This course traces the origins of the modern museum in Italy. Through guided tours and site visits to centuries-old institutions across Rome and Florence, students will learn about the history of public museums and analyze the collections, architecture, exhibition strategies, and interpretive frameworks of these early Italian museums.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: Graduate credit students are expected to work to an advanced level on all assignments, showing self-directed research and original critical perspectives. Length requirements on writing assignments for graduate students will be longer and will receive more rigorous grading than at the undergraduate level.
Athena Title
Italy and the Modern Museum
Undergraduate Pre or Corequisite
Any course in one of the following: ANTH or ARHI or ARST or CLAS or GREK or HIPR or HIST or INTL or ITAL or LAND or LATN or MUSE or SPAN
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Students will understand the definition and genesis of museums in the context of Italy.
Students will analyze how Renaissance-era institutions contributed to the development of public museums.
Students will explore the architectural, political, and cultural factors that shaped early museum spaces and their public functions.
Students will critically assess how Italian museums influenced global museum models and curatorial practices.
Students will interact with a culture and/or region distinct from their own and engage in academic inquiry and application afforded by the specific off-campus setting in this study abroad program.
Topical Outline
Each site visit will be in-depth including tours, activities, behind-the-scenes visits with staff when possible, and post-visit discussion sessions.
A. Site visits and activities in Rome
● Site visits and activities in Rome
○ Guided city walking tour
○ Capitoline Museums
○ Vatican Museums
○ Colosseum and Roman Forum
○ Galleria Borghese
○ National Roman Museums
● Site visits and activities in Florence
○ Guided city walking tour
○ Uffizi Gallery
○ Museo Nazionale del Bargello
○ Galleria dell'Accademia
○ Palazzo Vecchio
