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From May 26 – June 14, Diane Cole Ahl, Rothkopf Professor of Art History, and Rado Pribic, Williams Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures, will lead 26 students through Italy on a three-week, summer interim session course. The students will be studying the artistic and literary culture of Italy during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Throughout this intense, concentrated course, the students will visit Florence, Fiesole, Ravenna, Venice, Gubbio, Assisi, Montefalco, and Rome and spend seven days a week exploring and discussing the sites at each of these locations.
“We study the history of ancient Rome by investigating archaeological sites in Rome and Fiesole; explore Byzantine art and its legacy in Ravenna and Venice; and immerse ourselves in the spiritual, literary, and visual culture of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Italy by reading Dante and Boccaccio as well as examining the art and architecture of Assisi, Gubbio, Montefalco, Florence, Venice, and Rome,” Ahl explains.
They will also mull over the politics and economy of modern Italy, beginning with its unification and ending with its entrance into the European Union. The group will explore the country’s visual and intellectual culture by visiting churches, museums, palaces, and archeological sites. They will survey the works of Italian masters, including Giotto, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. In the evening, the students will gather to discuss the readings and events of the day.
This year, Mary Frank ’79 and Howard Frank generously provided scholarships for two students and additional funds that have made it possible to add musical performances and special guided tours in Ravenna, Venice, and Rome.
Students participating in this year’s trip include psychology majors Marie Stavrovsky ’10 (Bethlehem, Pa.), Ian Stone ’10 (Lebanon, N.H.), Heather Goldstein ’09 (Berkeley Heights, N.J.), Justin Sayde ’09 (Wyckoff, N.J.), who is also majoring in English, and Laura Kessler ’09 (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), who is also majoring in art; chemistry majors Andrew Baldridge ’10 (Oreland, Pa.), Christie Atkinson’09 (Aston, Pa.), Kimberly Petrelis ’09 (Dingmans Ferry, Pa.), and Kathleen Sokolowsky ’10 (Downingtown, Pa.), who is also majoring in math; economics and business majors Stephanie Schultz ’09 (Holmdel, N.J.), Kelly McCauley ’09 (Hillsdale, N.J.), and Amanda Smith ’10 (Henderson, Nev.); English majors Jillian Kessler ’10 (Short Hills, N.J.), Karen Fusco ’09 (Albrightsville, Pa.), and Amy Solomito ’09 (Coopersburg, Pa.); mechanical engineering majors Carolyn Stolfi ’09 (Chatham, N.J.) and Christina Mack ’09 (Lafayette Hill, Pa.); engineering studies majors Rachel Ferretti ’09 (Easton, Pa.) and Marcella Nehrbass ’09 (Ringoes, N.J.); neuroscience major Cara Cordeaux ’10 (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.); international affairs and French double major Stephanie Ellis ’10 (Omaha, Neb.); government & law and philosophy double major Osasumwen Izevbigie ’09 (Springdale, Md.); geology and religious studies double major Christine McDougal ’10 (Rockville Center, N.Y.); biology major Michael DiGirolamo ’10 (Frederick, Md.); electrical and computer engineering major Andrew Jameson ’09 (Hagerstown, Md.); and biochemistry major James Vasta ’10 (Ambler, Pa.).