On a 25-day study abroad program that took them from the Vatican in Rome to the leaning Tower of Pisa, six Campbell University students and their professors immersed themselves in Italian culture this summer. University professors Dr. Adam English, assistant professor of philosophy and theology in the Department of Religion and Philosophy, and Daniel Rodgers, professor of graphic design in the Division of Fine Arts, taught art history, painting, philosophy and an upper level course on Roman Catholicism in the country that played a major role in the history of their subject areas.”The experience of study abroad is something that cannot be duplicated in the classroom,” said English. “Professor Rodgers would take his students outdoors with easel and brush and paint the scenery. Meanwhile, I would gather my group of students to discuss St. Augustine, whose classic autobiography is set in Italy. Students were able to connect what they were learning with the experiences they were having and the sites they were seeing.”Rodgers’ students, who studied art history and painting, were able to see famous works from each period they studied-medieval to baroque. “No one can describe the profound difference between seeing these works in a textbook or on the Internet versus seeing them in real life,” Rodgers said. “We painted from nature, trying to interpret the landscapes and cityscapes of Italy through the medium of water color.”Beginning in Rome, where the group toured the Coliseum, Vatican, the Roman Forum and numerous churches and museums, the group traveled by train to Perugia in Umbria, their main base of operations. There they spent 16 days studying, taking in the local culture and taking day-trips to surrounding towns such as Assisi, Orvieto and Spoleto. The group ended the trip in Florence, making a side trip to Pisa to ascend the leaning bell tower.From that first day in Rome where the group visited sites like the Capitaline Museum which houses the works of Caravaggio, Bernini and other masters, to the last day in Pisa where they scaled the tower, Italy was “indescribable,” wrote English’s wife Charissa in the travel dairy she and English kept of the trip:”Perugia is a wonderful medieval town built up the side and on top of the mountain. It is picture perfect with narrow winding streets and alleys, archways over cobblestone streets…,” she wrote.”It was an overcast day so this wonderful mist was hanging over the buildings and the fields of Assisi. All of the buildings are medieval architecture, lots of arched doorways, tiny windows carved out here and there. As you walk along the narrow streets, little alcoves, carved in the walls, may hold a statue or a vase of flowers, or some Italian saying carved into the wall, so lovely.”Students who participated in the trip were Libby Austin, Johanna Hess, Casey Jordan, Kiki Long, Katy Saunders and James Yang. Travel logistics were organized and arranged by Dr. Donna Waldron, director of the Travel Abroad program at Campbell. The Italy experience is becoming a regular part of the Study Abroad program and will be offered every two-to-three years. For more information about the program, contact Dr. Donna Waldron at 910.893.1576 or 800.334.4111, ext. 1576.Photo Copy: Campbell University students tour Italy in a Study Abroad program this summer. From left, Professor Danny Rodgers, Casey Jordan, James Yang, Libby Austin, Johanna Hess, Katy Saunders, Kiki Long, Cassidy English, Charissa English and Professor Adam English.
Campbell students immerse themselves in Italian culture