General Interim Information
Off Campus Interims
2008 Interim Extended Course Descriptions
INTERIM 2008
Religion and Culture in Rome
Religion 259
In this course you will track the interplay of religion and culture in Rome as it was gradually transformed from the capital city of a growing empire into the administrative center of Western Christianity. We will visit historical sites such as the forum, temples, churches, residences, museums and attend some contemporary cultural events, all of which will provide selective comparison of ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque and modern religion and culture.
Trips will take us to other Italian cities which interacted with Rome : Ostia , Subiaco, Orvieto, Assisi , Siena , Florence and Venice .
During the Interim you will work from a packet of readings to prepare for site visits where we will work on observing and discussing the site. Lectures will mainly be on site. Journaling will also be important as a process of interpreting and integrating what you have read and seen. Your grade for the course will be based on three interpretive essays, the quality of several journal entries, and a short final examination (objective in nature to avoid a lot of last minute writing); each of the five items is given equal weight.
Our usual daily schedule will be to leave the hotel between 8 and 9 am and walk to our destinations for the day. On some days we will be done by mid-day; on others we will regroup after a lunch pause to visit a few more sites.
You will have plenty of leisure time to explore Rome and other sites on your own. Regular attendance at all scheduled events is required unless excused in advance. Your willing cooperation with the group as a whole is necessary most of the time: we learn a lot from and with each other. You also need to be sensitive to the different ways in which Italian culture operates, e.g., the areas of dress or food or manners.
In Rome our bases are the Hotel Adriano, close to the Pantheon in the old heart of Rome , and the Centro Pro Unione overlooking the magnificent Piazza Navona.
G E Credit Historical Studies in Western Culture
Major Credit Religion, Ancient and Medieval Studies
Instructor Bill Poehlmann, Department of Religion
RELIGION AND CULTURE IN ROME
For over 2000 years Rome has been one of the most significant cultural, religious and political centers of western civilization. Once it contained the temples and markets of the Latin peoples who expanded their power throughout Italy and then the Mediterranean . This power was symboled by the goddess Roma and the city became the residence of the deified emperors of this great empire. Later with its patrons Peter and Paul it became the holy city for Western Christians, a political and cultural center for western Europe, as well as the residence of its leading bishops, the popes. Today, over 700 million Roman Catholics throughout the world are still influenced by the decisions made by church leaders who reside in this city where design, architecture and style are cultivated.
This course will trace the interaction of religion, politics and society in Roman culture by examining the many layers of historical development which are evident in the city's streets, buildings, cultural patterns and customs.
In our first week we will study the rise of the Roman Empire and the classical polytheism which was the foundation of its social and political life. We will explore the Roman forum and surrounding areas to see Rome 's growth from town to city to military empire; more of this is seen in museums, temples, monuments and works of art dedicated to gods and emperors. We will also take a trip to Ostia , Rome 's ancient port, where vivid evidence of daily life in ancient times has been uncovered and reconstructed.
New religious movements entered the empire's cosmopolitan capital from the provinces: among them were Judaism and later Christianity . In our second week we will consider why the empire sometimes turned on Christians and later embraced Christianity for the empire as the sole state religion. We will learn from excavated houses and catacombs as well as the huge and splendid basilicas commissioned by Constantine in the 300's. Our weekly trip out of the city will take us into the mountains to Subiaco, a serene retreat where Benedict founded a distinctive form of western monasticism in contrast to public, imperial Christianity.
Our third week takes us to Medieval culture and religion when the popes succeeded the Byzantine emperors as the leaders in the West and in Rome and the Holy Roman Empire began north of Rome . To break from city life and to understand the influences from the growing medieval world on Rome we will head to several smaller cities, still somewhat medieval in appearance: Orvieto, a hilltop town once a papal estate and refuge; and Assisi, home of Sts. Francis and Claire, movers and shakers of the time.
This trip also takes us on to the Italian Renaissance which came to Rome from cities such as Siena and especially Florence , where it began. We will spend a few days surveying the many developments which began there. A taste of eastern connections and influences on Italian culture comes during our brief stay in Venice .
