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The Honors Program is excited to offer its fifth annual winter-quarter study abroad program in Rome that will consist of three courses that fulfill 15 credits of Honors Civilization:

• Ambiguous Borders: Identity in Rome and Italy (5 credits)
• Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome (5 credits)
• Communicating in Italian (3 credits)

Students will also complete an Independent Research project (2 credits)

Program Description

"It is the city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid and liquid, at once air and stone." --Erica Jong

Rome is a city of contradictions - acting as the center of Roman Catholicism and pre-Christian paganism, of immense beauty and infamous ruin, and of opulent antiquity and contemporary extravagance. Few cities in the world can provide students with such an inspiring and memorable landscape from which to work.

This winter students will explore the divergent facets of the Eternal City. Literature and Roman history will be combined with on-site explorations of art, architecture, monuments and memorials that showcase the contradictions and ambiguity of Rome and its people.

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 Staff

Dr. Julie Villegas, UW Honors Associate Director

Office: MGH 211
villegas@u.washington.edu

Julie did her graduate studies at UC Santa Barbara and at the University of Washington where she earned a PhD in English. Julie is currently the Associate Director of the University Honors Program. Her research interests in cultural studies and literature include border identity, mixed race identity politics, and public policy relating to immigrants. For the past eight years, she has been the Honors Program study abroad coordinator for programs in Europe, Africa, and South America. In addition, she has directed the Honors in Amsterdam and Berlin programs (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).

Lisa Schultz, Art Historian

lschultz@u.washington.edu

Lisa Schultz has a master's degree in Baroque Art from the University of Washington. Her specialty is Italian painting and sculpture, but she also has a broad knowledge of the history and culture of Rome and Italy and leads many antiquity-themed itineraries. Lisa divides her time between Rome and Seattle. For the past 6 years she has coordinated and taught the summer and winter programs for UW Honors study abroad in Rome and has also co-directed Rome programs for UW Industrial Design, Visual Communication Design, and the History Department. When not teaching, Lisa also works as a tour guide in Rome and gives many guest lectures for other American universities.

Program Components

Ambiguous Borders: Identity in Rome and Italy

Julie Villegas
5 credits

Throughout their history, Romans have been interested in boundaries, entries and gateways, both psychological and physical. We will look at "border" as both a metaphor and as a physical manifestation of culture in both in ancient and modern Rome. Students will continue to explore the ambiguity of the border, identity politics, and the concept of "Other" in Rome by traveling outside of Rome to visit the cities of Florence and Naples and experience first-hand the historical and stereotypical divisions between Italy's north and south.

We will explore these general questions:

Where are the covert and overt borders in Rome? (physical, psychological, cultural, and national borders).

How is "insider" or "outsider" status determined?

Borders are at the same time becoming more rigid and also more fluid. What are the dynamics behind this and how is this fluidity and ambiguity expressed in art, literature, monuments and memorials?

In addition, students will have the opportunity to create independent research projects and explore specific interests linked to the larger themes of the class.

Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome

Lisa Schultz
5 credits

In this course we will explore the art and architecture, palaces and piazzas, churches and monuments produced by the powerful Roman papal families who changed the face of the city during the 15th through 17th centuries. Rome was not built in a day. To the contrary, it is distinguished among cities as a place of layers, of memories, of overlappings, and occasionally of dramatic cancellations. In some ways the focus of our seminar is really the city itself - how it has been transformed, exploited, and embellished by successive generations.

The return of the papal seat to Rome in the 15th century sparked a period of magnificent restoration and enrichment of the city. Popes strove to make Rome the capital of Christendom while projecting it, through art, architecture, and literature, as the center of a Golden Age of unity, order, and peace. They spent lavishly on ambitious artistic projects designed to glorify the papacy as successor to the ancient Roman Empire. With a similar spending zeal they also strove to glorify themselves and their families. No expense was spared in employing the greatest artists, architects, and sculptors to execute personal projects, including lavish palaces and tombs for themselves and their relatives. The worldly splendor that resulted from their efforts still shapes the modern Rome we see today.

Students will take an active role in presenting key monuments to the class based on advance research begun in Seattle.

Communicating in Italian

ItaliaIdea Language School
3 credits

Students will be encouraged to use the Italian language while in Rome. To this end, we will work with one of Rome's most outstanding language schools - ItaliaIdea. Students will attend "survival Italian" classes that will familiarize them with idiomatic expressions, the basic rules of grammar and proper pronunciation and enable them to navigate Rome with confidence.

Program Expenses (subject to change)

This program will cost approximately $7,650 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 the required Rome Center Fee (equivalent to one quarter of resident graduate or undergraduate tuition payable to Student Fiscal Services by the regular winter deadline); an IPE concurrent enrollment fee ($350); airfare ($1,200-$1,700 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. Short-term loans are also available to cover pre-travel expenses.

Payment Schedule (including IP&E fee): 

IP&E will automatically charge student accounts for all program payments and fees.

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 June 12, 2009 will be liable for a percentage of the program fee, depending on the date of withdrawal. No part of the $5,200 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.

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.

For other scholarship opportunities, see: IPE Funding Opportunities (PDF).

Travel

To Rome

Participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to and from Rome.

In Italy

Students and instructors will take an overnight trip to Florence and southern 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 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 fill out the on-line application.

The Rome faculty and the Honors Program will determine final acceptance.

Questions?

General questions about topics such as Honors graduation requirements and financial aid should be directed to Julie Villegas (villegas@u.washington.edu).

Please direct course content inquiries to:

• Julie Villegas (villegas@u.washington.edu)
• Lisa Schultz (lschultz@u.washington.edu)

For more information, please contact:

University of Washington Honors Program
211 Mary Gates Hall
Box 352800
Seattle, WA 98195
(206) 543-7444
uwhonors@u.washington.edu

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