Mini-Courses - June 4th-15th

During the first two weeks of the Ca' Foscari - Harvard Summer School 2012, "Mini-Courses" are offered in the following three disciplines: Economics, Sciences and Humanities. The Mini-Courses are optional for Ca' Foscari students and you may enroll in only one course.

Mini Courses and Framing Calendar

Mini Course Class Lists

Venetian Art and History - Prof.ssa Martina Frank

The course will introduce the history of Venice through a selection of the most relevant works of art and architecture present in the city. Following a chronological line, we will examine the political and social system of the Republic of Venice and the most prominent moments of the city’s historical evolution will be linked to specific achievements in the field of urbanism, architecture and fine arts. Starting with the mythical foundation of Venice in 421 AD and the byzantine period, the medieval city and the growing economic power and territorial expansion, the Venetian Renaissance and the impact on the urban development, and finally the political and economic crisis of the Baroque era and the fall of the Republic in 1797. The last chapter will be dedicated to the problems of contemporary Venice. 
The course aims to allow students to appreciate Venetian monuments by situating them in their historical context. Furthermore, the course will stimulate students to consider the city not just as an open-air museum, but as a vital organism where the richness of history and the specific morphological and urban qualities are the basis for the construction of the future.    

Tourism in Veneto's Smaller Cities of Art - Prof. Jan Van der Borg

The course intends to illustrate what importance tourism might have for a secondary city of art, both in positive as well as in negative terms. In order to fully understand the relationship between cultural tourism and a small local economy, the first part of the course will be dedicated to the developments that characterize the tourism market in general and cultural tourism demand in particular. Secondly, the supply of cultural tourism products (art cities, cultural heritage, traditions, events and enogastronomy) of the Veneto region is analyzed. Moreover, attention is paid to the impact tourism has on local economies and on to the concept of
sustainable tourism.  Eventually, some suggestions for tourism policies are formulated and tested by means of an excursion to one of the smaller art cities the Veneto region possesses (Bassano, Vicenza, Portogruaro or Treviso).

The course is articulated as follows:

1. The tourism market yesterday, today and tomorrow;
2. Cultural tourism: demand and supply;
3. The Veneto region as a destination for cultural tourism;
4. Tourism in smaller art cities;
5. Excursion to a minor city of art.

Literature:

• Greg Richards "Cultural Tourism in Europe", CABI (1996)
• Jan van der Borg Tourism Management and Carrying Capacity in Heritage
• Cities and Sites in Mexa and Coccosis Challenges of Tourism Carrying
• Capacity Assessment, Ashgate (2004)

Readings in European Literature Post-World War II. Italo Calvino, Cosmicomiche - Prof. Enrico Palandri

The course offers an insight into some of the problems of contemporary creative writing through three short stories and one lecture by one of the most innovative Italian writers since WW2, Italo Calvino:

• The distance of the Moon (from Cosmicomics)
• The Dinosaurs (from Cosmicomics)
• Under the Jaguar sun (from Under the Jaguar sun)
• Lightness, (from Six memos)

We shall explore the following themes:

1. realistic and fantastic techniques
2. Historical, political and personal  perspectives
3. Writing stories and writing essays

Hand-outs will be provided but these text are easily available in a variety of editions, both in English and in Italian.

Writing Clinic

This clinic is required for Ca' Foscari students and will serve as an introduction to writing academic papers, a task required for Ca' Foscari - Harvard Summer School courses. Date to be determined...