BROWN UNIVERSITY-ST. STEPHEN'S SCHOOL PRE-COLLEGE SUMMER PROGRAM: COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Secrets & Symbols of Roman Art & Architecture: Renaissance through the Baroque Noah Charney

This course will provide an in-depth, insider investigation of the architectural and artistic wonders of the city of Rome, from the Renaissance through the Baroque. But more than this, this course will bring students behind the scenes, to explore the secrets and symbols of the hidden city. While the course will cover the major items of art historical interests, from the Caravaggio’s paintings to the Sistine Chapel, what sets this course apart is the focus on the important, but little-seen jewels of the Eternal City. The result is an insider’s study of the art and architecture of what is arguably the most important city in the history of the civilized world.

Noah Charney holds advanced degrees in Art History from the Courtauld Institute in London and the University of Cambridge in Great Britain, and will receive his doctorate in architectural history from the University of Ljubljana during the 2009/2010 academic year. His specialty is in 17th century Roman art and architecture and 16th century Italian Mannerist painting and iconography. Noah is the founding director of ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, a non-profit think tank and consultancy group on issues in art crime (www.artcrime.info). His work in the field of art crime has been praised in such forums as The New York Times Magazine, Time Magazine, BBC Radio, and National Public Radio, among others. Noah is the author of numerous articles and a novel, The Art Thief (Atria 2007). His two art history books will come out in 2010: a monograph on the many thefts of The Ghent Altarpiece entitled Stealing the Mystic Lamb, and a new guidebook series entitled Museums of Spain. Noah has taught art history in numerous venues, both as a distinguished visiting lecturer in the US, London, Cambridge, Ljubljana, Florence, Rome, Madrid, and Amsterdam. He was recently a Visiting Lecturer at Yale University, and has just joined the faculty of the American University of Rome as an Adjunct Professor of Art History.

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Introduction to Ancient Rome Sarah Nix

This course is an overview of the history, art and archaeology of Rome and the topography of the ancient city. Students will explore the history, civilization and literature of the Roman world during the Republican and Imperial periods, and will investigate the daily lives of Romans from slaves to emperors. Through visits to major sites and museums, students will gain knowledge of the formal characteristics of the architecture, painting, and sculpture of ancient Rome, and will also learn to interpret those characteristics within their historical and cultural contexts. Side trips to Ostia, Pompeii, and villas in the Roman countryside will provide an even more comprehensive view of ancient Rome and the social and political experience of ancient Roman life.

Sarah Nix completed her Ph.D. in Classical Languages and Literature at Brown University in 2004. She has taught at Brown University (Latin and Greek), Moses Brown School, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Currently she heads the Latin program at Miss Hall's School, and has been an instructor for the Brown University undergraduate summer program in Rome for the past four years. Her research interests include Augustan and Early Imperial Literature, Latin Epic, and Greek Tragedy. In addition to her work as a classicist, Sarah spent a summer excavating in the Roman Forum and in Tuscany with the American Academy in Rome's Summer Program in Archaeology. She has also lived and worked in Thailand, teaching English at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Modern Italy Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg

The city of Rome has traditionally been known to have three histories: the history of its Roman Empire, its history as the seat of the Popes (during the Renaissance and the Baroque), and finally as the capital of a modern nation. Italy became a unified country relatively late – compared to other European countries - and Rome became its capital only in 1870.
This course will explore Rome – and by extension – Italy as a modern nation. Using the city as a major resource, but also exploring issues beyond its borders, we will investigate HOW the nation was made, what kinds of pressures were placed on it from the inside and beyond its borders, and the ways in which Italy is both similar and different from the rest of Europe. The period we will cover is 1870 to the present. This period covers the period of the country’s unification, the fascist regime, the period of reconstruction after the Second World War, the years of political instability and the current political and cultural situation. We will deal with a broad range of materials: historical documents, fiction, film, museums, the art scene and historical sites in the city. There will also be a series of outside speakers on a range of topics, spanning Italian history, art, film, fashion and design.

Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg works on the literature, culture and politics of 19th and 20th century Italian and German literature. She received her B.A. (Hons.) from the University of Essex, Great Britain in sociology, her Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University, and an M.A. in German Studies from Cornell University. She began teaching at Cornell University and came to Brown in 2005. Her book Sublime Surrender: Male Masochism at the Fin-de-Siecle was published by Cornell University Press in 1998. She has a forthcoming book on the construction of modern Italian identity in the post-Unification period entitled The Pinocchio Effect: On Making Italians (1860-1930).

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Latin

This course is an introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of the Latin language. Understanding Latin grammar and knowing Latin vocabulary offers insight into Romance languages such as Italian, French, and Spanish, and enriches knowledge of English. Daily lessons will consist of the presentation of new grammar, as well as drill exercises in which the learned grammar and vocabulary are consolidated. Through the stories we read, students will become familiar with Roman society, history, and mythology, and will gain, as well, a clearer perception of Western civilization.

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Juliet, Desdemona, and Cleopatra: Shakespeare's Heroines and Italian Culture Livia Sacchetti

This course explores the role of Shakespeare’s female characters in terms of their significance in anticipating or shadowing the subtleties portrayed by their more famous male counterparts. Through a thorough study of Juliet ("Romeo and Juliet"), Desdemona ("Othello") and Cleopatra ("Antony and Cleopatra"), students will learn to appreciate the rare, innovative quality of Shakespeare’s women. On the other hand, the plays’ Italian references will allow the students to discover Shakespeare’s imaginary Italy while they roam around its capital city.

Livia Sacchetti earned her PhD from La Sapienza University in 2003. She has been teaching literature in high schools and universities since, and has continued to conduct research independently with a focus on contemporary drama and on the development of the novel. She has taught creative writing at university and is currently an English teacher at St. Stephen’s.

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Italian – Beginning and Intermediate Levels Karina Mascorro and Nicole Gercke

To really experience Italy one must feel the color and rhythm of the Italian language. This course aims to help students experience the Italian language in everyday contexts, so that they may use it in their wanderings around Rome. In the classroom, students will learn by doing, and they will be involved in all sorts of team projects, musical games, and creative thinking activities. Students will also study cultural topics, which will enable them to better understand Rome and Italy.

Karina Mascorro is a third-year graduate student in the Italian Studies Department. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006 with a B.A. in both Psychology and Italian Studies. During the 2004-2005 academic year she studied abroad at the Università di Bologna (Italy) where she completed work in Psychology, Anthropology, and Contemporary Italian Literature. Recently, she attended the 2008/2009 summer session of the Scuola Italiana at Middlebury College. At the age of six Ms. Mascorro emigrated from Mexico to the United States. Her upbringing in a multicultural working class neighborhood in Los Angeles, California inspired her to promote diversity in Education. Before coming to Brown she worked as the program assistant for the Graduate Diversity Program of Outreach and Retention, a resource center for educationally and financially disadvantaged students throughout their academic career at UC Berkeley. Currently, she holds a teaching assistantship in elementary Italian and her academic interests include 20th Century Italian Literature, Migratory Culture, Transnationalism, Hybridity, and Photography. She looks forward to completing a dissertation on the everyday positive cultural import that comes with migration.

Nicole Gercke received a B.A in Classics from Dartmouth College with a minor in Studio Art. After college, she spent time in Edinburgh, Scotland and at a small art school in Greece. She worked for several years writing and designing elementary math lessons for an online instructional company based in her hometown of Charlottesville, VA. After working as an English teacher in various regions of Italy, she completed her M.A. in Italian Literature at Middlebury College in Florence. Her M.A. thesis, Le connotazioni di Zeno, explored the various critical interpretations of Svevo's novel which are suggested by the protagonist's name. She is a second year student at Brown University with a focus on modern and contemporary Italian literature. Her teaching experience includes English language instruction in Italy and Italian instruction at Brown University.

