SUMMER IN GREECE
Undergraduates are invited to apply for the 5-week “Rhetoric and Performance in Ancient Greece” summer program sponsored by the Department of Communication at Villanova University.
The communication discipline has its origins in the study of the spoken word and its power to move and persuade. Greece is the site of much of the history of the spoken word, from epic storytelling, to oratory, to drama and lyric poetry, to the messages of the oracles. This five-week, 6 – credit summer program allows Communication majors and minors and honors students to gain important insights into the roots of the discipline and make contemporary applications through hands-on experience in Greece. Students can gain additional intercultural insights by observing and participating in a contemporary culture that continues to surround itself with, and to be influenced by, its ancient history.
6 credits; 2 professors; 20 students! Classes are held at key archaeological sites across the mainland and islands. This program brings to life the roots of the Communication discipline in its place of origin and engages students in critical aspects of contemporary culture. The 2014 program consists of two interdependent courses that will engage students in understanding connections between the ancient and contemporary Greek worlds: Performance of Greek Literature focuses on ancient Greek theatre as a way to understand rhetorical constructions of myth; and Performing Place, Space, and Public Memory focuses on tourism and places of public memory as rhetorical and performative sites. Course instruction takes place primarily in outdoor, nontraditional spaces, and as much as possible on or near specific ancient sites. The students’ primary work—analysis and performance of significant rhetorical, dramatic, and myth texts—needs to be grounded in the specifically historical, social, and cultural contexts, and much of this is gleaned from the physical space. Thus, travel to these sites is an integral part of the academic program.
Open to Communication majors and minors and all Honors majors at Villanova University as well as Communication majors and minors from other universities. Special permission may be granted for students who are not COM majors or minors or in honors but who can demonstrate coursework that provides a comparable background and preparation for this program of study.
Program dates: 19 May-26 June 2014
Early action application deadline Dec. 15th. For more information, please contact Dr. Heidi Rose.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 