Academics and Admissions
From art to history to politics, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the world in which we live and its ancient and modern origins. In Rome, the city and country – through excursions included in tuition to other areas of historical significance – become your classroom.
Study at Assumption's Rome Campus and immerse yourself in the very best of the classic liberal arts tradition, which is woven into the fabric of the city. The campus is staffed by Assumption faculty members versed in Italian history and culture and eager to share their knowledge with students.
A variety of liberal arts and pre-professional courses are offered each semester at Assumption's Rome Campus. Course offerings may include history, art history, theology, philosophy, comparative literature, Italian, accounting, human services and rehabilitation studies, among others. Most courses count towards general education requirements, so students can maintain progress toward their degree while getting the most advantage from study in Rome. Students of affiliated institutions travel to Rome knowing that they will receive full credit for all courses taken at the Rome campus. For students from other American institutions of higher learning, Assumption staff will make every effort to ensure that they, too, receive full credit for courses taken in Rome.
The deadline to apply to the Summer 2020 Rome program is April 15
Rome Campus Applications
Rome Campus Course Offerings
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The following courses are scheduled to be offered during the fall 2020 semester:
- ARH 223 Renaissance Art and Architecture (D. Borghese) Counts in the Core as Fine Art
- THE 100 Introduction to Theology (A. J. Boyd) Counts in the Core as the first Theology Core seminar
- ROM 200 Encounters with Rome (M. Graveline) Counts as an Elective
- MUS 122 History of Music I (M. Graveline) Counts in the Core as Fine Art
- HIS 150 Civilization in Rome (L. Lazar) Counts in Core as second History in Person and Society
- ITA 101+ Italian at placement level. Beginning is fine. (ItaliaIdea) Intensive Italian 9-credit option available Counts in the Core in Culture and Expression.
ARH 223 RENAISSANCE ART AND ARCHITECTURE
This course looks at one of the most celebrated eras of art history, the Renaissance. Focusing on Italy and Northern Europe, the course will look at art made from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. Major themes will include urban development, economic change, the black plague, and the political and religious forces of culture. Material covered will include painting, sculpture, architecture, and fresco, from the devotional works of the Franciscans to the courtly art made for the Duke of Urbino, and works made for women as well as men. Looking critically at primary source material, such as the writings of Alberti and Vasari, the course will also consider the role of the artist and what is often seen as his rise in status, through examples like Botticelli, Michelangelo, Giotto and Dürer. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. For the class of 2020 and subsequent classes, this course fulfills the Core requirement for a fine art in Culture and Expression.THE 100 INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGY
This course introduces students to the intellectual challenge posed by the academic study of Catholic theology. Through the study of selected classic and 200 contemporary texts, the course familiarizes students with the nature, foundations, history, methods, and ends of Catholic theology. Students will become familiar with some of the distinctive movements and thinkers of the Catholic theological tradition, as well as the dialogue between Catholicism and other theological traditions. Each section of this course examines a book from the Old and a book from the New Testament, St. Augustine’s Confessions, the thought of a medieval and the thought of a modern Catholic theologian, and the thought of a non-Catholic theologian.ROM 200 ENCOUNTERS WITH ROME
Counts as a free elective. Gives students in Rome a sixth course option. The course takes study abroad in Rome its topic, and asks students to pair a text and a location under a thematic heading. This allows faculty from across the curriculum to fill the course meaningfully. Examples include:- Classical Rome: Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, and the Forum and Colosseum
- Catholic Rome: John Paul II, “Homily on the Sistine Chapel,” and the Sistine Chapel and Bernini’s Teresa in Ecstasy
- Tourist Rome: H. James, Daisy Miller, and traveling on bus/metro and shops in centro
- European Rome: Current media presentations of immigrants from Africa, and either Termini or neighborhood around the Villino Dufault, or Treaty of Rome [1957] & Museo Capitolini: Palazzo dei Conservatori , where it was signed.