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Digital Photography Liana Miuccio

Students will learn the art of photography while documenting the Eternal City's urban landscape. The technical component of the course consists of mastering camera operation, exposure and digital input and output. Students will gain an understanding of the aesthetic possibilities of photography through assignments, lectures on important photographers, photo field trips in Rome and visits to contemporary photo exhibits. By the conclusion of the course, students will have produced a visual diary of their Roman experience

Liana Miuccio was born in Rome from a native Italian mother and an Italian-American father and recently divides her time between Rome and New York City. She received her BA in Humanities from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and studied photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. Liana’s photographs have been published in numerous publications including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Globe and Mail, La Repubblica delle Donne, Il Corriere della Sera, l'Espresso and L'Internazionale. Liana collaborates with Getty Images and is part of the Stampa Estera (Foreign Press) in Rome. Miuccio also teaches photography at the Rome campuses of Temple and Cornell Universities. She has received numerous awards for her photography including the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Italian American Foundation and Grazie Neri's Yann Geoffrey prize. She will havea solo exhibition in summer 2009 titled “Doppia Visione/Double Vision” as part of FotoGrafia Festival Internazionale di Roma 2009, and in collaboration with the US Embassy in Rome.

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Drawing Class: Views of Rome Katherine Krizek

This course will take full advantage of the St. Stephen’s School location in the historic center of Rome. The Aventine hill is accessible to a variety of important sites to name only a few, such as the Circus Maximus, The Baths of Caracalla, Pyramide Cestia, The Protestant Cemetery, and the Forum. Familiarizing students with these important sites through art will complement their academic experience of history with firsthand experience. Students will work to record their observations in sketchbook form. In-class demonstrations will complement fieldwork. Instruction will be given on various methods of working in a variety of media including pencil, charcoal, contè crayon and ink wash. Experiments with a variety of mediums will be encouraged. The focus of the course is on fluency, quality and the development of an individual style with personalized interpretations of the assignments and sites visited. Verbal communications will be fostered through class discussions. Students will have the unique opportunity of experiencing a twenty-first century version of the “Grand Tour” while expanding their conceptual and technical abilities and experiencing the beauty of Rome firsthand.

Katherine Krizek is an American artist and designer living and working in Rome Italy. Raised and educated in New York City she has a background in Architecture (B Arch The Cooper Union), and in the Fine arts (BFA Parsons School of Design). One of a select group of American designers who have successfully penetrated the European design scene, today she works on furniture and products for top manufacturing companies such as Acerbis International, Bialetti, Cappellini International, Covo, Interflex, Mandarina Duck, Salviati and Zanotta. Her designs have received many awards, such as the best of furniture by ID magazine, and selection for the Premio Comapasso, D’Oro in Milan. Nine of her pieces are in the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent collection of Design. She has lectured and taught Drawing, Design and Italian Design History at numerous Italian and American Universities, including Temple University’s Rome Program, Northeastern and Rhode Island School of Design. As an artist her most current solo show was in summer 2009 at Gallery Toscanini in Cetona, Siena..

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Enjoying Music Richard Trythall

This is a general Music Appreciation course which is designed around class attendance of performances given during Rome’s summer music season. Summer offerings include performances by the Rome Opera at the Baths of Caracalla as well as a number of chamber and orchestral concerts of diverse types. Should there be performances of popular music (Folk, Rock, Jazz, Electronica, etc.) which are of particular interest to the class, these will also be incorporated into the concert schedule. Prior to attending these performances, class lectures and discussions will place the selected music within historical perspective as well as examine its musical and, in the case of opera, dramatic structure using recordings, videos and live performance demonstrations.

Richard Trythall, Head of the Arts Department of St. Stephen’s School, has been teaching both Classical and Popular Music Appreciation courses at St. Stephen’s School since 1966. He has also, since 1970, been "Music Liaison" for the American Academy in Rome - administering that institution's prestigious Rome Prize musical program. In the course of his teaching career, he has been on the faculties of the University of California at Davis, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of California Center, Rome, and of St. Mary’s College, Rome. He presently teaches “Twentieth Century Music Theory” for the New York University program in Florence. Both a composer and a pianist, Trythall has received the Rome Prize in Musical Composition, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Naumburg Recording Award, a Fulbright Fellowship, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship as well as composition commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation, the Dorian Woodwind Quintet, and the Gruppo Percussione Ricerca (Venice, Italy). As a concert pianist Trythall won First Prize in the "Kranichsteiner Competition for Interpreters of Contemporary Piano Music" held in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1969, and has had an active performing and recording career for the past 40 years. Further information may be found at www.richardtrythall.com.

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