.
The $350 deposit is non-refundable. A student withdrawing from the program by January 11 will be refunded all but the non-refundable deposit. Any student withdrawing from the program after this deadline will be liable for any non-recoverable payments already made or committed on behalf of the participant, which could range up to the entire program fee. No refunds will be given once the program begins. Notice of withdrawal from the program must be made in writing to BOTH the English Department and the Office of International Programs and Exchanges. A student's withdrawal is not considered official until they've notified English in writing and have submitted a withdrawal form to the IPE office.
Most forms of financial aid can be utilized during participation in the program. Participants who are on financial aid should contact the Financial Aid Office to verify that their awards will apply.
Students should reference the IPE website (http://www.ipe.washington.edu/)
for more information about Financial Aid and scholarships,
including the quarterly IPE scholarship.
You will need a passport to travel to Italy, as well as a student visa for Italy. It can take time for your application to be processed and your passport issued, so it's a good idea to get the wheels turning as early as possible. As of November 13, 2006, the total cost is $97 for a 10-year passport, and the University Neighborhood Service Center, 4534 University Way NE, is the passport acceptance facility closest to campus. The most extensive passport information, including application procedures, fees, office locations, and even printable application forms you can download, is available from the State Department's passport services website. Some general information on applying for passports is also available by calling the National Passport Information Center toll-free number: 1-877-487-2778, while an automated appointment line and some general information is available at the Seattle Passport Agency: (206) 808-5700.
You will also need a student visa to enter Italy for the Rome Program. The Program and the office of International Programs and Exchanges will provide coordination and direction on obtaining visas from the Italian Consulate in San Francisco (the closest consulate offices to Seattle)
Questions about the program can be answered by Professor Henry Staten (B-409 Padelford, (206) 685-4965, hstaten@u.washington.edu, or , English Advising (A-2-B Padelford, (206) 543-4592).
There are innumerable Rome sites on the web -- let your favorite search engine loose and explore. Here are a very few to get you started. (Remember, some sites will be in Italian; these often have English translations, which you can access by clicking on a little English flag or graphic -- but this is usually the Union Jack, not the Stars and Stripes. In Europe "English" usually means "England.")