- Renaissance Rome: Pico della Mirandola, Dignity of Man, and Piazza Navona
- Risorgimento Rome: Puccini’s Tosca, and Vittorio Emanuele II monument or Janiculum monuments
MUS 122 HISTORY OF MUSIC I
Following a brief study of the vocabulary and basic materials of music, this course will cover the historical development of music in the West from the Middle Ages to the Classical period. Major composers and their works will be studied and connections among history, culture, and musical language will be explored. The course will focus on the enhancement of active listening skills and musical understanding. Counts in the Core Requirements.HIS 150 CIVILIZATION IN ROME
This course exploits the unsurpassed opportunity afforded by the city of Rome to consider developments in Western Civilization over the past three millennia. No urban environment can better illustrate the remarkable overlay of cultures that have influenced and reflected the world, first as a capital city for the ancient Republic and Empire, then for Western Christianity, then as the unifying center of the Kingdom of Italy, and lastly for the post-War republic. This course is offered only in Rome, and counts in the Core as the second History option in Person and Society.
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The following courses are scheduled to be offered during the spring 2021 semester:
- ARH 224 Baroque Art and Architecture (D. Borghese) Counts in the Core as Fine Art.
- THE 151 Faith and Reason (A. Boyd) Counts in the Core as a second Theology seminar
- HIS 150 Civilization in Rome (L. Lazar) Counts in Core as second History in Person and Society
- CLT 205 Literary Foundations of the West I (B. Knowlton) Counts in the Core as a second literature in Great Conversations
- ROM 200 Encounters with Rome (B. Knowlton) Counts as a free elective credit towards graduation
- ITA101+ Italian at placement level. Beginning is fine. Intensive Italian option available Counts in the Core in Culture Expression.
ARH 224 BAROQUE ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Typically offered on the Rome campus, this course examines the emergence of Baroque art in the late Cinquecento and early
Seicento (16th and 17th centuries) and follows the development of the Baroque style in sculpture, painting and architecture.
During the class students study artists including Caravaggio, Bernini and Borromini. Much of the course is taught on-site in Rome,
the ‘cradle’ of the Baroque.THE 151 FAITH AND REASON
Catholic theology both presupposes the compatibility of faith and reason and argues in defense of this compatibility. This course introduces students to Catholic theology’s traditional understanding of: 1) the nature of faith and reason; 2) their basic relation to each other; and 3) some of the various ways that theologians have historically approached the question of faith and reason. The course also introduces students to some contemporary debates involving the question of faith and reason. Each section of this course includes some readings taken from Augustine’s The City of God. Prerequisite: THE 100. This course fulfills the second theology requirement in the core curriculum program.HIS 150 CIVILIZATION IN ROME
This course exploits the unsurpassed opportunity afforded by the city of Rome to consider developments in Western Civilization over the past three millennia. No urban environment can better illustrate the remarkable overlay of cultures that have influenced and reflected the world, first as a capital city for the ancient Republic and Empire, then for Western Christianity, then as the unifying center of the Kingdom of Italy, and lastly for the post-War republic. This course is offered only in Rome, and counts in the Core as the second History option in Person and Society.CLT 205 LITERARY FOUNDATIONS OF THE WEST
This course considers some of the great themes of the West as they are played out in literature. The Fall semester’s work (CLT
205) concentrates on questions raised by the texts about the role of heroes and their relationship with their communities, about
honor, authority, obedience, rebellion, and the place of the gods or God in the lives of human beings. This course satisfies the
Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum.ROM 200 ENCOUNTERS WITH ROME
Counts as a free elective. Gives students in Rome a sixth course option. The course takes study abroad in Rome its topic, and asks students to pair a text and a location under a thematic heading. This allows faculty from across the curriculum to fill the course meaningfully. Examples include:- Classical Rome: Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, and the Forum and Colosseum
- Catholic Rome: John Paul II, “Homily on the Sistine Chapel,” and the Sistine Chapel and Bernini’s Teresa in Ecstasy
- Tourist Rome: H. James, Daisy Miller, and traveling on bus/metro and shops in centro
- European Rome: Current media presentations of immigrants from Africa, and either Termini or neighborhood around the Villino Dufault, or Treaty of Rome [1957] & Museo Capitolini: Palazzo dei Conservatori , where it was signed.
- Renaissance Rome: Pico della Mirandola, Dignity of Man, and Piazza Navona
- Risorgimento Rome: Puccini’s Tosca, and Vittorio Emanuele II monument or Janiculum monuments
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