Rome, Italy: Mediterranean Crossings
The Honors Program is excited to offer its eighth-annual summer study abroad program in Rome, Italy. This year students will also have the opportunity to travel to Istanbul, Turkey. The five-week program will consist of three 5-credit courses that fulfill 15 credits of the Honors Civilization sequence:
- Migration, Markets, and Minorities in the New Europe
- Islam and Italian Cities: A Historical Perspective
- Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome
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.
Istanbul 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 Istanbul, based on the exchange of learning, knowledge, and cultural values through the channels of art, history, and migration.
The program is conducted at the Palazzo Pio, the University of Washington's Rome Center, located in the historic center of the city. The palazzo, a fully remodeled seventeenth-century structure that sits on the foundations of the ancient theater of Pompey (55 B.C.), rises next to the Campo de' Fiori, one of Rome's favorite locales, a bustling open market during the day and lively social venue at night
Program Directors
- Resat Kasaba, Professor of International Studies
- Kathie Friedman, Associate Professor of International Studies
- Lisa Schultz, Lecturer of Art History
Program Components
Migration, Markets, and Minorities in the New Europe
5 credits
Friedman
In this course we explore the causes and consequences of contemporary migrations across the Mediterranean. Through readings, discussions, films, guest lecturers, and fieldtrips we study the diverse types of migration present in the new Europe today (refugees, asylum seekers, and labor migrants from all over the world). Immigrant integration and multiculturalism with particular attention to ethnic, national, gender, and religious differences will be discussed, as will increasing efforts to control migration into Europe and the EU. Students will work on team projects, in consultation with the professor, throughout the course and present their research during the last week of the Program in Rome.
Islam and Italian Cities: A Historical Perspective
5 credits
Kasaba
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 Istanbul 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.
Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome
5 credits
Schultz
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 to Turkey and investigate the artistic consequences of Istanbul's interaction with the eastern world. 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.
Program Expenses
This program will cost approximately $4,500 per student. Course costs include living accommodations, complete use of the Rome Center facilities: students will have classroom and library use, a student lounge, computer lab, wireless access, ability to check out computer and A/V equipment, an in-house "movie theater" for screenings, and staff to assist them. Field trips and excursions, admission fees to all museums and exhibits, and some group meals are also included.
Course fee does NOT INCLUDE an IPE concurrent enrollment fee ($250); airfare; food, and personal spending money.
Financial Aid
Students may use their regular financial aid and scholarship funds for study abroad. The exception is any scholarship in the form of a tuition waiver. Tuition waivers cannot be used to pay study abroad program fees. You may want to check with the Office of Student Financial Aid in Schmitz Hall for more information.
There are funding opportunities through the Global Opportunities Program, and the Office of International Programs and Exchanges also maintains a funding opportunities list at http://www.ipe.washington.edu/forms/FundingOpportunities.pdf
Payment Schedule (including IPE fee)
| Payment Type | Payment Amount | Payment Due Date |
| Program Deposit | $350 | Upon acceptance |
| IPE Fee | $250 | March 14, 2010 |
| Program Fee | $500 | April 18, 2010 |
| Program Fee | $3650 | July 11, 2010 |
| TOTAL | $4,750 |
IP&E will automatically charge student accounts for all program payments and fees.
IP&E Refund Policy
A $350 deposit and the $250 IPE fee are required at the time of acceptance. This $600 deposit is non-refundable. Any student withdrawing after March 14, 2010 will be liable for a percentage of the program fee, depending on the date of withdrawal. 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 Istanbul, Turkey. 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 that is valid for not only for the duration of the program, but for 6 months after the program ends. It may take as long as six weeks to obtain or renew a passport.
Application Instructions
If you are interested in the Honors program in Rome, please click here to fill out and submit your application.
The Rome faculty and the Honors Program will determine final acceptance. Students applying after January 22 will be admitted on a space-available basis.
Questions?
Please direct course content inquiries to one of the following instructors:
- Resat Kasaba ( kasaba@uw.edu )
- Kathie Friedman ( friedman@uw.edu )
- Lisa Schultz ( lschultz@uw.edu )
General questions about topics such as Honors graduation requirements and financial aid should be directed to:
- Julie Villegas (villegas@u.washington.edu)