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Montepulciano - Summer 2010
Program Description
The summer study abroad program in Montepulciano, Italy allows students to take lower and upper division courses in the picturesque region of Tuscany. Classes are held in a 16th-century fortress in the hill town’s historic center. Montepulciano is centrally located between Rome and Florence, with accessible bus and rail transportation to the rest of Italy. Kennesaw State University has overseen the study abroad program in Montepulciano since 2000. This program is a consortium between Georgia College & State University, Georgia Southern University and Kennesaw State University.
Courses:
All courses are offered at the undergraduate level. Students will take two courses on the program – each course is 3 credit hours. Students from the three participating universities will register for courses at their home institutions. See below for course listings and descriptions.
Housing:
Accommodations are provided for students. Students reside in apartments. A typical apartment has two double rooms, one bathroom and kitchen facilities. Group dinners are provided at a local restaurant Sunday through Thursday each week.
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Session I Program Travel Dates: May 13 – June 20, 2010.
Session I Course Offerings:
Morning Courses: Morning courses meet in class sessions from 9:00 - 11:30 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays. Morning courses have Tuesdays reserved for all-day field trips.
Comparative World Justice Systems: 3 Credit hours. Upper Division
Instructor: Richard Pacelle, GSU, rpacelle@georgiasouthern.edu, 912-478-0571
John Rawls wrote: “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. “ We judge nations by their ability to mete out justice (giustizia). This course examines the role of law and courts in political systems around the world. We examine different legal traditions, the role and authority of courts, judicial decision-making, and the capacity of courts to influence political change. We seek to understand the constraints and opportunities that courts have as consequential actors within their existing political systems. We pay particular attention to the Italian courts (corti e tribunali) and trace their development along as well as that of the evolving European Union courts.
Music Appreciation: 3 Credit hours. Lower Division
Instructor: James Edward Eanes, KSU, eeanes@kennesaw.edu , 770-499-3302
Study Classical Music in the land where all Western music originated. This General Education course will cover all major genres of Classical Music including Symphonic, Chamber, Keyboard, Italian Opera, Sacred Choral Music, and Music of the Italian Renaissance. Also learn the elements of music and listening skills that facilitate the understanding of any type of music from most cultures. Experience live music with field trips to concerts and museums in Rome, Florence, Siena, Vatican City, and local arts festivals in Tuscany
Photography III: Digital Photography in Montepulciano: 3 credit hours. Upper Division
Instructor: Emily J. Gómez, GCSU, Tel. 478-445-1759; email: emily.gomez@gcsu.edu
Learn to make well-composed and compelling photographs of your experiences in Italy. Each student will design his or her own photography project based on personal observations and experiences abroad. Class lectures will include discussions on the use of digital cameras to make images that transcend the typical snapshot or travel photo. Students will study the work of past and present artists in order to better understand the techniques of fine art photographers. Prerequisites: Photography I and Two-Dimensional Design.
World Literature I: 3 credit hours. Lower Division
Instructor: Prof. Patricia Price, GSU, Tel. 912-764-8327: email: ptprice@georgiasouthern.edu
We will explore the rich panorama of world literature from the beginning of story-telling and myth to the 1600's. Although our main emphasis in this course will be on the development of the Western (European) tradition in literature and culture, we will also explore the values and cultural achievements of some non-western civilizations. Our study of this literature will enable us to reflect on how literary texts help us come to terms with such enduring human concerns as our origins, the heroic ideal, religion, politics, love, and intellectual and aesthetic excellence.
Afternoon Courses: Afternoon courses meet from 1:00 - 3:30 PM Mondays and Wednesdays, with Thursdays reserved for all-day field trips.
Art and Politics: The Renaissance and Beyond 3 credit hours. Upper division
Instructor: Prof. Richard Pacelle, GSU, rpacelle@georgiasouthern.edu, 912-478-0571
The very word “Renaissance” means rebirth. In Europe, the Renaissance meant that Europe was emerging from the darkness that was the Middle Ages. Art and politics changed during this period and no place influenced those changes and was influenced by them as what is Italy today. We will examine how the changes in art, philosophy, politics, religion, and government were interrelated. Why did Michelangelo execute his David in Florence and how was it used politically? What was the relationship between the Vatican and the great artists of the time? We will examine how the Renaissance was a rebirth in political ideas and art and how the two influenced one another. We will pay particular attention to the Medici family and its profound effects on art and politics. While we will spend the preponderance of our attention on the emergence of The Renaissance and its gestation, we will also look at its consequences for modern Italy. Our focus will be on paintings and sculpture and its relationship with politics, but we will reflect on other art forms as well.
