TO:
Beth Dobkin, Provost
FROM:
Tomas Gomez-Arias, Chair
Academic Senate
DATE:
March 23, 2012
RE:
Senate Action S-11/12-22CA
TRS 168: Encountering Christian Art: Rome
.25 Activity Course
At the March 22, 2011 meeting of the Academic Senate, the attached Proposal for a .25 Activity Course,
TRS 168: Encountering Christian Art: Rome was approved on the Senate's Consent Agenda. The item
was forwarded to the Senate's Consent Agenda from the Undergraduate Educational Policies Committee
with a vote of 6-0-0. This action was assigned Senate Action # S-11/12-22CA.
Attachment
cc:
Br. Ronald Gallagher, President
Vice Provost Richard Carp
Dean Steve Woolpert
Frances Sweeney
A PROPOSAL FOR FORMAL APPROVAL OF AN EXPERIMENTAL QUARTER-CREDIT
ACTIVITY COURSE:
TRS 168: “ENCOUNTERING CHRISTIAN ART: ROME.”
-- School:
Liberal Arts
-- Department:
Theology & Religious Studies
-- Course number and course title:
TRS 168: Encountering Christian Art: Rome
The title is in this format for two reasons. The words before the colon focus
on the actual encounter with the art as distinct from an on-campus course. The
simple city location after the colon allows for flexibility in the future. If this type of
course is found to work well for our students and to enhance the Catholic character
of our study abroad programs, then conceivably it could be offered in other
locations such as Florence, London, or Oxford.
This course was offered as an upper division course in its experimental phase
in the fall of 2011. Most every student studying abroad who enrolled in the course
had already completed the lower division TRS 097, “The Bible and Its interpretation,”
which enables us to build upon that shared foundation.
Brief course description for the catalog:
This course is an on-site introduction and exploration of the theological
dimensions of the works of Christian art and architecture in the city of Rome,
focusing on the churches of Rome where much of this art is housed, but also
featuring study of the catacombs and the Vatican Museums.
Justification for the course:
First and most immediately, our students living in Rome and studying at John
Cabot University don't have anything like this course available to them. (A few of
them will encounter a few of the artistic treasures we will study if they take one of
the on-site art classes, but in those contexts they won’t be studying these sites and
works of art from a theological perspective.) Out of love and service for our
students, it is a privilege to be give our students a chance to study some of Rome's
greatest Christian art from a theological perspective, and not simply as tourists, but
as part of a college class. When I’ve taught versions of this class before (having
lived in Rome for the fall semesters of ’02 and ’03, then helping to coordinate the
Rome Program for the two academic years of ’04-’05 and ’05-’06), then again in the
fall of 2012, each time the students were incredibly appreciative, many
acknowledging that they wouldn't have even seen most of these sites if I hadn't
taken them, and all of them saying how helpful the classes were to help them
appreciate the depth and context of what they were seeing.
Second, I've always been concerned about the deficiencies of our affiliation
with John Cabot University since our students from a Catholic college don't have
much of a chance to systematically study the riches of the Catholic artistic heritage
of Rome apart from a few onsite art classes – but those classes are not theological
in nature, neither do they study as many of the great treasures of the Christian
faith nor do they study them as thoroughly or systematically. (It might make sense
if the Catholic dimension of the culture is not featured in Cuernavaca or Australia,
but Rome?) This class would seem to enhance the Catholic character of the college,
showing our concern for providing students the opportunity to explore this area
while also filling in a major lacuna in the Cabot curriculum.
Third, this is the model kind of class for study abroad in that it takes what is
there, in this case the artistic riches of the Catholic church in Rome, and makes that
the text for study.
Fourth, and on a personal note, not only do I love this field of study and
treasure the opportunity to share it with our students, this is rapidly becoming an
area of expertise for me. The more chances I have to research, think through, and
present one some of these topics, the closer I am to writing on them. That kind of
active scholarly interest is always good for our students to see. In particular, I’m
working on a thesis developing the theological vision of artists such as Bernini and
Caravaggio. One topic, for instance, would be Bernini's use of the saints in his
refurbishment of Santa Maria del Popolo and his parallel use of the personification
of the virtues in Saint Peter's as central to his theological message, a topic which
builds upon what I've already begun to explore with Bernini's use of the saints in
two other churches.
Tentative syllabus:
Since John Cabot University has no classes on Fridays, the format of the class
will be two extended-weekends of class, though one extended-weekend alone
seems to reach slightly beyond the minimum number of contact hours expected of
a quarter-credit class. We will meet for a three-hour class on Friday morning from
9:00 to noon, another three-hour class that afternoon from 2:30 to 5:30, the same
again on Saturday, and a class or two each Sunday.
A tentative syllabus/itinerary looks like this. On the opening Friday morning
we will study the church San Pietro in Vincoli which features Michelangelo’s statue
of Moses in the tomb of Pope Julius II, then spend most of our time in the chuch of
San Clemente. That afternoon we will study the Catacombs of Pricilla (where I
have brought so many groups they sometimes allow me to lead the tour). On
Saturday morning our class will focus on the church of Santa Maria del Popolo with
chapels designed by Bramante and Raphael, paintings by Caravaggio, and
renovations by Bernini. That Saturday afternoon we will turn our attention to the
church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and the Pantheon with a brief stop in the
church of San Ignazio to study the ceiling by Adrea Pozzo. On our first Sunday
afternoon we will study the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before an early
evening tour of the Borghese Gallery.
