ARTS AND HUMANITIES SUMMER PROGRAM: COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

The Art and Architecture of Renaissance and Baroque Rome Antonella De Michelis

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.

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Antonella De Michelis has been living in Rome for over ten years. She is an architectural historian and has earned her degrees from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Her research interests focus on papal urbanism of early 16th century Rome, in particular the papacy of Paul III Farnese which stems from her doctoral thesis, and Garden City planning of the 1920s. She has recently published conference papers presented at the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain Annual Symposia at London and is currently publishing her work presented at the International Planning and History Society. In her spare time Antonella enjoys travelling to cities with great food and architecture. Favourite destinations include Chicago, New York, Seville, London, Hong Kong and, of course, Rome.

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Roman Topography Viktorija Podagelyte

This course is a detailed overview of the development of Ancient Rome, from the days of Romulus and Remus, to the changes brought in by Constantine and Christianity. Students will explore all the sites that marked important events of the city on daily trips. Along with the visits the students will learn not only about Roman history, but also about building techniques, materials and tools involved in the “sculpting” of Rome. Many of the visits will be accompanied with readings of primary sources, from Roman authors such as Livy and Suetonius.

Viktorija Podagelyte has studied Latin and International Relations at Mount Holyoke College, and has earned her MA in International Education from Endicott College. She taught Latin and Ancient World History at Stoneleigh Burnham School in Massachusetts and has been teaching Roman Topography and Latin at St. Stephen’s for the past five years.

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Latin Inge Weustink The image shows the Sappho Fresco From Pompeii, c. 50 A.D.

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.

Inge Weustink was born in the Netherlands where she studied Classics at the University of Leiden. Besides her interest in Greek and Latin literature, she has a special interest in Roman archaeology, particularly in Roman wall painting. Her M.A. thesis was a study on the decorative arts of atria in Pompeii. She came to Rome in 2002 where she has been teaching for several American study abroad programs. Inge is also involved in speleo-archaeology, the excavation and investigation of tunnels, cisterns, aqueducts, and other underground spaces.

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Creative Writing Livia Sacchetti

This course aims to allow students to explore and strengthen their creative voice. Students will work with and from the different genres of literature, learning to draw inspiration from others’ writing and to muster the necessary patience and dedication to perfect their own. They will work both in the classroom and outdoors, where they will be able to explore the stimuli generated by the magical combination of ruins, rubble and modernity offered by the eternal city. At the end of the course, the students’ work will be collected in individual portfolios which will hopefully constitute the initial pages of their literary adventure.

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 Conversation Katia D'Angelo

To really experience Italy you need to feel the color and rhythm of the Italian language. This course aims to help students experience Italian in everyday contexts, so that they can 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.

Katia D'Angelo is a teacher of Italian as a second language and a teacher trainer for DITALS certification and other teacher-training workshops. She has taught Italian at Dilit International House, Pontificia Università di Scienze della Formazione, University of California study abroad program in Rome and at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura of

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Visual Arts Marina Buening

Seeing Rome for the first time “live” can be rather overwhelming, therefore in this course the students will have the possibility to find a visual expression of what they found impressive or what is so new to them. The starting point can be casual observations, first impacts and others. They will create a sort of travel journal, working with collage, drawing, painting and other approaches.

Marina Buening is a professional sculptor and painter. She has been exhibiting and teaching internationally for twenty years. Born in northern Germany, for the last ten years she has been living and working in the campagna Romana.

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Music Phil Ventre

Six Degrees of Musical Separation!
Circa 230 A.D. Hippolytus recorded that psalms were sung in church and circa 800A.D., monks codified these psalms/plainsong based upon Eastern and Greek modes (scales) into Gregorian Chant which served and continue to serve as a basis for music for centuries, having a direct influence upon the earliest composers and upon Canon by Pachelbel, which was admired by Vivaldi, who composed the Four Seasons, which Bach never heard (pity!), but he did compose Four Brandenburg Concerti and each of these masterworks were performed and recorded by Leonard Bernstein, whose dear friend "the Dean of America's composers" Aaron Copland, composed the ballets Appalachian Spring, employing simple modes and Rodeo, which includes a Hoe Down and is now used to sell beef on television(?!), which in the 1970's was "synthesized" by rock & roll legends Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who also "synthesized" Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, which Ravel - who admired Louis Armstrong, who sang Mack the Knife from Kurt Weill's Three Penny Opera as did Sting - brilliantly orchestrated after he studied Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade, which was inspired by The Tales of 1001 Nights, which Mozart read as a child and inspired him to compose his opera The Abduction from the Harem, which Beethoven found to be immoral, so he composed titanic symphonies, which bear no resemblance to the movie Titanic, but which Brahms emulated as did Schubert, Dvorak and Bruckner in their symphonies, which inspired Mahler, whose monumental Titan Symphony, was recorded by Leonard Bernstein conductor/composer of Candide and West Side Story, which was inspired by jazz legends Miles Davis and John Coltrane, whose modal jazz is related to the music of Vaughan Williams and the mystical minimalist composers of the late 20th Century John Tavener, Arvo Paert and pop legend Eno, who was inspired by the Beatles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Led Zeppelin, who in turn inspired CRH graduates John Frizzell '84 to compose the soundtracks to Alien IV and Dante's Peak, Kim Oler '72, who loved Bernstein’s West Side Story to become a Broadway composer, Larry Green '76, to become a Broadway conductor and Hayes Greenfield ’78, who rocked CRH with his band in 2006(!) and loved early music and its connection to the modal jazz of MilesDavis, to create Jazzamatazz! Come and connect to the music!

