Venice Study Abroad Program Launches
Imagine reading Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, not in a drab classroom but in Venice itself. Imagine studying the dazzling art and architecture of Venice, not through pictures in books but by walking through the streets, churches, and museums of Venice. Imagine reading the autobiography of a Seventeenth Century Venetian Rabbi, not as a distant historical figure but as person who lived in the very Jewish Ghetto whose 500th anniversary you are in Venice to celebrate. Imagine all of these things and you start to get a picture of one of MC RELS newest study abroad offerings: Venice: Crossroad of Religion, Art, and Culture.
Spear-headed by MC RELS Prof. Mehnaz Afridi, and co-piloted by MC Art History Prof. Daniel Savoy, the first iteration of the program launched in January 2016. For two intensive weeks MC students had the opportunity to explore the interreligious character of Venice, against the backdrop of the 500th Anniversary of the Venetian Jewish Ghetto, the oldest such ghetto in the world. Using the Venetian Center for International Jewish Studies (Centro Veneziano di Studi Ebraici Internazionali) as a base and the city of Venice as a classroom, students explored how Venetian Christians and Jews from the sixteenth century to today have negotiated their identities in relation to Venetian culture, a bricolage of diverse ethnic and religious traditions.
To give you a sense of how intensive and inspiring the course was, here’s the schedule for Day 1 of the course.
Day 1: January 5th
10:30 Lecture: Introduction to Venice
11:30 Walk through the Jewish Ghetto
12:00 Lunch in the Ghetto
2:00pm Leave for San Marco and Palazzo Ducale. We will start our tour of Piazza San Marco at the Basilica di San Marco, with its Pala d'Oro and Museo Marciano. Next we will get a bird's-eye view of the piazza and city from the Campanile. Move on to the Piazzetta San Marco to visit the glorious Palazzo Ducale and its Ponte dei Sospiri. Return to Piazza San Marco and cross to the side opposite the Basilica, where you'll find the Museo Correr in the Ala Napoleonica -- so named because Napoléon built this wing enclosing the square. We will spend an hour in Palazzo Ducale.
5pm Return to the Giardino Segreto to freshen up and rest.
7pm Dinner with the teachers and local partners
For the student’s perspective, below is an interview conducted by Carol Verdugo with James Noeker, who attended the pilot program:
CV: What does the Venice program entail?
The program took us into the heart of the Jewish community in the Venetian Ghetto. We connected with local faith leaders, cultural experts, and university students to get a contemporary perspective of being "the other" (be it Jew or Muslim) in modern Venice (and Europe by association). To give this modern context a historical foundation, we explored the Doge's Palace and St. Marks Basilica in St. Marks Square, art at The Acudemia Museum, and Jewish cultural installations at the Jewish Museum and other neighborhood walking tours.
CV: What are the benefits of going on this specific study abroad program?
JN: The biggest benefit was the "temporary local" status the program entailed. In order to fully grasp being "the other" in Venice we had to live as if we were Venetians. We went to stores to buy groceries, pharmacies for aspirin, restaurants and bakeries for desired authentic Italian delights. From this unique perspective we lived Venice; we didn't just visit it, which made the course material and the dialogue Professors Afridi and Savoy sought to inspire within us, all the more enriching.
CV: What were the major highlights of this program?
JN: The unique bond the students developed with each other, the personal reflections the subject matter facilitated, and the freedom the course offered. When you weren't in class or on a class related site visit, you could explore the city. On weekends, when there was downtime, we could go elsewhere, which allowed my friends and I to visit nearby Verona one weekend, and Amsterdam, Netherlands the next.
CV: What were your personal favorite events on the trip?
JN: As a history buff and a wanna-be art/architecture intellectual, going to the museums, churches, and government buildings was particularly interesting, but the history of the city makes its own museum. I'll never forget seeing the sunset over the Adriatic in Lido d'Venezia, discovering Muslim prayer services in a "decommissioned" church, the impressive artwork at the Doge's Palace, or the secret beauty within the "incognito" synagogues we visited. For a traveler looking to experience the city and learn as much as possible about Venice, it is a must visit.
All photos courtesy of Joseph Ryder Photography.