ARC 15 — The Art and Archaeology of Sicily
Quarter: Winter
Day(s): Wednesdays
Course Format: On-campus (About Formats)
Duration: 7 weeks
Date(s): Jan 17—Feb 28
Time: 7:00—9:05 pm (PT)
Refund Deadline: Jan 19
Unit: 1
Tuition: $460
Instructor(s): Patrick Hunt
Class Recording Available: No
Status: Open
Winter
On-campus
Wednesdays
7:00—9:05 pm (PT)
Date(s)
Jan 17—Feb 28
7 weeks
Refund Date
Jan 19
1 Unit
Fees
$460
Instructor(s):
Patrick Hunt
Recording
No
Open
Sicily is the largest and loveliest island in the Mediterranean as well as the most culturally rich. Enjoying a recent surge in popularity due to its breathtaking locales being featured in HBO’s The White Lotus and elsewhere, Sicily sits at the crossroads of many cultures that colonized it throughout the millennia, from the Phoenicians and Greeks to the Romans and Muslims. Sicily’s inimitable art and architecture, not surprisingly, include the best surviving Roman mosaics, the most complete Greek temples, the most detailed Byzantine mosaic narratives, the most decorated medieval basilicas, and the most ornate Baroque architecture. It is also no wonder that Greek poets saw Sicily as the beautiful, fertile Isle of Persephone, and Homer even included it in the Odyssey as a mythic island. Remarkable Caravaggio and Antonello da Messina paintings also call Sicily home, along with great medieval paintings like that of the Anonymous Master of Death. Sicily’s riches are relatively unknown, and greater familiarity with its cultural and archaeological treasures is overdue. Some of the world’s finest archaeological museums are found in Palermo, Siracusa, and Agrigento. This course treats Sicily chronologically over four millennia through the cultures that have left indelible reminders of their pasts along its beautiful coastlines, fertile valleys, and famous mountains, most notably, of course, Mount Etna.
PATRICK HUNT
Former Director, Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project; Research Associate, Archeoethnobotany, Institute of EthnoMedicine
Patrick Hunt is the author of 26 books and is a lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America. He received a PhD from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Hunt is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, and he is an explorer and expeditions expert for National Geographic. His Alps research has been sponsored by the National Geographic Expeditions Council. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History from the Greeks to Cosa Nostra (ISBN 978-1848548978)