Academics in Orvieto
CALENDAR Academic Year 2019–2020
| Fall 2019: August 31–December 21 |
Spring 2020: February 22–June 15 |
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| 1st-month class: Sept 2–Sept 26 |
1st-month class: Feb 24–Mar 19 |
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| 2nd-month class: Sept 30–Oct 24 |
2nd-month class: Mar 23–Apr 16 |
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| 3rd-month class: Oct 28–Nov 21 |
3rd-month class: Apr 20–May 14 |
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| 4th-month class: Nov 25–Dec 19 |
4th-month class: May 18–June 11 |
The curriculum in Orvieto hinges upon the dialogue between the verbal and the visual. For millennia, words and images have been the primary means of narrative and representation. Italy remains an origin point for this history as a crossroads of the arts and humanities. For this reason, our location in Orvieto is vital, providing the opportunity to study design, poetry, literature, painting, sculpture, and history from original sources in their original context. By being in this place, we hope to inspire interdisciplinary collaboration and cultivate a model of learning that is place-specific.
During the first month, all students take Disegno, the course that orients us to the city by challenging us to look at, listen to, draw and write about Orvieto. Through these first encounters, the class prepares students to engage deeply with their surroundings and lays the foundation for a semester of intentionality.
Following Disegno, students are free to choose one studio art or humanities course each month. These courses are taught by Gordon College faculty, faculty from associated colleges and universities, and professional artists and writers. Working closely with teachers in a workshop setting provides unparalleled opportunities for our students. This echoes the relationships used throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance of forming sustained conversation and development of the work. This course model between teachers and students has been a gift to everyone involved since the beginning of the program.
Though the curriculum is based in the arts and humanities, Gordon in Orvieto is open to all majors. Talk to your academic advisor to determine if this program fulfills your respective degree requirements.
Read about Program Director Matt Doll ➔
"I loved that there was no such thing as working solely in the studio. The whole program is built around the idea of enjoying the wonderful resource of Italy. There's no way you're going to stay inside. The best place to draw is out in the city, drawing the architecture that you see, the church facades, the people—taking all you can from the life that's around you."
— Emily Friesen, Gordon in Orvieto
CURRICULUM Fall 2019
Throughout the semester, students without previous Italian language study will take ORV101: Italian Language Studies, a course in conversational Italian with the central purpose of assisting students' full participation in the life of the Orvieto community. [2 credits]
1st Month All students take:
ORV270: Disegno in Orvieto (Instructor: Matthew Doll) This drawing-based course is taken during the first month of the semester by all students, art majors and non-art majors together. The course prepares each student to engage deeply with his or her surroundings, giving the visual language of description a lead role in forming our relationship to the landscape and townscape. [4 credits]
2nd Month Students choose between:
ORV370: (Special Topics in Art History) (Instructor: Lisa DeBoer) A study of the arts in Renaissance Italy with a dual focus on the 14th-16th century contexts in which works took on meaning, and on the later art-historical contexts in which they were, and still are, often interpreted. Students will come to appreciate the difference in the art worlds of then and now, as well as the challenges of studying the past in a modern context. [4 credits]
ORV376: Photography (Instructor: William Franson) Through immersion into the landscape and culture of Orvieto students will explore the limits and possibilities of the photographic image, from visual description to visual poetry. Photography in Orvieto is a course designed to instruct students in camera function, image-processing in Adobe Lightroom, and in photographic composition. The history of photography will be woven into instruction, enriching an appreciation for photography’s influence on human experience. Students are expected to provide their own DSLR or mirrorless camera and a copy of Lightroom on their own laptop [4 credits].
3rd Month Students choose between:
ORV379: (Special Topics in Literature) Women, Religion, and Reform (Instructor: Agnes Howard) The Renaissance and Reformation not only brought changes in art, science, and belief, but prompted extraordinary writings by distinguished women in Italy. Women contributed literature, argument, and devotional works. Religious institutions, particularly convents, fostered this work. Convents were set apart from the world but integral to the life of the community. In this period, Catholics opened new venues for women to teach and serve, while Protestants offered different paths for faith and learning. This course will examine texts and institutions from the period, situating them within the religious communities in Orvieto. [4 credits]
ORV371: Painting Studio at Orvieto - Tempera Painting (Instructor: Marie Dominique Miserez) An advanced studio in the methods and materials of oil painting, with historical attention to the narrative tradition of Renaissance painting. [4 credits]
4th Month Students choose between:
ORV350: Poetry and Ekphrasis (Instructor: TBD) This creative writing class renews a lively conversation in the Renaissance concerning the relationship between literature and the pictorial arts, between word and image. [4 credits]
ORV374: (Special Topics in Art) Text & Image - Predella Painting and The Narrative Strata of the City (Instructor: Nathan Huff) Inspired by different topographical points within the city and from the surrounding countryside, we will explore narratives that emerge from a layered observation of Orvieto. Working in paint and drawing inspiration from both predella altarpiece paintings and contemporary installation practices, each student will create a multipart project that offers a personal vision through attentive observations of the city and local landscape. [4 credits]
CURRICULUM Spring 2020
Throughout the semester, students without previous Italian language study will take ORV101: Italian Language Studies, a course in conversational Italian with the central purpose of assisting students' full participation in the life of the Orvieto community. [2 credits]
1st Month All students take:
ORV270: Disegno in Orvieto (Instructor: Matthew Doll) This drawing-based course is taken during the first month of the semester by all students, art majors and non-art majors together. The course prepares each student to engage deeply with his or her surroundings, giving the visual language of description a lead role in forming our relationship to the landscape and townscape. [4 credits]
2nd Month Students choose between:
ORV371: Painting Studio at Orvieto - Tempera Painting (Instructor: Marie Dominique Miserez) An advanced studio in the methods and materials of painting in egg tempera, with historical attention to the sacred art tradition of Renaissance painting. [4 credits]
ORV360: Dante and Desire (Instructor: Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger) This course will examine Dante’s vision of desire as a framework for thinking both about the work of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation. Dante writes that “desire is the only foot the soul walks on.” In other words, love is the only way our souls move, either to grow closer to God, or to fall away from him. We will examine how, in all three canticles, Dante shows desire shaping the soul, and, in the Purgatorio, shows desire being disciplined—channeled and directed to God. [4 credits]
3rd Month Students choose between:
ORV350: Poetry and Ekphrasis (Instructor: TBD) This creative writing class renews a lively conversation in the Renaissance concerning the relationship between literature and the pictorial arts, between word and image. [4 credits]
ORV370: (Special Topics in Art) Ceramics in Orvieto - Material, Place, and History (Instructor: David Hooker) Through experimentation with local earthenware clay and glazes and by introducing students to the historical majolica ceramics of the region, this course will engage in the making of small scale, majolica-inspired, sculptural installations in the city and surrounding countryside. [4 credits]
4th Month Students choose between:
Humanities course: details forthcoming
ORV376 (Special Topics in Art) Printmaking (Instructor: Brenton Good) A printmaking studio with a primary focus on relief techniques. The architecture and landscape native to Orvieto will be the primary subject matter used to investigate both formal issues of color theory and larger themes of "memory" and "place." The course will conclude with a printed portfolio that reflects the time learning in Orvieto. [4 credits]
Gordon in Orvieto
Academics in Orvieto
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