2027 CCS Study Abroad

Program Rationale

Art, Belief and the Made World: Italy

Twelve days in Rome, Orvieto and Assisi with Prof. Morgan Meis, art history faculty at College for Creative Studies. The course is taught on site: in the churches, museums and streets where the work was made. Each city adds a studio session with local makers.

The route moves from the capital to the hill towns of Umbria, from marble and Baroque painting to fresco, ceramics and the handmade book. Students study how patronage, place and material shaped the art, then respond with work of their own.

Open to CCS students in all majors. 3 credits.

Program Outcomes

Students will:

• Read major works of Roman, Medieval and Renaissance art in their original settings

• Connect patronage, place and material to how art was made

• Keep a fieldbook of drawings and notes from direct observation

• Apply traditional Italian craft processes to their own practice

Learning Focus

• Art history taught on site, in front of the work

• A studio session in every city, including a multi-day ceramics workshop in Orvieto

• A personal field-book, drawn across the twelve days and bound in Assisi

Itinerary

The group meets at Rome Fiumicino airport on May 17 and flies home from Rome on May 28. Time in each city is finalized with enrolled students before departure.

Rome

Power, Patronage and the Image

• Caravaggio in situ: paintings in the churches where they were commissioned

• Galleria Borghese: Bernini and Baroque sculpture up close

• The Roman Forum: the ancient city as built space

• Evening sketchbook sessions

Orvieto

Craft and the Hill Town

• A hill town on one rock: Orvieto sits on a plateau of volcanic tufa above the Umbrian plain

• The Duomo: striped marble, mosaic and the Signorelli fresco cycle

• Underground Orvieto: Etruscan caves, medieval workshops and kiln rooms beneath the streets

• Ceramics workshop: several days in a working majolica studio with local artisans

Assisi and Perugia

Narrative, Landscape and the Handmade Book

• Basilica of Saint Francis: the Giotto fresco cycle, read as visual storytelling

• Mount Subasio: a morning walk above the town, with time to draw the Umbrian landscape

• Perugia: a day visit for the Umbrian painters at the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

• Bookbinding: a craft session to bind each student's field-book

Program Fee: $4,350

Included: 11 nights of lodging with breakfast, all ground transport in Italy including airport transfers, museum entries, one guided walk in each city, the studio workshops, three group dinners, group insurance and program staff.

Planned separately by each student:

• CCS tuition for 3 credits ($450), billed by CCS

• Round-trip airfare to Rome, booked only after the program is confirmed

• Meals outside the group meals

• Passport, valid through November 2027

• ETIAS, the European Union pre-travel authorization (about €20), if it is live by May 2027

Dates and Deadlines

• October 15, 2026: Registration opens. Info session on campus with Prof. Meis.

• At registration: $500 deposit reserves a place and is applied to the fee.

• February 1, 2027: Enrollment closes. The program is confirmed at 12 students and every registered student is emailed the go-ahead to book flights.

• March 1, 2027: First balance payment.

• April 15, 2027: Final payment.

• May 17–28, 2027: Program.

How to Register

Step 1: Express interest. Complete the interest form. Seemore Global uses it to open a student record and check passport validity.

Step 2: Register and pay. Pay the $500 deposit, or the full fee, through the registration button. Deposit and refund terms are posted before payments open.

The itinerary above is a planned outline. Final venues, workshops and times are confirmed with enrolled students before departure. The program fee is fixed.