The Honors Program is excited to offer its sixth-annual summer study abroad program in Rome. This summer 24 students will have the opportunity to experience not only the wonders of the Eternal City, but also those of Venice, Italy. They will receive instruction from talented faculty in the areas of international studies and art history.

The 2008 Honors Study Abroad in Rome experience consists of a 15-credit, five-week study abroad experience at the University of Washington Rome Center.

Courses fulfill 15 credits of the Honors Western Civilization sequence.

Program Description

Rome is a legendary crossroads of ancient and modern culture, its history defined by the monuments of the imperial past and the magnificence of the Roman Catholic Church.

Venice is uniquely positioned at the crossroads of East and West. In this beautiful city, ideas and aesthetics were exchanged and developed in a remarkable time of cultural fusion.

Every culture builds identity based on its own unique, individual history, yet truly blossoms only on contact with other cultures. This summer Honors students will investigate this 'intercultural blossoming' in Rome and Venice, based on the exchange of learning, knowledge, and cultural values through the channels of art, history, and migration.

The seminar will be based at the UW Rome Center, housed in the 17th century Palazzo Pio in the heart of historic Rome - the Campo de' Fiori. This piazza is an open-air fruit and vegetable market by day and a gathering place by night. The Rome Center provides classroom space, computer lab, library, and logistical assistance.

Program Directors

Resat Kasaba and Kathie Friedman, both from the Jackson School of International Studies, will return to Rome to lead the 2008 program.

Course Descriptions

In this course students will study the interaction of art, politics and religion in Rome through outstanding representative monuments that show both continuity and change over the major epochs of the city's history. Specifically, we will examine how art and architecture functioned as a tool of propaganda to advance the goals of the state, the church, and the individual in Rome.

Students will also explore the effect of art and architecture on forging cultural identity: we will travel north to Venice and investigate the artistic consequences of Venice's interaction with the eastern world. We will discuss not only the integration of Byzantine spoils into the public and private buildings of Venice, but also the influence Venice gleaned from the Islamic world as she began to formulate a more confident, individual identity.

By studying the works of art and architecture in their original settings we will gain a deeper understanding of their place in art history and the history of civilization in Italy.

The students will take an active role in presenting key monuments to the class based on advance preparation and research begun in Seattle.

In this course we analyze the causes and consequences of contemporary migrations to Italy. The course will start by examining how Italy moved from being a labor exporting to a labor importing country. We will examine the central approaches to international migration and immigrant integration, and define the various types of migration present in Italy today (refugees and asylum seekers, family reunification, labor flows, transit migrants, etc.)

We will explore the control and regulation of migration by Italy and the EU as well as immigrant activism. We will discuss immigrant integration and multiculturalism with particular attention to ethnic/national gender, and religious differences. We examine also the practice by which some immigrants integrate, yet remain connected to their homelands as transnationals. While the course is primarily focused on Italy, we will draw on examples from other European countries and from the EU in general for comparative purposes.

Students will be required to understand the specific conditions in Italy and conduct fieldwork among immigrant communities in Rome. We plan to set up field trips for observation and interviews in immigrant neighborhoods, weekly markets, restaurants, and government offices.

Students will be required to work in teams to conduct fieldwork and interviews, to produce photo-essays (or short documentary films), and to write research papers on particular immigrant group experiences in Italy. Students will be required to select a specific immigrant group experience, in consultation with the professor, and research it prior to departing for the Honors Program in Rome. Teams will present their research at a colloquium during the last week of the Program in Rome.

For much of our recorded history the Mediterranean Sea functioned to unite the lands that surrounded it. People, cultures, and empires in southern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa crossed this sea continuously in many directions; interacted with, borrowed from, and strengthened each other. This relationship took a new turn in the late nineteenth century and became even more intense when Italy and other European states started colonizing North Africa.

In this course students will study the impact of this history on Rome and Venice by reading the impressions of various travelers from different periods. Students will read and discuss these texts and they will be asked to locate and learn about the traces of this interaction in museums, buildings, music, and food.

Program Expenses

This program will cost approximately $4,500 per student. Course costs include accommodations, classroom and library use, field trips and excursions, admission fees to all museums and exhibits, and some group meals. Course fee does not include an IP&E concurrent enrollment fee ($200); airfare ($800-$1,500 roundtrip, depending on when and where you buy your ticket); food (about $20-40 per day), and personal spending money.

The Financial Aid office can provide student loans for not only the cost of the course, but also travel, food, and other related costs, such as travel after the class is over, provided you are a fulltime student. In addition, short term loans are available to cover pre travel expenses.

Payment Schedule

IP&E will automatically charge student accounts for all program payments and fees. A limited number of scholarships will be available through IP&E as well as the Honors Office.

Refund Policy

A $350 deposit is required at the time of acceptance. This $350 deposit is non-refundable. Any student withdrawing after March 9, 2008 will be liable for any non-recoverable payments already made or committed on behalf of the participant, which could range from $500 to the entire program fee. No part of the $4,500 fee is refundable once the program has begun. Notice of withdrawal from the program must be made in writing to the Honors Office and to the office of International Programs & Exchanges.

Travel

To Rome: Participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to and from Rome. Act quickly to reserve the lowest fares; you may wish to explore budget fares offered on websites such as Travelocity and Expedia, as well as Council Travel on the Ave.

Within Italy: Students and instructors will take a 4-night trip to Venice, Italy. We will also be making several day-excursions. The program fee covers these group travel expenses. Students will also have opportunities to travel on their own for two or three day-jaunts.

All participants must have a passport valid for the duration of the program. It may take as long as six weeks to obtain or renew a passport.

Application Instructions

The application period for this session has ended.

The Rome faculty and the Honors Program will determine final acceptance. Students applying after January 18 will be admitted on a space-available basis.

Questions?

General questions about topics such as Honors graduation requirements and financial aid should be directed to:

Please direct course content inquiries to: