The month of January brings a whirl of activity as IES Abroad Rome welcomes three separate groups of students participating in the January Term, Winter Quarter, and Semester programs.
Since his appointment as Acting Director last May, Dr. Gianni Ponti has implemented a multitude of new opportunities designed to help students discover the wonders of the two millennia of history, traditions and culture that have shaped Italy and the city of Rome.
1. The first is an added lab component to the course AR/AH 312 - Inside Art: An Approach to Conservation, which offers students the chance to learn and practice techniques in replicating and restoring Michelangelo frescoes.
2. The second is an academic day trip to the Roman towns of Pompeii and Oplontis as part of CL/AH 225 - Forma Urbis: The Archaeology Of Ancient Rome and AN/HS 236 - Ancient Rome: History And Myth. This in-depth visit allows students to examine the remains from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
3. The third is an academic day trip to Florence, less than three hours from Rome. Students in HS/AH 231 - The Renaissance And Its Classical Heritage witness Early Renaissance Art in republican Florence and its sudden spread to the other courts of the Italian peninsula, particularly the influence on the decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Ponti, a beloved professor of archeology at the IES Abroad Rome Center since 2004, says of his students, "Their sense of wonder at discovering so many different things, their capability of adapting and their excitement in facing the challenges of living in a completely new environment, are a constant source of inspiration."
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