Globalization, Culture and Ethics
Prof. Richard Keeley
May 31 - June 28, 2015
Trade made Venice the global city of its heyday and trade spawned innovations in bookkeeping and finance that have persisted to this day. Trade meant a remarkable fluidity between cultures and opportunities for the growth of a vigorous commercial class. Cultures—East and West, Roman and Venetian—met and clashed in Venice and on the sea but cultures were also in dialogue, witness the splendors of San Marco. Business and government worked out relations sometimes complementary, sometimes competitive. Each of these sets of themes has its parallel in the current discussions of globalization, ethics and culture.
This course will emphasize globalization and its consequences for moral reasoning; nations and transnational corporations and issues of governance and accountability; and emerging issues stemming from information and communications technology when these conflict with state purposes. But I will inflect the course using Venetian history, practices and places.
By the conclusion of the program, a student will:
1. Develop a good, general knowledge of the history of Venice;
2. Appreciate the historical dimensions of globalization;
3. Identify ethical challenges posed to contemporary practice of business and investigate strategies and policies responding thereto;
4. Strengthen abilities to analyze difficult business problems and present them before a general audience
5. Create, in collaboration with classmates, a study of business and culture within a Venetian sestiere.
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The Imaginary City: Why Writers Love Venice
Prof. Kevin Newmark
May 31 - June 28, 2015
Venice has always occupied a unique place in the artistic imagination of the west. Rising out of the lagoon in a riot of color, form, and texture, the shimmering reflections of Venice have come to incarnate the essence of how we think of beauty itself. This course will study some of the most important ways modern writers and thinkers have discovered in Venice an opportunity to explore and unsettle the traditional meaning that beauty holds for knowledge, art, and life. The class will consist of in-depth examination of novels, essays, films, and specific sites in the city of Venice.
Starting with the post-romantic era, we will focus on how several literary giants refashion the beauty of Venice into a paradox of great richness and complexity. For Henry James, Thomas Mann, and Marcel Proust, the beauty that is everywhere visible in Venice also possesses a hidden side of risk and peril. The course will study the specific ways that each of these writers—along with John Ruskin before and Joseph Brodsky after them—reveals Venice to be an imaginary site of powerful tensions, traversed by the competing forces of growth and decay, desire and knowledge, truth and illusion. The course will also offer students the means for experiencing their own stay in Venice as a valuable source of self-reflection, an intellectual voyage into unfamiliar territory and waters. To encounter the beauty of Venice fully can open new perspectives on what it means to live, to love, and to understand wherever we find ourselves.
Alongside its central focus on literary masterworks from the modern European tradition, the course will also develop three complementary areas of instruction: a philosophical context stretching from Plato to Nietzsche and beyond; a cinematic dimension composed of "Summertime," "Morte a Venezia," (Death in Venice) "Don't Look Now," "The Comfort of Strangers," and "Pane e Tulipani" (Bread and Tulips); and a regular supplement of on-site visits to Venice itself—the marvel of its churches, palazzi, museums, pathways, and waterways.
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Drawings from the Venetian Masters
Prof. Alston Conley
May 31 - June 28, 2015
Classes will introduce basic drawing skills and then we will apply them by drawing from masterworks. The course emphasis therefore is twofold: first, the command of basic formal concepts and skills: the page, how mark, shape, value, scale, and composition interact to become a visual language, and secondly, an introduction to the great masterworks of Venice. The goal of this class is to connect to that tradition by synthesizing, visual language, images that one would want to contemplate and retain. Much of the class time will be spent visiting museums and churches to view and draw from the great works. The class will challenge the students to absorb and understand the visual cultural of Venice; it's traditions and achievements.
Housing & Meals
Students will be housed in residence halls at Venice International University with either two or three other students. All students will receive meal vouchers for breakfast and one other meal per day. Students should budget for additional food costs.
The Venetian Empire and its Imperial Piety: Catholic Christianity
Instructor: Sam Miglarese
May 25- June 28, 2014
The course will examine the religious, doctrinal,spiritual and hagiographic traditions of Catholic Christianity as it was lived in the Empire of Venice through religious art as well as current devotional practice, ceremonies and traditions still extant today. Topics will include the place of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Evangelist Mark and other saints in Catholic life and thinking then and now. Excursions into the churches and art galleries will illustrate the power of the religious sensibilities in imperial Venice. We will study the influence of relics and the history and legends attached to the saints connected to the political history of Venice. We will also use Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice to explore Jewish presence in Venice. Several cultural/religious events, concerts, and field trips are planned. This course will be taught in English by Dr. Sam Miglarese, adjunct instructor in the Religion Department at Duke, and Director of Community Engagement for Duke’s Office of Durham and Regional Affairs. He led the Duke in Venice program in Summer 2007 and lived in Italy for six years.