For the second weekend, our first day will focus all day on the Vatican
Museums, especially the Sistine Chapel. On that Saturday morning we will focus on
the churches of Bernini and Borromini in the morning, then study the basilica of St.
John Lateran that afternoon. On Sunday afternoon, our focus will be on St. Peter's
– typically a three-plus hour tour.
The standard format of the class when touring a church is as follows: we
gather in the church for a brief introduction to the church and suggestions as to
what the students might focus their attention on. Students then have a chance to
study the church on their own. After that we gather to discuss what they noted and
answer questions, followed by a more detailed introduction to the church and a
systematic tour of some of the highlights of the church. This lasts about three
hours. The format varies a bit from site to site. Sometimes, as with St. Peter’s the
students are asked to make their initial study of the church before the class since
the formal tour already lasts over three hours. In some situations a brief reading or
preparatory notes (usually written by the instructor, such as in reference to the
typological pairings of paintings on the side walls in the Sistine Chapel) is given in
advance. In others cases, worksheets might be used to help guide the students in
their systematic analysis of the church and prepare them for the discussion which
follows.
Learning Goals and Outcomes:
The format is particularly suited to the learning goal of helping students learn
to study/read a church and work of art. The format is also flexible enough to allow
room for some readings to be added before or after a site visit as well as to allow a
variety of formats for written expression in response to and assessment of what has
been learned.
Among the learning outcomes will be the following:
--Students will be able to differentiate various periods and styles of art and
architecture and discuss some of the theological themes developed in each
era.
--Students will be able to describe the theological universe created in such buildings
as St. Peter’s in Rome and some of the small churches designed by Bernini
and Borromini.
--Students will be able to discuss theological themes and insights developed in the
work of several renaissance and baroque artists and architects like
Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Bernini, and Borromini.
--Students will begin to be able to discuss how the episodes from the Bible and
church history chosen for depiction, and how they are depicted, reveal the
artist’s and/or patron’s understanding of the gospel.
--Students will recognize a host of saints and be able to explain not merely the
reasoning behind the iconographic symbols you would expect to find with
them, but discuss the reason for their inclusion in the church’s decoration
Amount of course credit:
Quarter-credit, activity course
Will the pass/fail grading option be allowed?
Yes
Number and type of contact hours per week/Duration of the course in weeks:
The course will meet over two weekends with two three-hours sessions on
Friday, two more three-hour sessions on Saturday, plus meetings on each Sunday
for a total of about ten or eleven classes and roughly 32 hours in total. One
intensive weekend in this format would seem to be enough to meet the standards
for a quarter-credit class, but there is so much to explore in Rome that the course
deserves more time. In turn, that gives the students some flexibility. The student
must attend six of the classes to earn the credit, a minimum of 18 hours. Most
attend all sessions but scheduling conflicts (such as review sessions for their regular
classes) sometimes get in the way.
Relationship to present Department and College curriculum:
Neither the Theology & Religious Studies Department nor the College has
anything resembling this class in its current regular-semester curriculum though
some January Term travel classes approximate some of its dimensions. It works as
a superb compliment to our already existing TRS 167, “Seeing Salvation: Christian
Art and Architecture.” It is to highlight that relationship that the course numbers
are adjacent.
Any extraordinary implementation costs:
There will be no additional expenses for the class and no charges to the
Center for International Programs or the Rome Program. Whatever the instructor is
paid for teaching such a class as part of a regular teaching load or standard
supplement to her or his contract for a quarter-credit course will be invested in the
airline tickets, residing at the Mother House, and probably taking the students out
to dinner a time or two.
While administrative constraints prevented offering such classes in the past
few years with our students in Rome already being billed for a full-load and not able
to enroll in an additional quarter-credit class, with the new fee structure for
quarter-credit classes, our students studying in Rome are now eligible to sign up for
this class with no problem. To make sure, I started by running this idea by Dean
Woolpert and Jeanne DeMatteo who both confirmed that there were no
insurmountable administrative issues. The class worked perfectly in the fall of 2011.
Library Resources:
Not applicable
Prerequisites (if any):
TRS 097, “The Bible and Its Interpretation”
Number and type of students expected (majors? minors? fulfilling
area
requirement? general interest?):
At least seven students, probably more like ten to twelve of the 24 to 36 SMC
students studying in Rome in a typical semester.
This course is for students of all majors to give them more of an opportunity
to appreciate the wealth of the Catholic tradition in Rome, especially its artistic
heritage and what can be learned of the Church and the faith through appreciating
that art in its historical context.
This course is not specifically designed for majors and minors in Theology &
Religious Studies, though they are welcome and would find that this course
enhances their studies.
The department or program approves the offering of the course:
The TRS department approved this course on an experimental basis in the fall
of 2011 and as a course ready for inclusion in the catalog in the spring of 2012.
Review of experimental offering:
The experimental version of this course in Fall 2011 went incredibly well. If it
would help, I would be glad to submit some reviews from several of the students.
As expected, the format of the course works perfectly for our students studying in
Rome. Since many of them travel virtually every weekend, it assured that they
spent at least two weekends in Rome itself and made the Christian art of Rome a
subject of academic study for them. That seems to be a very good thing. It was
also a chance for many of them to interact together and discuss the material we
were studying in light of their Saint Mary’s experience. As they noted to me, in
Rome they are taking a variety of classes, but none together.
Actually, the course was created in direct response to three students in Rome
independently writing and saying they wished I was there to help them better
understand the chuches they were walking into, so special thanks to Steve
Woolpert, David Gentry-Akin, and Michael Barram for being able and willing to
expedite the approval of the experimental version of the course.