student excursions, orvieto city and convent

Academics in Orvieto

CALENDAR Academic Year 2018

	Spring 2018: February 24–June 16	Fall 2018: September 1–December 22
	1st-month class: Feb 27–Mar 23	1st-month class: Sept 3–Sept 27
	2nd-month class: Mar 26–Apr 19	2nd-month class: Oct 1–Oct 25
	3rd-month class: Apr 23–May 17	3rd-month class: Oct 29–Nov 22
	4th-month class: May 21–June 14	4th-month class: Nov 26–Dec 20

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 for each month. these courses are taught by Gordon College faculty, the faculty fo 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.

Thought 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 2018–2019 academic year

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:

ORV 270: 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:

ORV 360: Dante’s Divine Comedy (Instructor: Dan Russ) A study of Dante's Divine Comedy (in a dual-language edition) will focus on plot, underlying theological and philosophical concepts, and historical and political background, with attention to the visual culture that informs Dante’s encyclopedic epic. [4 credits]

ORV 371: Painting Studio at Orvieto (Instructor: Philippe Fretz) An advanced studio in the methods and materials of oil painting, with historical attention to the narrative tradition of Renaissance painting. [4 credits]

3rd Month Students choose between:

ORV 370 (Special Topics in Art History): Modern Art and Christian Spirituality (Instructor: to be confirmed) This course will trace how the modern art movement shaped Western life and culture. While predominately secular in its scope, modernism continued to exhibit a keen fascination with spirituality. We will compare and contrast these views with a biblical understanding of Christian Spirituality. [4 credits]

ORV 372: Sculpture Studio at Orvieto (Instructor: Patrick Marold) Recognizing the functional and symbolic qualities of local materials that define and articulate the natural setting and the urban context of Orvieto, this course will focus on creating sculpture that addresses the viewer in the broader context of the city and countryside. [4 credits]

4th Month Students choose between:

ORV 350: Poetry and Ekphrasis (Instructor: Jeanne Murray Walker) 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]

ORV 374 (Special Topics in Art): Text & Image (Instructor: Matthew Doll) Aided by the local setting and associated texts, this course will engage the mapping of space through projects utilizing 2-D and 3-D elements. With typography, color, physical design and other media, we will produce new interpretations of spaces in and around Orvieto. [4 credits]

CURRICULUM Spring 2019

1st Month All students take:

2nd Month Students choose between:

ORV 371: 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]

ORV 350: Ekphrastic Poetry (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]

3rd Month Students choose between:

ORV 360: Dante’s Divine Comedy (Instructor: TBD) A study of Dante's Divine Comedy (in a dual-language edition) will focus on plot, underlying theological and philosophical concepts, and historical and political background, with attention to the visual culture that informs Dante’s encyclopedic epic. [4 credits]

ORV 374: (Special Topics in Art) Text and Image (Instructor: Matt Doll) Aided by the local setting and associated texts, this course will engage the mapping of space through projects utilizing 2-D and 3-D elements. With sound, color, physical design and other media, we will produce new interpretations of spaces in and around Orvieto. [4 credits]

4th Month Students choose between:

ORV 370: (Special Topics in Art History) Modern Art and Christian Spirituality (Instructor: TBD) This course will trace how the modern art movement shaped Western life and culture. While predominantly secular in its scope, modernism continued to exhibit a keen fascination with spirituality. We will compare and contrast these views with a biblical understanding of Christian Spirituality. [4 credits]

ORV 372: Sculpture Studio at Orvieto (Instructor: Dave Adey) Recognizing the functional and symbolic qualities of local materials that define and articulate the natural setting and the urban context of Orvieto, this course will focus on creating sculpture that addresses the viewer in the broader context of the city and countryside. [4 credits]

Request Information

Apply to Gordon

Visit Campus

Connect with us

Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham, MA 01984
978 927 2300 | admissions@gordon.edu | info@gordon.edu

Gordon College is one of the nation's premier Christian colleges and located just north of Boston. We offer students extraordinary access to leading-edge opportunities for intellectual, professional, and leadership development to address the increasingly complex challenges of a global society. Gordon stands apart from other outstanding institutions in New England by combining an exceptional education with an informed Christian faith.