Month: April 2018

Students from the University of Kent Paris School of Arts and Culture visited our University of Kent Rome School of Classical and Renaissance Studies recently and were guided by Academic Director Tom Henry around the Villa Farnesina; find out what they got up to on their blog post here: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/paris-news/2018/04/24/from-paris-to-rome/

The below extract has been sent in by Dr Christopher Burden-Strevens, Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Kent and convenor of our Rome MA in Ancient History and Roman History and Archaeology. He talks about the last few weeks of the Spring term for our students in Rome, how they have celebrated, sites that they have visited and briefs us on their assessed final itineraries.

  

Students Adam & Manuel giving talks to dignitaries, academics, and diplomats on the fabulous Mortlake tapestries of Julius Caesar and Saul at the Ambassador’s villa

And alas we are back in Canterbury. The time has gone by so quickly. Earlier April was a hive of activity for our students. As the Easter holidays and some well-earned relaxation drew on, the Spring term for our Kent in Rome students drew to a close with a special reception at the British Ambassador’s residence, the Villa Wolkonsky. As we enjoyed our prosecco and canapés, two of our students gave a presentation on the beautiful Mortlake tapestries, pictured just here, to Her Excellency and to invited guests. This was a truly special event and a fantastic farewell to Rome. There is no better way to say a fond goodbye than over a glass of wine as you watch the sun set over Nero’s acqueduct, which runs right through the ambassador’s garden!

Of course for those of us not presenting it was a chance to get dressed up and have some fun. Here I am getting together with our Rome students as a whole group for the last time this academic year and celebrating their success. The group have grown into such a fantastic community: on our visits to Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli, and the ancient sea-port at Ostia, and the Villa D’Este it has become so clear how much the group enjoy working together. It’s great to see the that the working relationships they developed while in Canterbury in the Autumn Term have grown into strong friendships too.

Those relationships have been especially important as students work together in pairs on their final itinerary. The itinerary is a two-hour exam, where students choose any ancient site(s) of their choice on which to give a live tour. There were some absolutely exceptional performances, one of which was even of doctoral standard. One group took their examiners (myself and Prof. Elena Isayev, Exeter) down into the ruins of an early Christian complex of worship-houses, 1,700 years old, which now lays buried underneath the Basilica of Saint Martin in the Lateran. Since these ruins are closed to the public and jealously guarded by the clergy and caretakers, this was an exceptional privilege; they are, so to speak, almost lost to history. You won’t find this on any city-guide or tour of Rome.

In fact, our students have spent a lot of time under ground! Another group of our students organised a tour of the Tomb of the Scipios, a deep passage circuit carved into the rock, where lay buried all the major members of the Scipio family. The Scipios are known to history as the conquerers of Hannibal, the Carthaginian invader who from 218–216 BC crossed the Alps with his elephants to decimate the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War. We took a brief break from the formal parts of the exam to pose for a selfie at the Tomb of Scipio Barbatus, whose sarcophagus dates to the 290s BCE, showing the early influence of Greek architectural styles on the Middle Republic. This was a magical experience; I have given so many lectures on this tomb complex. But it’s by getting there and touching it for themselves that Brittany and Dean, pictured here, brought it to life in their fantastic tour.

For our students the last four months have fostered such a greater knowledge and appreciation of their subject, and of Rome itself. As they fly home for the holidays, and to work on their dissertation projects, it’s certainly not goodbye! It’s ‘arrivederci’—‘until we meet again’.

 

The annual event celebrating the University of Kent’s Rome School of Classical and Renaissance Studies took place at the British Ambassador’s residence in the Villa Wolkonsky on 4 April.

The evening opened with the hosting of the European Innovation in Academia Awards by Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, David Nightingale. The awards recognise individuals who have made a difference in higher education in Europe or North America and celebrate academic creativity and innovation.

 

 

This was followed by a lecture from Dr Thomas P Campbell, former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 2008-2017 who spoke about Raphael’s Tapestry Designs for Pope Leo X and their legacy at the Court of Charles I.

Academic Director of the Rome centre, Professor Tom Henry and several of our Rome centre MA students later continued to discuss the Mortlake tapestries based on Raphael’s Cartoons (three of which hang on the walls of the Villa Wolkonsky).

Jill Morris CMG, British Ambassador to Italy celebrated the performance of our students and the University of Kent on her Twitter feed. ^[51] We are looking forward to celebrating at the residence again next year.