Rome International Scholars Program
In the Spring of 2016 Notre Dame International and the Rome Global Gateway launched an international scholars program in Rome for select undergraduates recruited from across disciplines and departments. Qualified students are invited to apply by Nov. 1, 2017. This special program is specifically designed for self-motivated students who would value the opportunity to undertake independent research during the Spring semester of Junior year that would ideally lead to senior thesis projects during senior year, and/or subsequent development of post-graduate research, including post-graduate fellowships and post-graduate studies. A key feature of the program is the opportunity for experiential learning, which can take the form of either an internship or service engagement to be conducted in Rome. Students admitted to the Rome International Scholars Program are eligible for funding for further language and/or disciplinary study and/or internship in Italy during the summer following their semester in Rome. The curriculum for the Rome International Scholars Program will normally be made up of five courses, to include: 1) An independent research project supervised by ND faculty in a degree granting or honors program. 2) An elective course or internship offered in collaboration with any one of several universities working with the Rome Global Gateway such as the University of Rome Sapienza, University of Rome Roma Tre, LUISS (Libera Università Internazionale degli studi sociali), and the Pontifical Gregorian University among others; 3) The “All Roads Lead to Rome” course that can satisfy university requirements in literature, history or fine arts; 4) An experiential learning activity (service or internship): this can assume multiple forms ranging from archeological digs, to business internships, to working with immigrants, to working with museums and NGOs, while participating in a weekly forum designed to support the development of their research (see below); 5) An Italian, Latin or Greek language course at the appropriate level. The scholars will participate in the Rome International Scholars Forum, a one credit bearing weekly meeting dedicated to discussion of their research projects, their various experiences in the service or internship engagement and other activities/initiatives associated with their presence in Rome. Some forums will be devoted to guest lectures.
The Program is led by the academic and executive directors of the Rome Global Gateway in collaboration with a steering committee and in consultation with a group of faculty Fellows of the Rome International Scholars Program, including: Corey Angst (Business), Ani Aprahamian (Physics), Martin Bloomer (Classics), Francesca Bordogna (PLS), James Collins (Film, Television and Theatre), Philippe Collon (Physics), Kathleen Cummings (History and American Studies), Mark Edward Cummings (Psychology), JoAnn DellaNeva (French/Italian Studies), Margot Fassler (Sacred Music), Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (History), Umesh Garg (Physics), Robert Goulding (PLS), David Hernandez (Classics/Archeology), Vittorio Montemaggi (Religion and Literature), Peter Holland (Film Television and Theatre), Hildegund Muller (Classics), A. James McAdams (Political Science), Barry McCrea (English/Comparative Literature/Irish), Patrick Murphy (Business), Pierpaolo Polzonetti (Music/PLS/Italian), Gerald Powers (Peace Studies), Gretchen Reydam-Shils (PLS/Classics), Denis Robichaud (PLS/Italian), Ingrid Rowland (School of Architecture), Valerie Sayers (English/Creative Writing). All sophomores who meet the requirements are invited to apply including those who have already been accepted into other study abroad programs. Basic requirements include: GPA, at least 6 hours of Italian prior to the Spring semester of 2018 (6 hours of intensive hybrid Italian are available each semester), and a letter of recommendation from a supervising faculty member indicating the faculty member’s commitment to supervise the independent research to be conducted by the candidate in Italy. Admitted students will have until March 1 st , 2018 to submit a finalized research proposal. For more information, please visit the application page, or contact Silvia Dall’Olio at Silvia.Dall'Olio.1@nd.edu. For a firsthand account of the invaluable experience of studying at ND’s RGG, please take a moment to listen to senior Italian majors, Andrew Guinan and Joe Strasz, describe their time spent in Rome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXpRcsZNc1o and https://youtu.be/JRwjMUzwSlE.