Travel Study in Rome

Courses

Two courses will be offered: Rome, Ritual and Sacred Space (Religion 95), by Bryan Bibb, and Studies in Rhetoric (Communcation 36), by Sean O'Rourke.

Rome, Ritual and Sacred Space

This course will examine the complex interplay between religious ritual and the space in which it is performed and experienced. Students will employ the theoretical insights of Ritual Studies to examine the history of religious ritual, pilgrimage, and sacred art and architecture in Roman, Jewish and Christian traditions in Italy.

The instructional time for this course will comprise three elements. First, students will meet weekly in the Fall term for lectures that address the basic theoretical, historical, and artistic aspects of the material. Overall, these meetings should account for approximately 8-10 hours of classroom instruction. Second, there will be periodic lectures while on the trip, taking advantage of the residential nature of the program. Students will meet approximately three times per week for evening or early morning lectures and discussions that analyze sites that they have experienced. These meetings will account for approximately 15-18 hours of classroom instruction. Third, the students will attend many guided tours of sacred sites and museums, which will account for the remaining 27-32 hours of instructional time.

The itinerary for the trip has not been formally set, although we plan to spend approximately 3 weeks in Rome, about 1.5 weeks in Florence, both with some excursions to surrounding regions, and several days each at Naples, Ravenna, Venice, Spoleto, and Milan. Some of the sacred sites we will visit are the following:

Rome:

Spoleto:

Venice:

Milan:

Ravenna:

Florence:

Studies in Rhetoric

This course will examine how theories of rhetoric emerged in classical Rome, were transformed in Medieval Italy, and reappeared in the classical Ciceronian form in the Renaissance.

In Rome, we will look at various sites in which the orator was important in imperial Rome. There will be a daytrip to Ostia to discuss the transition from classical to christian rhetoric, which was accomplished with great influence from Augustine.

Students will also study the various "images" of the liberal arts that appear in public places in Italian cities, specifically considering the meaning of iconic representations of "rhetoric," which is usually pictured as a woman.