Syracuse, Italy

Introduction

The Fairfield Program at Syracuse offers students the opportunity to take a semester of classes which cover the most fundamental aspects of history and thought, literature and culture in Italy - from the ancient world to the 21st century - and to gain exposure to the most significant sites of ancient and modern Sicily and Italy.

The Fairfield program at Syracuse is located in a completely restored 17th century Spanish palazzo or palace in the historical center of the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily.

The city of Syracuse, founded as a seaport in 733 BC, boasts a wealth of archaeological and architectural remains, from the Classical to the Baroque and from the Gothic to the Arabesque, which reflect the almost uniquely diverse and oftentimes overlapping historical narrative of Sicily herself: passing from Greek colonists to Roman Governors, from Byzantine Patriarchs and Arabic Emirs to Norman Lords and the Royal houses of Spain and France, before her unification with the Italian Nation in the 19th century. This fusion of style and meaning is nowhere more evident that in the structures of the great Duomo or cathedral of Syracuse: a Greek temple, with Norman walls, a Byzantine apse and a Baroque façade. The dissonant yet harmonized architectural motifs from which this exquisite structure has been compounded are a historical record of, and living testament to, the diversity and cultural depth of the city of Syracuse and all of Sicily.

The Mediterranean Center for Arts & Sciences, Fairfield's partner in Sicily, is a dedicated Study Abroad Institute specializing in Italian Studies (broadly defined and including Art History, Language, Literature, Politics, History and the Natural Environment) and Classical Studies (again, broadly defined to include Language, Philosophy, History and Archaeology) with a series of complimentary classes which invite reflection on the study abroad experience (creative writing, photography) or offer the humanities student the opportunity to reflect artistically on his/her environment (Drawing, Painting).

Sicily represents a genuine opportunity to experience all facets of Italian life and culture

Semester in Syracuse
Summer in Syracuse