Information Rome 2025
All courses will be taught at La Sapienza by McGill professors. Local faculty will be invited to give guest lectures, and weekly interactive workshop/activities will take place, allowing students to engage with local communities and institutions.
Location: La Sapienza University (LSU) Campus in Rome, Italy
Duration: Forty hours in 4 weeks
Dates: June 1st to June 30th, 2025
Minimum CGPA: Students must have a minimum CGPA of 3.0 to be considered for the program.
Courses descriptions Rome 2025
CLAS 350 - LIFE IN ANCIENT ROME
What was ancient Rome like? From its legendary past to its imperial rule, the "eternal city" was the inevitable hub for ancient historians, politicians, poets, and travelers alike. Through political, social, literary, and architectural lenses, this course will explore the many ways ancient authors and thinkers have viewed, experienced, described, and imagined life in Rome between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st c. CE. By reading a selection of Greek and Roman texts, we will investigate Rome's urbanitas, from the Romans’ (inside) and the Greeks’ (outside) perspective.
Instructor: Dr. Martin Sirois; taught in English
ENGL 382 - INTERNATIONAL CINEMA: HOLLYWOOD'S ROME
This course surveys a range of films produced by Hollywood studios that are set (and were shot) in Rome for some or all of their running time. Starting with the wave of Hollywood movies made after World War II via “runaway production” and concluding with a few recent 21st century films, we will focus on films in which an American (or group of Americans) travel(s) to Rome, and ask how Rome is depicted as an “other” to social, political, and even emotional life in the U.S. In doing so, we will explore the different forms of gender, race, class, and sexual agency that are made available (and/or are constrained) by the characters’ experiences in Rome. Films will include Roman Holiday, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Eat Pray Love, and others.
Instructor: Dr. Derek Nystrom; taught in English