The Barometer Online

Issue date: 3/12/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Contributed Photo The OSU Art and International Programs departments offer a five week study abroad program in Rome, Italy. Courses offered include Italian language, drawing and art history.

What better way to learn about artists such as Leonardo DaVinci than to actually see his paintings? That is the attitude of the OSU art department and the international programs department, who are giving OSU students an opportunity to go to Rome this summer while earning credit hours.

Students of any major are welcome to sign up for the four-week trip, and can earn up to 12 credits.

The trip will go from July 2 to August 4, and the classes that are being offered are Drawing I and II, Intro to Visual Arts, Ancient Art, Renaissance/Baroque Art, Art History I and II, and Italian I and II (Art 131/331, Art 101, Art 399, Art 205/204, and IT 111/211).

"These classes are being taught in Rome, right up on the Spanish steps [a famous landmark in Rome]," said John Maul, a professor and chair of the art department. "Students who sign up for this trip will live, breathe and taste Italian culture while absorbing art at the same time."

"This is a great chance for students to pick up a couple of Bacc Core requirements while getting an opportunity of a lifetime to learn art in Rome. It's also the most affordable deal that the international programs department offers."

Although the fee does not include airfare, it is affordable compared to other study abroad options. The trip will cost students $3,850, which includes housing, tuition, excursions/field trips, some meals and admission tickets to museums. OSU students will be taking classes with students from the University of New Mexico, but will be housed with other OSU students.

Andy Myers, an instructor in the art department, teaches Drawing I and Drawing II, along with independent study for more advanced students, during the school year and during the Rome trip.

"There is a classroom that is available for us to use through the international wine academy, but it's usually used as a meeting point or for the Italian language class," Myers said. "The rest of the classes use the city itself as a classroom."

Myers, who has been to Rome two times before, said that he will often take his drawing students out of the city to smaller towns to avoid the crowds and expose them to different environments.

"Drawing outside is distracting enough as it is, but drawing outside in Rome can be overwhelming to some beginning drawing students because there is just so much to look at and absorb," Myers said. "We meet three times a week for six hour sessions, and I try to teach the basic drawing fundamentals, such as line and value, by using the settings that we are in."

Maul encourages all students to apply for the trip. "There are about three or four students signed up already, but we would like to see as many as 20 students sign up; 30 would be even better, the more the merrier."

The trip is being offered through the international programs department, and students who are interested in signing up should contact Rachel Faber Machacha at rachel.fabermachacha@oregonstate.edu.



Lauren Sigel, senior reporter

news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools