La Spedizione Siciliana

Italian 3008 – Spring 2016 – Professors Barbara Weiden Boyd and Davida Gavioli

Sicily Trip

Italian 3008 – Latin 3311 - Spring 2016
Professors Barbara Weiden Boyd and Davida Gavioli

la spedizione siciliana

This faculty-led study trip, “Sicily: Mediterranean Pasts, Presents, and Futures,” has guided students to an in-depth understanding of the historical, social, and cultural complexities of the island of Sicily, now a part of the nation of Italy but, in the course of its long history as cultural crossroads, home to several early indigenous peoples of the western Mediterranean as well as colonizing Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Spanish, French, and Arabs over the course of more than 3000 years. Because of its strategic location, long history, and a new appreciation for its cultural riches, Sicily is the perfect vantage-point from which to consider the Mediterranean world as a whole, through both historical and contemporary lenses.

In the spring 2016 semester, two Bowdoin faculty members, Davida Gavioli (Italian) and Barbara Weiden Boyd (Classics), offered upper-level courses focusing of various aspects of Sicilian history and culture. Gavioli’s course, Italian 3008 (Of Gods, Leopards, and ‘Picciotti’: Literary Representations of Sicily Between Reality and Metaphor) was organized around literary texts written by Sicilian writers and/or located in the Sicilian landscape, drawn from 20th and 21st century authors; central themes of the course included issues of cultural identity long a part of Sicilian discourse (e.g., is Sicily “truly” Italian? is Sicily really part of Europe, or should it be considered fundamentally Other? etc.) as well as major contemporary social and political issues (the economy; the Mafia; immigration and asylum; etc.). Boyd’s course, Latin 33 (Sicily in the Roman Imagination), was organized around the literary texts commemorating the appropriation of Sicily first by the Greeks and subsequently by the Romans between the 5th and 1st centuries BC. Students read several significant ancient texts in Latin concerning Rome’s occupation and colonization of Sicily, supplemented by readings in English drawn from the many Greek poets and historians who were active in ancient Sicily.

Blog Posts

La Giara

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   Day 5 meant my Italian class would finally get some Pirandello thrown into the mix. Right before my eyes and the … [Read More...]

Post #5: Agrigento

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Salve guys! Welcome back to the states, hope you're over jet lag by now ( I know when I studied abroad, it took me at least a day … [Read More...]

Sicilian Baroque

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In the second half of our trip, we traveled to cities located on the southeastern part of the island. Here in the towns of Ragusa, … [Read More...]

Temple G, Selinunte

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Although some scholars hypothesize that this temple seen in the archaeological park of Selinunte was dedicated to the god, Zeus, … [Read More...]

Post #7: Motya

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Hey guys! I have to say, I'm getting to the last few posts about Sicily and I'm a tiny bit sad. At least we'll be ending with some … [Read More...]

Modica 3.18.16

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   Modica is delightful little town nestled in the Hyblaean Mountains in southern Sicily. It is known for producing … [Read More...]

Modican Vistas

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    Modica offered one of our first tastes of baroque architecture. It also provided an example of "unique" civil … [Read More...]

Day 1: Letizia

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Hello to the readers of this Bowdoin Sicilian Expedition blog. I’m Michael, a senior Romance Languages major, and a lot of my … [Read More...]

Trip Participants Individual Photo Blogs