Summer in Rome with the University of Dallas
Pursuing Wisdom, Enjoying Beauty, Making Friends
The University of Dallas Summer Rome Program invites thoughtful and eager undergraduate
students from other colleges and universities to study with us at our gorgeous campus
in the hills just outside of Rome and to travel to Florence, Venice, and Greece, our
alternative classrooms. Whether you join us for the first half, the second half, or
the whole summer, the great books and works of the Western tradition lead to an even
richer understanding of human potential for excellence when studied in the very places
that inspired them.
Course Descriptions
The art and architecture of Rome, other Italian cities, and Greece from their roots
in antiquity through the modern era. Attention is focused on major monuments and themes
and the impact of the classical tradition.
History 2301: Western Civilization I, Dr. Paolo Gardeli
The Western Civilization sequence offers the historical framework necessary to the
integration of the elements which make up a liberal education. Beginning with the
cultures of the ancient Near East, this course proceeds chronologically through the
Greco-Roman, medieval, Renaissance and Reformation periods, acquainting the student
with major political, social, and intellectual movements. Texts studied include Thucydides'
History of the Peloponnesian War, the first five books of Livy's Ab urbe condita, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, Thomas More's Utopia, and Russell Kirk's The Roots of American Order.
Philosophy 2323: The Human Person, Dr. Marcus Otte
What does it mean to be human? Is there a soul and, if so, what is it? In light of
contemporary reductive materialism and its claims for the sufficiency of scientific
naturalism, this course explores the relationship between nature and soul. In the
classical philosophical understanding, the human person finds himself or herself in
tension between the immanent spheres of nature (or body or history) and the call to
a commitment to a transcendent dimension of reality--a transcendent dimension associated
with psyche, anima, mind, or spirit. The investigation includes an account of the
parts and powers of the soul, such as sense, desire, intellect, and will. Readings
feature texts by Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, and Nietzsche.
English 2311: Literary Tradition III, Dr. Michael West
The study of dramatic tragedies and comedies with a view to understanding the meaning
of these two alternative yet concurrently enduring vistas upon the human condition.
Readings in the Greek dramatists, the Elizabethans, and modern European and American
playwrights. Discussion of individual plays and continuity and difference within the
tradition, accompanied by the student's composition of interpretive essays. Prometheus
Bound, The Oresteia, Oedipus Tyrannos, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, The Bacchae,
Frogs, The Book of Job, Everyman, The Second Shepherd's Play, Dr. Faustus, Hamlet,
Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, The Tempest, and a selection of modern dramas.
Michael West is an Assistant Professor of English who lives and teaches on the University
of Dallas Rome Campus with his wife and three children. He holds a Ph.D. in English
from Columbia University, an M.A. from the University of Houston, and a B.A. from
the University of Dallas. His first book - Theater of the Obscure: Staging Enigma
in Shakespeare’s England – is currently under contract at the University of Pennsylvania
Press. He has published articles in Studies in English Literature, Shakespeare Studies,
and Spenser Studies. Before coming to UD, he taught courses in literature, writing,
and Catholic Studies at the University of Houston, Columbia University, and Sacred
Heart University.