Philip T. Ventre is the founder and Music Director of the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of the Paul Mellon Arts Center, currently celebrating their thirty-fifth
anniversary seasons. The WSO has performed in concert with celebrated artists Julie Kent, Stephanie Chase, Jeffrey Kahane, Frederick Moyer, the Eroica Trio, Barbara Nissman, Benjamin Verdery, Maria Spacagnia, Jerry Hadley and Dave Brubeck. Robert Sherman wrote in the New York Times, "It is well worth the drive to Wallingford to hear the Wallingford Symphony!" Maestro Ventre has conducted the Connecticut Opera, Connecticut Ballet, New Haven Ballet and Northern Ballet (NH) Companies and has appeared as a frequent guest conductor with orchestras in America, Asia and Europe. Maestro Ventre has conducted orchestras and presented master classes in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, at Yale University, Simmons College, Southern Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut. As the Music Director of the Greater New Haven Youth Orchestra, the GNHYO performed concerts in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Boston and Canada. Maestro Ventre is the founder and Music Director of the Choate Rosemary Hall Chamber Orchestra, which has appeared on Connecticut Public Television, performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, at the Guggenheim Museum and toured extensively in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. Maestro Ventre received a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Music History from the New England Conservatory, performed with the Boston Pops and with many greater Boston metropolitan symphony orchestras.

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Contemporary Dance Roberta Escamilla Garrison

This is a course that explores the rich possibilities for dialogue and exchange between contemporary dance and Jazz music. Specifically, it focuses on the improvisation that responds to and is motivated by Jazz music. Students will become well versed in both the classical and avant-garde structures of the music, in the phrasing, in the sense of time and various rhythms, and the colors and emotions that these inspire.

Roberta Escamilla Garrison born in San Francisco, at 5 years old she began studying at the San Francisco Ballet School under the tutelage of Harold Christiansen. Moving to New York in '66, she intensely lived the great season of ferment which animated Manhattan in the Sixties and the Seventies. After having studied with Merce Cunningham, Dan Wagoner, and Thelma Hill, she moved to Italy in 1979 and continued her work with dance and choreography. In 1982 she presented and performed her pieces "One Woman" and "Running" with the company she founded, Every Day Company. As a result of these performances, she was recognized by the Italian Cultural Ministry and awarded her first grant which she continues to receive annually. Since then the Every Day Company has been invited to participate in prestigious Dance Festivals in both Italy and abroad. Another important aspect of Roberta's work is her teaching. Through seminars, stages and master classes held all over Italy and her daily classes in Rome, she has introduced her interpretation of the Cunningham technique and raised new generations of Italian dancers. She taught as guest artist for seven years at the Accademia Nazionale di Danza, both technique and composition at the highest professional level. She was guest teacher for two years for the scholarship students at the Centro Internazionale di Danza, and in 1988 she founded the Dance Department at St. Stephen's School.

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Italian Cooking Josephine Wennerholm

Don’t be put off track by my Swedish surname – my mother is Italian and my grandmother was too and that’s where I first got my love and passion for cooking. The essence of Italian cooking is regionality and seasonality, making the most of what is available, and the exaltation of even a humble ingredient. As we explore variety and quality along the motley culinary roads that lead to Roma Caput Mundi, we will look at basic cooking techniques hands-on, and choose a menu for you to enjoy. We shall whisk tradition and history into the preparation of our meals and, dulcis in fundo, season our exchange of personal experience with lively banter and team spirit. Our motto? … edamus et gaudeamus!

Jo majored in semiotics and child psychology from the University of West Virginia and the American College of Rome. She spent her elementary school years with her parents in Pakistan, Iran and what would become Bangladesh, and later went to boarding school in England for six years. But Rome was always home, and that is where she returned to live in 1977. She worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations until she became a stay-at-home mother. Her peripatetic upbringing exposed her to a variety of cultural approaches to food and eating from a very early age, and she is a firm believer in the role of food for companionship … whose Latin etymology is as valid today as it always was: if you can break bread with someone (“cum panis”), you can become friends.