Laurie Sylwester – Art Professor at Columbia College has been selected as one of twenty-five Summer Scholars for the “Legacy of Ancient Italy: The Etruscans and Early Romans” a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute. The process was competitive and the scholars come from across the United States.
The studies will start in Lugano Switzerland at Franklin University and continue to Bologna, Italy for visits to Archaeological Museums at Marzabotto, Verucchio, and Florence. The studies include Etruscan town planning in Orvieto with a visit to Cannicella Necropolis and other archaeological sites. Studies will continue in Tarquinia with exposure to findings from local excavations. Additional seminars and site visits will include Cortona and Murlo.
Studies and research will continue in Rome with such topics as: Etruscan and Roman Urbanization, ?Roman? Identity through Architecture and City Planning, and Gender and Ethnicity in Early Roman Italy. Rome offers opportunity for Etruscan and Capitoline museum visits and archaeological excavations.
The institute ends with each invited scholar presenting research. Professor Sylwester intends to do extensive photography and research for lectures in her Ancient Art History course, also to research Etruscan pottery and sculpture to present to her ceramics students. In the fall of 2015 Sylwester will provide a public lecture and photography exhibit derived from her summer NEH studies. For more information, contact Laurie Sylwester (209) 588-5341