Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An exploration of the cultural and intellectual accomplishments of a specific city that achieved prominence in a particular time period, and had substantial impact and influence on human civilization. Examines the political, social, religious, and cultural factors that help to explain a city's significance and investigates the achievements of its citizens. Students may repeat this course for further credit under a different topic. Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

Great Cities in Their Time: Rome

Rome – the eternal city, caput mundi and the place where all roads lead. This course seeks both to explore and to transcend these well-worn conceptions of Rome. Why is it that for centuries Rome has captured the attention and imagination of so many artists, writers, politicians and travellers? In what ways did the city transform as it evolved from the birthplace of a pagan empire, to the centre of western Christendom, to the capital of a modern nation-state? What did Rome look like over the centuries through the eyes of its varied visitors? What did — and does — it mean to be “Roman”? To answer these and other questions, we’ll tour the city’s streets and monuments in the footsteps of Roman emperors, medieval pilgrims, Renaissance architects, Englishmen on the Grand Tour, Mussolini’s Blackshirts and the backpacking tourists of today. Guiding us will be some of the greatest authors of western literature, including Virgil, Livy, Goethe, Lord Byron and Henry James. Throughout the semester, we will complement our verbal texts with visual ones — among others, the Pantheon, St. Peter’s, the Baroque churches of Bernini and Borromini, the engravings of Piranesi, and the architecture of Italian fascism. We’ll also analyze famous cinematic portrayals of postwar Rome, including Hollywood’s “Roman Holiday” and a classic of Italian neorealism, “The Bicycle Thieves.”

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: