Winter Intersession Program

The January Program in Rome is a ten-day academic course that uses the city of Rome as a critical part of the course work. This program was initiated in 2009 and usually draws about 20 students. The program takes place during the break between fall and spring semesters in January. The unique features of 2500 years of Roman history combine with selected philosophical essays in a course that explores the complex issues surrounding the construction of a political public sphere and shared political identity. Successive eras of Roman history have left their ideals embodied in a rich vocabulary of architectural imagery. Monuments from the multiple Rome's - the Rome of the Emperors, the Rome of the Popes, the Rome of the Modern Liberal Nation-State, as well as that of the brief Fascist period - will be examined and "read" for their political content. The course explores issues of political identity, public memory, as well as the place of imagination in the construction of collective public life. The course has also been approved for ERS Focus Elective credit. Daily class meetings on site in the city combine with classroom discussion to form the basis of the course.

DATES: Please inquire with Ms. Darleen Frickman (frickman@xavier.edu)

COST: Please inquire with Ms. Darleen Frickman (frickman@xavier.edu)

LOCATION: Residence Candia Rome, Via Candia 135B, Rome, Italy

COURSES: PHIL 364 Modern Political Philosophy
or
PHIL 200 Philosophical Perspectives: Italian Philosophy

For our class, the city of Rome itself is as much an indispensable required text to be read and interpreted. The multiple Romes - The Rome of the Caesars, Christian Rome, the capital of the modern Italian nation (1870-1922), and the center of Mussolini's fascist empire (1922-1943) will provide the materials for a study of collective political identity. Specifically, we shall examine the manner in which a shared public identity is established, sustained and communicated through urban monumental space. How are political and cultural ideals embodied in the architecture of the city, and how do they enter into dialogue with the monuments of past historical eras? How is it possible that the same images can be appropriated by successive regimes with different systems of ideas? Globalization and mass immigration, in Italy as well as in Europe have renewed the interest in these questions today. PHIL 364 satisfies the Humanities Elective as well as the ERS Focus Elective core requirements. As PHIL 200 it fulfills the Philosophical Perspectives requirement.

Click here for a Tentative Schedule of Topics and Readings

EXTRAS: Entrance Fees to Museums, Galleries and Ancient Sites; transit pass for the duration of the program; Farewell Dinner.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Darleen Frickman in Schott 505, frickman@xavier.edu
Dr. E.P. Colella in Hinkle 210, colella@xavier.edu