Greece and Italy: An Artistic and Literary Odyssey

Classical Greece and Rome and Renaissance Italy made some of the Western world's most extraordinary contributions to the written word and the visual arts. These accomplishments continue to captivate artists and thinkers, giving them models and standards to admire, emulate, struggle against, or reject—but rarely to ignore. We will study the texts and monuments of ancient Greece, from the Bronze Age to the Roman period, and Italy, especially Rome and Florence, from the Etruscan period through the 16th century. We will read authors including Homer, Sappho, Virgil, Dante, and Petrarch; artists we study will include Phidias, Praxiteles, Giotto, and Michelangelo. Throughout the program, we will also learn about modern rediscoveries and reinterpretations of these periods. 

In fall, we will investigate the rise of the Greek polis, or city-state, from the ashes of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, as well as that of the Etruscans in what is now Tuscany. In addition to reading primary source materials, we will study the surviving architecture, sculpture, painting, and pottery. Students will have the option of studying ancient Greek or learning digital photography. In winter, our focus will be on the Roman appropriation of Greek art and thought and the later Florentine rediscovery and interpretation of the Classical past. We'll study how the Italians drew on the ideas of classical literature and learning as the basis for revolutions both in artistic practices and the conception of humanity. Greek students will continue learning the language, while the photography students will move on to film. In spring, we will meet on campus for two weeks for additional study and preparation for our studies in Greece and Italy. Once in Europe, we will visit archaeological sites, museums, and other cultural institutions in Athens, Crete, the Peloponnese, Delphi, Rome, and Florence. Between visits, we will hold seminars to discuss what we have seen and read, and students will work on individual projects that will apply what they have learned, including ancient Greek and photography. 

Throughout the program, students will interpret the texts and monuments in essays, and their mastery of the historical contexts and artistic styles will be strengthened and assessed in written exams. In winter, original research projects will help us reach a new level of understanding of an aspect of our study of special interest to each of us. This research will allow every student who continues into spring to be an expert on a site or monument when we see them in Greece or Italy. Participants in the language and photography electives will share their work. 

This program incorporates Greener Foundations. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s in-person 2-quarter introductory student success course, which provides all first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. First-year students who register for 14 credits in this program will be placed into Greener Foundations for an additional 2 credits, totaling 16 credits. Once first-year students have been placed into Greener Foundations, they will receive an email confirming their registration status.