Harvard Summer Program in Venice, Italy
Liberal arts studies in Italy’s city of canals
Faculty from Harvard and Ca’ Foscari Universities
(8 credits: UN, GR) Limited enrollment
Dates: June 19–August 1, 2008
Application deadline: March 3
Cost: $7,000
The lagoon city of Venice, la Serenissima, has for centuries been the cultural and commercial nexus of eastern and western Europe. Now it is the site of an educational crossroads as well with a six-week program that brings together students and faculty from Harvard University and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The program offers courses in a range of fields, including environmental science, economics, and the humanities. In addition to classes, a carefully designed program of activities brings students into the local community and promotes their understanding of Venice as a city with a rich history and an environment unlike any other.
In this program, Italian students study and learn alongside Harvard students so that all may develop a deeper knowledge of the city and of each other. Students are encouraged to pursue—through a range of guided activities—projects on the culture, art, and history of the city, using Venice as a case study for the coexistence of different traditions; projects on Venice in its former position as the Queen of the Adriatic at the center of an empire; and projects on different Venetian environments (for example, city architecture or the lagoon and its protected species). Workshops on art-and-craft forms specific to Venice are offered.
Course of Study
Students choose two of the following courses. All courses are taught in English. Students in the program also take noncredit basic Italian language instruction.
ANTH S-1882 Study Abroad in Venice: Cultural Studies—China and the West
Marco Ceresa
This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to cultural studies to examine salient aspects of Chinese society, particularly in reference to Venetian and other Western cultural institutions. Topics include European-Asian cultural flows, colonial histories, postcolonialism, neocolonialism, and cultural globalization in the East Asian region. The course aims both at creating a deeper understanding of China by challenging much of the conventional wisdom about its relationship to Venice in particular and the West in general, and at developing the students’ analytic skills in cultural studies as a distinct discipline.
Prerequisites: none
ECON S-1033 Study Abroad in Venice: Individual and Collective Decision Making
** This course has been canceled **
ECON S-1055 Study Abroad in Venice: Dispute Resolution
Marco Li Calzi
This course provides an understanding of the main theories underlying the search for equity or fairness in a dispute. This knowledge is used to set up and solve typical negotiations and bargaining problems arising in business and economics. The examples range from the Bible to Wall Street and are often inspired by the news. The target audience includes any student with a serious interest in negotiation, bargaining, fair division, and equity. The course has a theoretical bent so it is short on case studies and does not eschew formal arguments.
Prerequisites: Economics S-10ab or the equivalent; Math S-1a or equivalent
ECON S-1462 Study Abroad in Venice: Topics in Health Economics
Amitabh Chandra
This course examines health issues in developed and developing countries from the standpoint of economics, with a focus on applied microeconomic research and econometric methods. We start the course with comparative studies of the health-care delivery systems across the world, paying particular attention to the role of differences in social insurance programs, access to care, expenditure growth, and the quality of delivery systems. Examples are drawn from studies that use data from the United States, Italy, India, and China. Visit the course iSite to access more information on the teaching staff, syllabus, and readings.
Prerequisites: Economics S-1010 or the equivalent; statistics
ECON S-1749 Study Abroad in Venice: International Corporate Finance
Guido Mantovani
The course illustrates the main problems to be solved and the inner opportunities for a corporation operating outside domestic boundaries. Lectures are designed using a problem-solving approach for any analyzed subject. The course examines both the financial tools provided by the markets to hedge risk and the funding tools corporations use to optimize performance. Topics include risk and opportunities arising from a firm’s cross-border activities, the global currency market and its equilibrium, tools to hedge exchange rate risk, fundraising in international debt markets, and equity policies and international equity funding.
Prerequisites: Economics S-10ab or the equivalent; algebra
ECON S-1824 Study Abroad in Venice: The Economics of Education
** This course has been canceled **
ENGL S-88 Study Abroad in Venice: Interracial Literature
Werner Sollors
This course examines a wide variety of literary texts on black–white couples, interracial families, and biracial identity, from classical antiquity to the present. Works studied include romances, novellas, plays, novels, short stories, poems, and nonfiction, as well as some films and examples from the visual arts. Topics for discussion range from interracial genealogies to racial “passing,” from representations of racial difference to alternative plot resolutions, and from religious and political to legal and scientific contexts for the changing understanding of race. Visit the course iSite to access more information on the teaching staff, syllabus, and readings.
Prerequisites: none
ENVR S-121 Study Abroad in Venice: Watershed Management, Restoration, and Design
Robert France
Ecological restoration is one of the most intellectually challenging of all forms of environmental science, offering a positive message for the future state of our wounded world. By reviewing the conceptual background, problems, and potentials of watershed restoration, we create a framework in which to situate the rest of the course. The role of water in human history is reviewed to establish the foundation for our discussions of how to manage and heal this most precious resource. Numerous case studies are used to discuss new research showing how different land processes (natural) and activities (anthropogenic) affect aquatic systems. We conclude by investigating the implications of urban development on storm-water pollution and consider various approaches that have been advanced to mitigate its deleterious impacts. Visit the course iSite for more information.