Meals and Accommodations
Students will be housed in double rooms in a dormitory of Venice International University (VIU), located on the scenic island of San Servolo. Each room will have a private bath. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be served in VIU's cafeteria Monday through Friday; students will also be given a set of vouchers/meal passes that can be used in the VIU cafeteria and also in a wide network of cafés, restaurants, and supermarkets. The vouchers are valid nationwide, so students can use them while traveling in Italy. There are no kitchen facilities in the dormitory.
Food for Thought:
Understanding Italian Society and Culture through its food
Instructor: Luciana Fellin
June 3 - July 4, 2015
Food is an important element in the development of individual and cultural identity. The production, preparation and consumption of food have played a particularly important role in the development of Italian culture. From the excesses of the Roman table, to the “bread” of the Fascist war effort, to today’s “Slow Food” movement, it is often through food that Italians have asserted and defended their cultural heritage; some would say even imposed it. In recent years, Italy has witnessed what the Wall Street Journal has dubbed “gastronomic nationalism” and under the guise of defending local identity some Italian municipalities have attempted to ban ‘ethnic foods’ from their city centers. With food production, distribution, and consumption are also a nexus of social, political and economic interests, which raise ethical questions: food waste and food accessibility, environmental impact, gastronomic racism, economic protectionism.
In this course we will examine food stuffs (products) and food ways (practices and rituals revolving around food) to understand their cultural significance, to gain insight into culturally specific ways of thinking symbolically about food, and to explore the political consequences engendered by food production distribution and consumption. We will read about the cultural similarities and differences of Italian cuisines as well as their histories, we will visit places where local food is grown and processed, and we will gain insight to Italian culture through experiencing its food ways, that is, by actually selecting, preparing and eating food. Venice is a terrific site for exploring these issues. It is home to a fish market that is over 900 years old, the bulk of the produce sold at its daily market is produced in Sant Erasmo, known as Venice’s garden/farm island and its cuisine is at the same time locally and globally rooted with influences from its long history of cosmopolitanism.
Meals and Accommodations
Students will be housed in double rooms in a dormitory of Venice International University (VIU), located on the scenic island of San Servolo. Each room will have a private bath. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be served in VIU's cafeteria Monday through Friday; students will also be given a set of vouchers/meal passes that can be used in the VIU cafeteria and also in a wide network of cafés, restaurants, and supermarkets. The vouchers are valid nationwide, so students can use them while traveling in Italy. There are no kitchen facilities in the dormitory.
Digital Visualization Workshop, June 3-13, 2014
Faculty: Caterina Balletti, Università Iuav di Venezia, Isabella di Lenardo, Università Iuav di Venezia,
Victoria Szabo, Duke University
What is it about?
This course will teach a range of digital skills in 3D modeling, visualization, and mapping technologies to enable participants to engage historical questions with emerging digital tools. As in the previous editions of the workshop, the technologies will be taught through the use of a theme: in 2014 the focus will be on Venice and its islands. Participants will use the city and the lagoon as a “laboratory” through which to examine questions such as change over time and dynamic process in urban and rural environments, showing how man-made spaces respond to social and economic process and transformation.
The aim of the workshop is to train scholars in how new technologies can be integrated with the study of historical and material culture. The workshop will focus on a range of visualization tools that can be used in a wide variety of research areas, in particular modeling change over time in urban space and the production of maps and low-cost photogrammetry.
Learning outcomes
Students will learn historical visualization and representation technologies through collaborative authorship of final multimedia projects completed over the course of the 10-day workshop session:
- Overview of historical contents (front lessons – site visits)
- Image processing (hands on session)
- Photogrammetry; Laser Scanning (hands on session)
- Georeferencing of historical maps (hands on session)
- Data Visualization and Presentation (hands on session)
- 3D Modelling (hands on session)
- Augmented Reality (hands on session)
You will develop basic skills in: Photoshop, Photoscan, Pointools, ArcGIS, Audio editing with Audacity, Video editing with iMovie, Data Visualization with Fusion Tables, Interactive Virtual Worlds with OpenSim, Augmented Reality with BuildAR, Mobile Apps with Map2App.
Who can apply?
The workshop is designed for participants at the Master's, Ph.D- of Post doctoral level in Interpretive Humanities (including Cultural Patrimony, History of Art, Architecture and Urbanism, History, Geography, Architecture, Archaeology, and other relevant disciplines).
Instruction will be in English of which participants must have an adequate working knowledge.
Maximum number of students: 16
Program structure
The course duration is 10 days. Students will attend classes in the Digital Lab 5 days per week and will participate in one field trip (on Saturday) in the Venice Lagoon. Participants should expect to be engaged full time in these ten days.
Credits
An official Duke University/Iuav University/Venice International University joint Certificate will be issued at the end of the course.
Number of ECTS credits allocated: 3
Tuition fees
Tuition fees are 1,000 euro+VAT.
Successful candidates will receive information about modes of payment once admitted to the program.
