What do we do and see - Six-Week-Courses-in-Italy - Art History Abroad

Venice (10 nights), Verona (4 nights), Florence (10 nights), Siena (4 nights), Naples (4 nights) and Rome (10 nights). We make day excursions to at least six of the following towns: Padua, Vicenza, Bologna, Ravenna, Modena, Urbino, Pisa, San Gimignano, Arezzo, Orvieto, Pompeii and Tivoli.
The course is taught entirely on-site, with a typical day split into morning and afternoon tutorial sessions, not too long and not too short (visiting 2-4 sites in each). This close, first-hand experience of paintings, sculpture and architecture acts as a natural springboard for cultural discussion.

The itinerary is very carefully designed to be chronological and thematic within the restraints of geographical location (not too much walking!) and opening times. The first five days are usually spent working on the basic themes and subjects, which are worked up throughout the entire course. In this way, a series of cross-references builds up over the duration of six weeks as recurrent themes pose themselves, and a solid foundation in terminology is created: architectural (vocabulary and descriptive terms), classical or biblical narrative (myths and stories), geographical (Italy and Europe), basic datelines, and general themes (like politics, propaganda and patronage)…all the better to let discussion flow.

Click here for a list of artists and works studied on the course
Click here for a the Spring course 2008 itinerary