The History of Opera: 3 Credit hours. Upper Level
Instructor: James Edward Eanes, KSU, eeanes@kennesaw.edu , 770-499-3302
Experience the romance of Opera in the land where it was born. This course will trace the development of Opera from the private chambers of Florentine noblemen to the rowdy audiences in Baroque Venice and Naples, the castrati, comic opera, and the finally to the great masterworks of the 19th and 20th centuries. Experience live operatic performances with field trips to concerts in Rome, Florence, Siena, and Montepulciano.
Understanding Visual Culture: 3 Credit Hours. Lower Division
Instructor: Emily J. Gómez, GCSU, Tel. 478.445.1759; email: emily.gomez@gcsu.edu
This course will focus on Understanding the Visual Culture of Italy through digital photography. Classes will include lectures and discussions on the use of digital cameras and editing software, the work of past and present photographic artists, basic photographic composition, and the language of art. Field trips to photograph in Montepulciano and other cities, such as Rome, Venice, Florence and Siena will also be a component of the class. We will visit Photography Galleries on field trips, whenever it is possible.
Travel Writing: 3 credit hours. Upper Division
Instructor: Prof. Patricia Price, GSU, Tel. 912-764-8327: email: ptprice@georgiasouthern.edu
In this course we’ll explore the connections between the journey within and the journey without. Before leaving home, you’ll read three essays about being a traveler and being a travel writer: Walker Percy’s “The Loss of the Creature,” Mary Louise Pratt’s “Arts of the Contact Zone,” and Dean MacCannell’s “The Ego Factor in Tourism.” Then you’ll read four short examples of good travel writing. As we sojourn in Italy, we’ll read some classic travel journals–selections from Goethe’s Italian Journey 1786-1788, Charles Dickens’ Pictures from Italy, and Mark Twain’s The Innocents’ Abroad–and write our own journals of this trip. You may find yourself creating what will be, in years to come, your favorite souvenir of this summer, a repository of your personal impressions of Italy.
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Session II Program Travel Dates: June 25 – August 1, 2010.
Session II Course Offerings:
Morning Courses: Morning courses meet in class sessions from 9:00 - 11:30 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays. Morning courses have All Day Tuesdays reserved for field trips.
Shakespeare’s Italy, Shakespeare’s Rome: 3 Credit hours. Upper Division
Instructor: Cynthia Bowers, KSU, cbowers@kennesaw.edu, 770-423-6133
Teen Suicide and Gang Violence! Murder in the Capital! Political Sex Scandals!! Sound like headlines from CNN? No! All are plots William Shakespeare “lifted” from his Raman and Italian sources—did you know that Merchant of Venice Othello, Romeo and Juliet,, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus are all based on stories and histories written by Italians?? In this class, students will encounter a number of Shakespeare’s plays and their “sensational” Italian and Roman sources, visiting the Italian locales in which they originally occurred. We will visit sites in Rome, Verona, Padua and Venice and see what changes Shakespeare made to his Italian sources. Readings will be assigned and discussed before departure for Italy.
The Urban Experience in Europe and America: 3 Credit hours. Upper Division
Instructor: Craig S. Pascoe, GCSU, craig.pascoe@gcsu.edu, 478-445-3516
This course examines and compares the development of urban spaces in Europe and the United States from the sixteenth century up to the present. Field trips to large cities like Florence and Venice will be combined with visits to different types of smaller cities and towns in the Tuscany region. We will discuss the economic, political, spatial, social and cultural resources that worked to create urban places both small and large. Some of the questions posed, and discussed, in this class will be: how did some cities become the dominant force over a region that extended far beyond the immediate hinterland? Why are certain cities located where they are? What are the reasons for the existence of cities? Are modern cities patterned after forms of urbanization from ancient Rome, early modern Venice or Pre-Columbian Mexico? How did the major cities of the world, like Rome or London, get that status? What is the environmental impact of urban places? How does an urban place help create a unique social and cultural fabric? Does a city’s architecture say anything about its history and culture?
Art and Aesthetics of Italy: 3 Credit Hours. Lower Division Course
Instructor: Prof. Patricia Carter, GSU, pwcarter@georgiasouthern.edu, 912-478-5472
Survey key works of art with the visual culture of Italy to acquire an appreciation of Italian art and aesthetic students you will experience daily. Ancient to contemporary works of art will be studied within their historical, social, and global contexts revealing their artistic significance and impact on civilizations around the world. Although we’ll live and breathe Italian art and culture, students will learn ‘the language of art they can apply to any work of art in any culture. We’ll talk, write, and visually record works of art using terminology specific to each media, characteristics of movements and styles, conceptual themes, critical analysis and individual emotional response.
Saints and Sinners: the History of Christianity to 1600: 3 Credit hours. Upper Division
Instructor: Stephen M. Bartlett, KSU, sbartlet@kennesaw.edu , 678-423-6294
In this course, we will follow the path of Christianity from its most humble beginnings to the world’s largest religion. Along the way, we shall visit the catacombs of the early martyrs, witness the conquest of Christianity over paganism, and behold the fruits of Christianity in art, architecture, the literature. Yet, the path is far from smooth and we will run into potholes and speed bumps in the form of sin, scandals, and greed – and that’s just the papacy! Trials of exhumed popes, mummified bodies of saints, hidden messages in paintings, and much more fill this interesting course.
Afternoon Courses: Afternoon courses meet from 1:00 - 3:30 PM Mondays and Wednesdays, with All Day Thursdays reserved for field trips.
Travelers to Italy, Italian Travelers: 3 Credit hours. Lower Division
Instructor: Cynthia Bowers, KSU, cbowers@kennesaw.edu, 770-423-6133
All roads lead to Rome! WE often hear this common phrase, and once in Rome we may have a better understanding why! But the reverse must also be tru – all roads lead from Rome. In this course, we will discuss the works of non-Italians who have traveled to Italy and Rome to learn how their impressions of this ancient land and its rich culture have impacted their lives and the lives of their readers. We will also discuss works by Italians who have explored the world to discover how their encounters spread Italian culture throughout the globe. We will underscore our reading experience by visits to some of the writers’ homes and the locales over which foreign writers rhapsodized! Possible authors covered include Virgil, Pliny the Younger, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Samuel Clemens
The History and Culture of Food: Italy and the World: 3 Credit Hours. Upper and Lower Division
Instructor: Craig S. Pascoe, GCSU, craig.pascoe@gcsu.edu, 478-445-3516
“If you are what you eat, and you don’t know what you’re eating, do you know who you are” This course examines history, culture, economics, and geography through food. We will examine the history of food around the world and use the local food ways of Tuscany and Italy as the model. Students will learn about food ways through discussions and hands-on experiences in vineyards, restaurants, pescherias, farms, pasta shops, butcher shops (macelleria), and delis (gastronomia) as well as visits to Florence, Perugia, and other towns to learn about the local cuisine.
Mixed Media 2D Studio: 3 Credit Hours. Upper Division Course.
Instructor: Prof. Patricia Carter, GSU, pwcarter@georgiasouthern.edu, 912-478-5472
Explore various media, methods and materials to create a portfolio representing your Montepulciano experience. Although traditional technical skills of each media will be practiced, experimentation with mark making, color theory and combining media will be required to engage in the mixed media experience. We’ll work on-site and in the studio using aqueous and non-aqueous media from pastels, watercolor pencils, oil bars, gouache, acrylic paints, and alternative print processes on a profusion of papers that we’ll collage, chine collé, and fold.
Renaissance and Reformation: 3 credit hours. Upper Division course
Instructor: Stephen M. Bartlett, KSU, sbartlet@kennesaw.edu , 678-423-6294
Learn about Medici power and scandal while sitting in the courtyard of their Florentine palazzo. See how Masaccio resurrected 3-D art while standing before his Trinity. Experience the pomp and splendor of the Papal princes under Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Tour the Rome that prompted Luther to write his 95 Theses. In this course, you will experience history in not just the second or third dimensions, but in the fourth dimension of “time” as you soak in the sights, smells, and tastes of a people and culture whose monuments still quite literally surround you.
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