Scholarships are available in order to support the tuition fees for all the selected students thanks to the generosity of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
Duration and Period
10 days, June 3 – 13, 2014
Location
San Servolo island, Venice, Italy
Contacts and info:
Venice International University
Isola di San Servolo
30100 Venice
ITALY
T +39 041 2719511
F +39 041 2719510
Visualizing Venice summer workshop is jointly promoted by:
With the support of:
With the participation of:
Digital Visualization Workshop - 4th edition
June 1-12, 2015
Faculty: Caroline Bruzelius, Mark Olson, Victoria Szabo and Hannah Jacobs, Duke University,
Donatella Calabi, Ludovica Galeazzo and Chiara Di Stefano, Università Iuav di Venezia
What is it about?
The field of historical and cultural visualization has grown substantially in recent years. For the past three years, Duke University, Università Iuav di Venezia, and Venice International University have collaborated on the Visualizing Venice Summer Workshops at VIU.
This year’s theme, “The Biennale and the City” reflects both the maturation of the international Visualizing Venice collaboration and the increasing accessibility of digital tools for representing change over time in urban environments. This collaboration enables us to bring together art and architectural history scholars with digital media specialists and engineers in order to create new opportunities to research and share information about the built past.
VIU is the ideal place to bring together an international set of graduate students studying digital art and art history by doing it onsite. Our unique capacity to offer courses that allow for both on site research and digital media production within a compressed time and intimate setting is unparalleled.
Course description
This course will teach a range of digital skills in digital mapping, 3D modeling from ground plans and photos, mobile application development, and time based media authorship to enable participants to engage historical questions with emerging digital tools. As in the previous editions of the workshop, the technologies will be taught through the use of a theme. The summer 2015 theme, “The Biennale and the City” allows for exploration of the history of the Venice Biennale from several perspectives and scales of reference: as a case study in architectural history in the Giardini and the Arsenale; as a set of exhibitions undertaken both on those sites and in more ephemeral sites around the city; as an aggregation of artistic forces hailing from around the world; and as a phenomenon with a profound impact upon the life and culture of the city of Venice itself.
The plan of the course will follow the pattern of previous years.
During the first week of the course students will learn techniques for digital production by drawing
upon existing research materials provided by colleagues in the Visualizing Venice team. Each day, students will learn about a different type of digital media production within the context of how that type of reconstruction is typically used in digital art and architectural history.
During the second week, the students will work collaboratively to create projects using the tools they have learned, with the goal of creating high-quality, public-facing research products suitable for a general audience, as well as identifying potential areas to explore in their own future research.
Day 1
Introductions and Course Overview
Historical Overview of the Biennale
Computer Orientation
Day 2
Topics in Digital Mapping – Lecture and Examples
Digital Mapping with Google Earth and Web-Based Systems
Historical GIS: Techniques for Vector Data Analysis and Geo-rectification
Data Analysis and Visualization with Tableau
Day 3
Overview of Digital Project Archive Development
Archive-Development with Omeka; Representing Change Over Time with Neatline
Biennale Library visit
Day 4
3D Modeling with Google Sketchup
Photogrammetry Techniques for Object Capture
Day 5
Augmented Reality Application Design with Metaio Creator and Map2App
VirtualWorld Construction with OpenSim
Week-end
Visit Biennale at Giardini and Arsenale
Day 6
Digital Video Production
Project Team Planning
Day 7
Collaborative project work
Day 8
Collaborative project work
Day 9
Collaborative project work
Day 10
Final project work
Presentations to the public
Learning outcomes
Learning outcomes include: familiarity and facility with digital media production tools for digital art and architectural history; awareness of the critical and practical challenges to the fields that digital production techniques pose; understanding of the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of digital media authorship as an intervention into digital heritage and lived experience of the city.
Who can apply?
The workshop is designed for participants at the Ph.D - or Post doctoral - level in Interpretive Humanities (including Cultural Patrimony, History of Art, Architecture and Urbanism, History, Geography, Architecture, Archaeology, and other relevant disciplines).
Graduate students are also eligible to apply. However, preference will be given to Ph.D. students and recent Ph.D. graduates in History of Art, Architecture and Urbanism in the selection process.
Instruction will be in English of which participants must have an adequate working knowledge.
Maximum number of students: 16
Program structure
The course duration is 10 days. Students will attend classes in the Digital Lab 5 days per week and will participate in one field trip (during the week-end) at the Venice Biennale premises.
Participants should expect to be engaged full time in these ten days.
Credits
An official Duke University/Università Iuav/Venice International University joint Certificate will be issued at the end of the course.
Number of ECTS credits allocated: 3
Scholarships
Accepted applicants will receive a stipend to help cover travel and lodging thanks to the generosity
of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Getty Foundation. About scholarships
Duration and Period
10 days, June 1 – 12, 2015
Location
San Servolo island, Venice, Italy
Contacts and info:
Venice International University
Isola di San Servolo
30100 Venice
ITALY
T +39 041 2719511
F +39 041 2719510
Visualizing Venice summer workshop is jointly promoted by:
With the support of:
