New adult summer Rome program

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The University of Dallas is offering alumni and other adults a chance to relive their Rome experience or discover Rome for the first time through a new summer program, Classical Education in Rome, offered this June 18-29.

The program is open to all adults with bachelor degrees and is especially aimed toward graduate students and UD alumni who are currently teaching or pursuing a graduate degree.

Braniff Graduate School Assistant Dean Dr. Matthew Post is overseeing the program.

The program is budgeted for a minimum of 15 students, and, depending on undergraduate enrollment, may be able to expand into the low twenties, according to Rebecca Davies, director of Rome and summer programs. About seventeen students have signed up thus far. The students will stay in suites not occupied by undergraduates or program faculty.

Two three-credit courses will be offered as the focus of the program.

Associate Professor of English Dr. Andrew Moran will teach “Shakespeare, the Renaissance, and the Baroque.” The course covers two plays, Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” and “The Tempest.”

Moran stated that these plays are fitting for the program because they are about education and many of the students are teachers. In “The Tempest,” Miranda and Prospero portray an ideal relationship between student and teacher, and the “Taming of the Shrew” is set in the university city of Padua.

Moran also pointed out that one might see the two plays as relating to cultural elements in Rome. “The Tempest” will help students understand the Baroque art and architecture, while the “The Taming of the Shrew” points toward Renaissance art.

“It works really well,” Moran said.

Dr. David Davies will teach a course called “Strategies of Poetic Composition in the Classical Epic and Tragedy.” The class will probe the deeper relationships between the ancient poets and their epics.

For alumni, the program will be a chance to enjoy Rome again, “UD style.” The group will enjoy leisurely yet productive days, touring in the morning, relaxing, going to class in the evening and participating in various social and academic activities, complete with the typical UD discussions, according to the Classical Education in Rome website.

The program will allow some, like alumnus Anne Beck, B.A. ’18, to experience Rome through UD for the first time. Because Beck transferred to UD as a junior, she never went to Rome as an undergraduate.

“I’m excited for the program because … this is a kind of chance to make that up and visit Rome finally and experience the Due Santi campus that seems part of home to most UD students,” Beck said. “I’m also really interested in the classes they’re offering, since they both cater very much to my interests in literature and classics.”

“I’m excited about the opportunity to travel around Rome with other UD alumni,” Beck added. “I think having the intellectual and Catholic company and environment will enhance my experience of Rome even more than if I was just going by myself.”

The program will continue to be offered in the future based on interest, according to Davies.

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