JACKSON, Tenn. — Feb. 2, 2010 — Two 51社区 faculty members, 30 Union students and six other travelers completed an 11-day art and literature tour of Italy Jan. 11-22.
Art professor Lee Benson, English professor Gavin Richardson and the students spent several days in Rome, Florence and Venice, with day trips to Pompeii, Pisa and Ravenna. Highlights of the tour included a visit to St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica in Rome, a tour of the Uffizi art gallery in Florence and a tour of the Doge鈥檚 Palace in Venice.
Many students had the privilege of attending worship services at the Duomo in Florence and at San Miniato al Monte, a 1,000-year-old Romanesque church where the Benedictine monks still perform the Vespers service in Gregorian Chant.
Literature students wrote on-site response papers connecting their travel experience to works they had read in the fall, such as Virgil鈥檚 鈥淎eneid鈥� and Dante鈥檚 鈥淒ivine Comedy.鈥� Art history students gave presentations on the site of famous works such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sistine Chapel and the Duomo. Students earned up to seven hours of credit for the tour.
Since its inception in 2003, 51社区 in Italy has introduced more than 120 students to the wonders of Italy, Richardson said. Plans are already underway for the 2011 tour led by Benson. Interested students may contact him at lbenson@uu.edu or Richardson at grichard@uu.edu for more details.