The Rome Semester Program
Since its inception in 1970, the purpose of the Rome Program has been to work in concert with the Core curriculum to intensify the students’ appreciation and understanding of Western civilization through the transformative experiences that thoughtful and informed travel can bring. Prior to their Rome Semester, University of Dallas students have already read the works of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Vergil, Augustine, Aquinas, Dante and other authors as part of the university’s nationally recognized Core Curriculum. Having this rich educational background gives depth to their experience of the Rome Semester.
Students read about Odysseus and Aeneas one day and find themselves within the actual setting of these heroic stories the next. They travel seas and journey through landscapes where major battles were decided. They reenact scenes from the great Greek tragedies in the theaters where those plays were once performed. They come face to face with works of art and architecture that have inspired mankind for centuries. And they visit some of the holiest shrines and most beautiful monuments of the Roman Catholic Church. Direct experiences of this sort help students to solidify much of what they learn in the Core Curriculum, just as the opportunity for independent travel helps them to learn to plan carefully and act responsibly.
Italy and Rome in particular are uniquely suited to such a curriculum. Rome, the Eternal City and the cornerstone of the Roman Catholic Church, rests on the foundations of one of the world’s greatest civilizations. It once was said that “all roads lead to Rome.” It can equally be said today that Rome is a convenient and efficient hub from which to journey to other European locales.
Students are invited to apply to the Rome Program which offers students the opportunity to take selected courses in the Core Curriculum at the university’s campus in Rome. Using this campus as their base, students make frequent trips into the city, explore surrounding towns and historical sites and travel as a group to cities such as Florence, Venice and Assisi, as well as Greece or Sicily. The semester is also organized in such a way as to allow considerable opportunity for individual travel throughout Europe. It is no surprise that a large majority of UD undergraduates participate in the Rome Semester.
Because all students study essentially the same courses in Rome; because students live together with faculty and staff and their families on the same campus and travel together in both Italy and Greece; and because there are frequent campus activities in which all participate, the Rome Semester is characterized by an intense common life and all that it implies. This too can help increase the impact of the Core Curriculum as well as encourage a broader self-understanding.
The Rome Semester is fast-paced and challenging, for it requires extensive travel, concentrated community life and intense academic study. Perhaps in part because it is a challenging semester, students’ memories of their time in Rome are often among the most cherished recollections of their time at UD.