Prerequisites: none
ENVR S-133 Study Abroad in Venice: Earth’s Climate—Past, Present and Future
Carlo Barbante
The course considers the following topics: 1) framework of climate science (overview of climate science, earth's climate system today, climatic archives, data and models); 2) tectonic-scale climate change (CO2 and long-term climate, plate tectonics and climate, greenhouse Earth, "back into the icehouse"); 3) orbital-scale climate change (astronomical control of insolation, insolation control of monsoons, insolation control of ice sheets, orbital-scale changes in CO2 and methane, orbital-scale interactions in the climate system); 4) deglacial and millennial climate change (the last glacial maximum, from the last deglaciation to the present, millennial climatic oscillations); 5) historical and future climate change (historical changes in climate, humans and climate change, twentieth-century climate: the greenhouse debate, climate change in the next 100 to 1,000 years).
Prerequisites: none
GOVT S-1745 Study Abroad in Venice: Introduction to International Business Law
Fabrizio Marrella
This course involves three objectives. First, it explains regulation of international trade with reference to fundamental principles of public and private international law, as well as of the law of the European Union. Particular reference is made to World Trade Organization law and its application in the European Union and the United States. Second, we closely examine legal aspects of international business with particular reference to contracts for the sale of goods and other forms of exports, licensing of intellectual property, and foreign direct investment. Third, we offer a comparative approach to the study of international business transactions and of legal systems so as to understand how legal problems are treated in different societal and cultural environments.
Prerequisites: none
HARC S-129 Study Abroad in Venice: Islamic Art and Venice
Christina Tonghini
The course illustrates the presence of artifacts produced in the Muslim regions (especially from the Mediterranean areas) in the Italian peninsula, and, more specifically, in Venice. The discussion also focuses on the influence of these imports on the Italian artistic production. A series of visits to important collections of Islamic art in Venice allows students to become familiar with the most celebrated productions from the Islamic lands.
Prerequisites: none
HARC S-143 Study Abroad in Venice: Celebrating a Birthday—Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) and Palladianism
Martina Frank
The course aims to investigate the fortune of Palladian architecture. The first part is dedicated to the life of Andrea Palladio, to his cultural background, and to his venetian and vicentine patrons. The second part deals with the question of Palladianism. The analysis of the The Four Books of Architecture (first published in 1570) and a reconstruction of the sequence of his translations and interpretations will help to understand the immense influence of Palladian forms and typologies.
Prerequisites: none
HARC S-152v Study Abroad in Venice: Italian Renaissance Art
Frank Fehrenbach
This is an overview of the major works, artists, regions, subjects, and functional contexts of painting and sculpture between 1400 and 1600 AD, with an emphasis on the dynamics and developments within the period, and on painting in Renaissance Venice. Major topics include art theory, relationships between art and science, perspective, composition, animation, and style. Visit the course iSite to access more information on the syllabus and course materials.
Prerequisites: none
HIST S-1162 Study Abroad in Venice: Venice and the Ottoman Empire (Fourteenth–Eighteenth Century)
Maria Pia Pedani
At the end of the Middle Ages and in the modern age Venice sent its official envoys to the Levant to establish permanent diplomatic relations with the Ottoman world. Symmetrically, the rulers of this powerful empire sent diplomatic envoys to the doge on a regular basis. These men mediated between Istanbul and Venice. Studying their missions through the relevant archival documentation, it is possible to discover not only the developments of Christian-Muslim diplomatic practice, but also the various aspects of a shared history. The course examines topics such as ambassadors, consuls, and envoys, diplomatic practice and symbols, peace and border agreements, commercial relations, diplomatic gifts and exotic commodities, and diplomatic reports. All these topics are discussed from a comparative point of view. Excursions to “Oriental Venice” and to the Venetian State Archives will be organized to familiarize the students with the locations and the original documents of a secular history of East-West relations.
Prerequisites: none
LITR S-118 Study Abroad in Venice: Art and Money (and Venice)
Marc Shell
What has art to do with money? That is the interdisciplinary question for moral, political, and aesthetic reflection. Our texts frequently concern Venice or locate themselves in Venice as a means to study larger cultural issues at work, beginning with Shakespeare's masterful The Merchant of Venice. In class we observe hundreds of paintings and other artworks with a focus on monetary themes and consider the role of museums, banks, mints, and other institutions in the Western tradition in iconographic and economic terms. Digital presentations and visits to museums are in order. Readings include works by John Locke, Isaac Newton, Irwin Panofsky, Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud, and others. The course closes as it began: with the reading of a play by Shakespeare, A Winter's Tale, with commentaries and its profound Italian contexts. Visit the course iSite to access more information on the teaching staff and course syllabus.
