Cultural Studies Abroad:

Summer 2009, Italy

Special Topics:

An Ethno-historical view of Mediterranean Culture

Overview:

The three main ingredients of the historical narrative are: written records (primary/secondary sources), cultural memory (folklore, religion, traditions, festivals, etc), and the memory embedded in the material culture (art, pottery, clothing, tools, architecture, etc). These three areas will be explored in the course; the first two weeks on campus will be dedicated to a rigorous examination of the written historical record of the area; the last two weeks will delve into the cultural and material memory of Castellabate and surrounding areas. Once an interested group of students is assembled, we will begin to tailor the program to fit the specific academic programs from which students are drawn (i.e. history, anthropology, religious studies, the humanities, legal fields, medical fields, etc.)

A (primarily) Southern Italian Experience will include:
Flight into Milan, Whirlwind tour of Florence and Rome, Accommodations and regional cuisine in the medieval fishing village of Santa Maria di Castellabate, Excursions in relevant areas in Salerno and surrounding regions (Naples, Pompeii, Paestum, Sorrento, Island of Capri, among others listed below).

From our base in the Province of Salerno we will have a week and a half to explore and study the cultural and material memory of an ancient Greco-Roman culture.

Some of the sites in the area are as follows:

· Castellabate: Castle and Basilica Pontificia from the 12^th century, San Marco – Greco-Roman port, Santa Maria di Castellabate home of the festival of the Holy Mother of the Sea

· Elea-Velia: Greek colonies, medieval towers, famous ‘Porta Rosa’, archeological museum, once home of some of the most prominent Hellenistic philosophers

· Greco-Roman antiquity throughout the territory (most famously Pompeii).

· Land of various examples of ancient folk religions (Mal’ Occhio, for example).

· Mythological Roots (Homer's The Odyssey, Isola di Licosa served as Homer’s Island of the Sirens).

· The Church of Madonna del Granato from the 12th Century (a key place of interest in the Greek city of Paestum)

· The National Museum of Archeology

· The Church of the Annunciation in the Commune of Cappaccio

· Agropoli: mainly Roman city where the Saracens are believed to have sought refuge

· The Blue Grotto (off the coast of Capri)

· Mt. Vesuvius

· The University of Salerno (One of the oldest in the world)

· The Roman emperor Tiberius' palace

Course Description:

This course will be concerned with the Cultural History of the Mediterranean world. Through various methods of social scientific research, including archival searches, recording of oral history, and participant observation, we will consider the late cultural historian Walter Ong’s claim that the ancient Greeks and Romans are alive and well today. Among the material covered will be folklore and folk religion, oral history, cultural production, Greco-Roman and medieval studies, and much more. It will also consider such ideologies as: secularism, capitalism, technology, and “modernism” evaluating the overall influence of these forces on the culture of the Mediterranean world.

Course Objectives:

Students will get an in depth look at an historical era which will provide opportunities to develop the skills of the historian’s craft in a way that courses in “brick and mortar” classrooms will not provide.

· Read and interpret primary sources in their cultural context

· Write a formal research paper that is original and scholarly, using primary sources and historical artifacts as the basis of its analysis

· Use various forms of modern educational technologies to facilitate research in museums, archives, and libraries (both public and private).

· Record (audio, video, and still photography) elements and examples of the oral history and folk culture of this part of the Mediterranean and store these records in a digital database.

· Learn and employ the methods of field research including participant observation.

Assignments:

Preliminary Proposal-

Prior to beginning the program, students must hand in a 2-4 page research proposal containing the following: preliminary research question, list of possible types of sources to be used, preliminary bibliography (approximately 10 sources), paradigms to be considered, explanation of how the particular project will tie into student’s disciplinary interests.

Final Proposal-

Prior to embarking on the trip, students must turn in a final proposal containing the following: finalized research question, list of actual sources that will be consulted in Florence, list of contacts and agreements at necessary archives, libraries, or museums containing these sources, expected outcomes, description of perceived importance of such research, expected contribution to the discipline, annotated bibliography.

A final paper will be done one week after our departure from the field. Revisions will be required as the expected outcome is to publish the proceedings in a book to be placed in the library’s special collections.