Classes, Faculty, and Staff

Classes

Classes are held on site in the city or at the Palazzo Santacroce, Cornell in Rome's headquarters. Classes make use of Rome's wealth of museums, archaeological sites, historical and contemporary art collections, churches, and public spaces. These are typical offerings — offerings are subject to change and dependent on adequate enrollments.

• Required Classes

  B.Arch. Studio

  • ARCH 4101 Design V / ARCH 4102 Design VI Design and development of complex architectural projects situated in urban contexts and developed with regard to program, site, building, and representation.(6 credits)

  Fine Arts

  • ART 3001 Rome Studio This class will concentrate on the development, through research and material experimentation, of a studio practice informed by historical and social context. Different research and production methodologies will be encouraged to develop a practice that is critical, self-sustaining, and flexible. Specific attention will be paid to implications of transferring artistic practice to Rome, i.e., the way the specificities and generalities of a new geographical setting inform one's work. Required course for B.F.A. students participating in Rome.(6 credits)
  • ART 3102 Contemporary Rome Seminar Introduces students to contemporary art in Rome through studio visits, gallery exhibitions, and museum collections. Lectures by artists, critics, and others. Traces art from idea to realization and explores the gallery and its relationship to artists and to promotion of art, the role of the art critic and museum, and art collecting.(4 credits)
  • ART 3902 International Professional Practice Students gain practical professional experience in international cultural settings that include museums, galleries, artist studios, and public art programs. Students may work on curatorial projects, assist an artist in the studio, assist with daily gallery operation, participate in museum management, and collaborate on the daily activities of a contemporary art specialist. Students meet weekly with academic instructor and 6-8 hours per week internship placement.(1 credit) - required only if participating in an internship

  Urban Studies

  • CRP 4160 Rome Workshop This course focuses on the city as a system through the analysis of (1) a set of neighborhoods and (2) issues affecting these neighborhoods. We will consider the relationship of these neighborhoods and issues to the functioning of the contemporary city of Rome and the wellbeing of its residents. This course will emphasize fieldwork and experiential learning that is supported with readings, class discussions and lectures. Field activities will take place during scheduled class times plus supplemental hours that are scheduled informally for an average of 12 hours per week, in addition to time spent on reading, writing, and the field trips.(6 credits)
• Elective Classes

  The elective classes are available to any student, provided there is space available.

  Architecture

  • ARCH 3117 Contemporary Italian CultureThis course examines the cinematic representation of Italy with particular emphasis to the use of settings and space. We will explore how the visions of urban and rural spaces reflect the evolving cultural, social and political fabric of a nation in a period of rapid and often traumatic historical change. The course will feature screening of films set in several Italian locations, from Rome to Milan, from Naples to Venice, from Sicily to the Apennines, and represent different moments of Italian contemporary history. We will take advantage of the unique opportunity to study this cinema while residing in Rome and traveling in Italy, through the experience of the real settings that have figured so prominently in Italian cinema. Each session consists of an in-class lecture and a film screening. The course will also include one or two guest lecturers each semester. (1 credit)
  • ARCH 3820 The Topography and Urban History of Rome in Antiquity and the Middle AgesRome is a prisoner of its past. The entire city confronts the student with almost 30 centuries of urban and architectural history. This course intends to reconstruct the urban history of Rome from its origins through the Middle Ages (10th century bc-12th century ad). The purpose of this course will be to discover the layers of Rome, combining archaeology with literature, architecture, and urban history with art history. The goal is a thorough and direct knowledge of the Roman and Medieval urban landscape and the way this landscape has sometimes survived until today. Special attention will be given to Roman and Medieval building typology, both private and public, and the development of the urban infrastructure (street system, water supply, fortifications, etc.). Strong emphasis will be placed upon continuity, use/reuse, and transformation of buildings and spaces, etc. Every week one or two different "regions" will be explored that are typical for a particular moment of the urban history. Visits to sites outside Rome also will be used to address the issue of urban history in Italy in antiquity and the Middle Ages. (3 credits)
  • ARCH 3823 Urban Design, Architecture, and Art in Renaissance and Baroque RomeThis course focuses on the Renaissance and Baroque phases (15th-18th centuries) of Rome's history. The first class sessions will survey the city's urban history and form from its origins to the present, and we will often turn our attention to earlier and later developments, without an understanding of which the Renaissance and Baroque periods would be only partially intelligible. While the history of urban and architectural design will be our main focus, we will also look at key episodes of painting and sculpture, especially by artists who are also among the principal architects of these periods (Michelangelo, Bernini). (3 credits)

  Art

  • ART 1504 Introduction to Drawing in RomeThis course introduces students to principles and techniques of representation. Emphasis is on creating the illusion of space and form through line, the rendering of light and shade, and studies in perspective. Students have the opportunity to explore various media such as charcoal, chalk, pencil, pen, ink, and wash. Assumes no prior knowledge of drawing. (3 credits)
  • ART 1602 Introduction to Photography in RomeDrawing on Rome's historic and contemporary resources for inspiration, this course introduces photography as a means to visual interpretation and authorship. It addresses concepts essential to lens based artistic practice, as well as the technical foundations of digital photography. In this course students learn about diverse approaches to image making with the camera, and develop a body of work referencing their Rome experience. The course includes lectures, critiques, studio assignments, and visits to museums, galleries, and photography studios. (3 credits)
  • ART 3102 Contemporary Rome SeminarIntroduces students to contemporary art in Rome through studio visits, gallery exhibitions, and museum collections. Lectures by artists, critics, and others. Traces art from idea to realization and explores the gallery and its relationship to artists and to promotion of art, the role of the art critic and museum, and art collecting. (4 credits) (fall semester only)
  • ART 3803 Art History: Italian Cinema (4 credits)

  Urban Studies

  • CRP 3720 Contemporary Italy: Politics and SocietyThis course provides background on contemporary Italian politics and society, as an essential foundation to students with various disciplinary interests, from planning to architecture, from the fine arts to sociology and anthropology. This course provides a comprehensive survey of Italian society today, starting with Italy's geography and the historical forces that shaped the nation. It examines tensions between north and south, and such broad features of Italian social life as community structure, urban development, and family forms. The course also reviews selected institutional issues, such as gender, the system of education, problems of criminality and justice, economic reform, social class, religion, and politics. (3 credits) (spring semester only)
  • CRP 3723 European CitiesThe course will focus on European Cities and the challenges they are facing in a globalized economy. It provides a knowledge framework in the fields of urban planning and policies affecting European cities in the framework of the European integration process with the aim of making students achieve a better understanding of the constituents of European cities. By mixing historical perspectives with contemporary policy and project analysis, students will have an overview of the complex notion of Urban Europe useful for future research in urbanism and urban policies. (3 credits) (spring semester only)

  Italian

  • ITAL 1110 Elementary Italian I in Rome (4 credits)