ROML 296 – From Faith to Flesh: Power/Crime in Renaissance Rome

Four credits
Four weeks in Italy
Professor Jose Dominicci-Buzo

For centuries, Rome has been far more than a city -- it has been a stage for absolute power, a beacon of spirituality, and at the same time, a hotbed of intrigue, passions, and contradictions. ROML 296 invites you to experience Rome not merely as a tourist destination, but as a historical laboratory where the sacred and the profane coexisted -- and often clashed -- in every cobblestone street and every shadow cast by its basilicas and palaces. Beneath its sky-grazing domes and within its hidden underground corridors, you will discover a different Rome: the Rome of the Renaissance, the nerve center of papal authority, but also the cradle of a clandestine culture that dared to challenge, satirize, and expose the weaknesses of the Church and the nobility. Here, artistic grandeur intertwines with stories of political corruption, debates over control of the body, and narratives that celebrated -- or condemned -- desire and individual freedom.

Each week becomes an intellectual and sensory expedition. You will walk beneath the majestic dome of St. Peter’s, contemplating not only its architectural beauty, but also asking yourself: what interests, struggles, and silences made this monument possible? In the Vatican Museums, your gaze will wander among frescoes and sculptures, uncovering in their details the ever-present tension between spiritual ideals and human realities. In Castel Sant’Angelo, both fortress and papal refuge, you will feel the weight of political intrigue and moments when ecclesiastical power was literally under siege. The neighborhood of Trastevere, with its lively, memory-laden alleyways, will provide the perfect backdrop to reflect on the city’s margins: places where artists, courtesans, writers, and figures navigated between admiration and censure. And when the journey takes us to Florence, cradle of Renaissance art, you will connect the threads of Italian history: cultural splendor, political rivalries, and the networks that united -- and divided -- the great city-states.
Above all, this course is an immersive experience. Weekly readings are paired with carefully designed excursions so that history does not remain confined to the page, but becomes something you live, walk through, and breathe. We will study works of clandestine literature that explored prostitution and gender politics, analyzing how these texts challenged official narratives and created alternative spaces for reflection and resistance. Contemporary cinema, such as Conclave, and modern scholarship on the sex trade and religious authority will help us draw bridges between past and present.

Program fee (paid to W&L): $4,103
Includes programming, room,a few meals (~2 lunches, ~1 dinner), and most in-country transportation.

Additional costs: airfare, most meals, cell phone, an optional weekend in Florence, spending money, passport, and visa fees (if applicable).

For further details, please reach out to Professor Dominicci-Buzo.

The information session for this course will take place on October 6, 2025, at 7 pm in Early Fielding 205.