Prerequisites: none
LITR S-159 Study Abroad in Venice: Muslims, Christians and Jews: Literatures of Medieval Spain
Luis M. Girón Negrón
During the middle ages and through the early modern period, Jews, Christians, and
Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula attained virtuosic levels of cultural
creativity. This course examines how the historical interactions between these
communities shaped their respective literatures via close readings of selected
works in translation from Spanish, Catalan, Galician-Portuguese, Latin, Arabic,
and Hebrew. Examples are drawn from Spanish epic, Hispano-Jewish poetry,
Arabo-Andalusian belles-lettres, picaresque narratives, medieval exempla,
Sephardic balladry, and other works exemplifying the complex patterns of
cross-cultural miscegenation between these traditions. Texts are available in
English and the original languages. Visit the course iSite to access more information on the teaching staff and course syllabus.
Prerequisites: none
Course Credit
For Harvard College students, this program counts as two half-year courses (4 credits each) of degree credit.
Transfer credit. Harvard Summer School courses and credits are accepted toward degrees at most colleges and universities. Since degree requirements vary among schools, students are advised to obtain transfer credit approval from their home institutions before registering for Harvard Summer School courses.
Faculty
- Carlo Barbante, Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Ca’ Foscari University
- Marco Ceresa, Associate Professor of Chinese Literature, Ca’ Foscari University
- Amitabh Chandra, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Susan Dynarski, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Frank Fehrenbach, Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
- Robert France, Adjunct Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University
- Martina Frank, Associate Professor of Art History, Ca’ Foscari University
- Luis M. Girón Negrón, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of Comparative Literature, Harvard University
- Marco Li Calzi, Professor of Mathematical Economics, Ca’ Foscari University
- Guido Mantovani, Adjunct Professor of Corporate Finance, Ca’ Foscari University
- Fabrizio Marrella, Professor of International Law and International Commercial Law, Ca’ Foscari University
- Maria Pia Pedani, Associate Professor of History of Islamic Countries, Ca’ Foscari University
- Marc Shell, Irving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor of English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University
- Werner Sollors, Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Professor of English Literature and Professor of African American Studies, Harvard University
- Christina Tonghini, Lecturer on Eurasian Studies, Ca’ Foscari University
Application
Students must be at least 18 years old to apply. The application materials, outlined below, are due March 3:
- an application form (download* form)
- official transcripts (sent directly from schools to the address below; unofficial copies not accepted)
- a $50 nonrefundable application fee
- a supplementary statement describing coursework in relevant areas, travel experience abroad (not a prerequisite), and interest in the program
Applications should be addressed as follows:
Robert Neugeboren
Harvard Summer Program in Venice, Italy
Special Programs Director
Harvard Summer School
51 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Students are notified of admission decisions by mid-March.
Cost
The cost of the program is $7,000, plus a nonrefundable $50 application fee. In addition, students are responsible for a health insurance fee (approximately $150; waived if students have US insurance that provides coverage outside the United States) and for transportation to and from Venice. The program fee covers the following:
- tuition
- room and some meals
- all scheduled excursions and extracurricular activities
Payment Deadlines
For admitted students, a nonrefundable deposit of $700 must be received by April 15 to secure a place in the program. Payment in full is due by May 15. A $100 late fee will be charged for payments received after this date.
Funding
Harvard College students are eligible for scholarships through the Harvard Office for International Programs (OIP). Students may consult the OIP website’s money page or contact the OIP for details. To apply for a study abroad scholarship through OIP, you will need to provide information about the program’s budget. Download* the program budget.
The Harvard College Financial Aid Office summer study webpage also provides information about assistance.
Other Harvard students may be eligible for financial assistance through their Harvard financial aid offices. Students enrolled at other institutions should consult their respective financial aid offices.
Accommodations
Students stay in dormitories at Ca’ Foscari, Venice. All rooms are doubles and include breakfast.
Additional Information
Contact Robert Neugeboren, neugebor@fas.harvard.edu; (617) 495-1765; fax (617) 496-4525.
Students with disabilities should contact the disability services coordinator as soon as possible: (617) 495-0977, (617) 495-9419 (TTY), or disabilities@dcemail.harvard.edu. Request-for-accommodation forms and supporting diagnostic documentation must be submitted by April 25. More information about disability services, including request forms and guidelines for documentation, will be online by early February 2008.
Students applying for admission to Harvard’s study abroad programs should understand that although the University provides reasonable assistance and support to facilitate the participation of qualified students in its programs (including students with disabilities and health impairments), some of our programs are located in parts of the world where accommodations may not be readily available. Students are encouraged to be forthcoming with the disability services coordinator about any specific needs and functional limitations so that the Summer School can collaborate with those students in a way that fosters their safe participation and allows them to fully appreciate any barriers that they may face, depending on the location and rigors of the particular program.
Harvard Summer School is aware of the risks associated with international travel. Should the US Department of State issue a travel warning for any of the countries in which a study abroad program is planned, the program in that country may be canceled.
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