La Spedizione Siciliana

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

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Sicily Trip

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

Trip Photographs

In Racalmuto (3/16)

Monreale Cathedral 3.15.16

The Temple at Segesta

Day 1: Letizia

Post #5: Agrigento

Day 2 – Sleepy arrival & Puppets

The View from Erice

Day 1: Letizia Battaglia exhibit in Palermo 

For Shame! (Palermo)

The Cappella Palatina

Baroque Time !!

Day 8 – The Horror and Humor of Mt. Etna

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

Pirandello and Sheep

April 17, 2016 By dvargas

Here’s the view of the small valley below the path that cuts from Pirandello’s childhood house to the garden and boulder where … [Read More...]

Day 4: theater in Racalmuto

March 24, 2016 By aglynn

Towards the end of our evening in Racalmuto, where Leonardo Sciascia grew up, we ran into a jolly man who wanted to show us around … [Read More...]

Day 3 – Church: Mission or Magnificence?

April 8, 2016 By jhartley

Hidden in the "chiostro" (cloister), on the capital of a column, was an image of William II gifting the beautiful Cathedral of … [Read More...]

Day 6 – Circolo di Conversazione: Contrast of Classes

April 8, 2016 By jhartley

As we stumbled through the winding streets of Ragusa Ibla, we came across the building that once housed a high society club … [Read More...]

Latin Students Excited for the 10 Hour Flight to Sicily!: All boarded on the plane to Fiumicino, Rome

April 10, 2016 By jglewis

Excitement was in the air as all eighteen of us (sixteen students and two professors) boarded the international flight to Italy. … [Read More...]

Greek Vase at Pirandello’s House

March 27, 2016 By kgilmore

On the way to Porto Empedocle, we stopped at the House-Museum of Luigi Pirandello. Born in 1867, Pirandello was a famous Sicilian … [Read More...]

Noto and the Use of the Orders

March 25, 2016 By dbanks

All of the classical temples that we saw on our trip across the island were of the Doric order.  Only in the remaining two columns … [Read More...]

Day 4 – Looking for lizards in Monreale

March 24, 2016 By mkim

Going to Monreale, seeing the cathedral and the cloister a second time did not take away from the beauty of each site. I … [Read More...]

The Lunch that Wasn’t 

March 17, 2016 By alamont

After a wonderful morning exploring the temples of Selinunte, the gang was hungry for some grub. We converged on a beachside … [Read More...]

The Most Important Mosaic (Selinunte)

March 29, 2016 By vwu

As Professor Boyd declared, this mosaic of the goddess Tanit was the most important mosaic of the trip. While it may only be a … [Read More...]

Theater, Segesta

March 24, 2016 By gmaslak

In Segesta we also visited the remains of an ancient theater, situated on the hilltop just beyond the unfinished temple. … [Read More...]

Che chiesa! (3/19)

April 17, 2016 By dvargas

Although this picture does not do justice to the most proportionally beautiful proportional church façade I’ve seen, it does show … [Read More...]

The Mosaic at Selinunte

March 25, 2016 By dbanks

At the acropolis at Selinunte, we were able to see a mosaic of the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, who was in charge of fertility and, … [Read More...]

Cyclops on Mount Etna

March 27, 2016 By kgilmore

On our last full day in Sicily, we visited the awe-inspiring Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. The contrast of … [Read More...]

Post #1: Palermo,Monreale Cathedral

March 14, 2016 By kvise

Hey guys! Hope you're having an awesome time, eating lots of gelato, and hopefully got some great cannoli too. Just thought I'd … [Read More...]

The Cyclops Itself

March 25, 2016 By djohnso

   This marks our final full day of touring Sicily. As our bus approaches the ominous, pulchritudinous shadows of Mount … [Read More...]

The Spring of Arethusa

April 10, 2016 By jglewis

The Spring of Arethusa, Ortigia, Siracusa Coming into this trip with a previous knowledge of Sicily (Syracuse especially) via … [Read More...]

Modica 3.18.16

March 30, 2016 By cdewet

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

Trip Participants Individual Photo Blogs

  • Anna Bradley-Webb
  • Adam Glynn
  • Angus Gorman
  • Adam Lamont
  • Professor Barbara Weiden Boyd
  • Cameron de Wet
  • Daniel Banks
  • Professor Davida Gavioli
  • Dylan Johnson
  • David Vargas
  • Gregory Maslak
  • Julianna Lewis
  • James Hartley
  • Kimberly Gilmore
  • Kahla Vise
  • Michael Colbert
  • May Kim
  • Sue Sim
  • Victoria Wu
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