The eighth grade's annual Italian Study Tour - 10 days exploring sites in Assisi, Florence, and Rome - is a longstanding capstone experience in Humanities for our graduating class and their teachers, alike. After a two-year, pandemic-imposed hiatus, we were able to resume this signature experience this March, making the 2022 Tour particularly meaningful.
The trip provides the opportunity for our boys to visit in-situ the actual paintings, sculpture, and architecture they have studied in their art history class. As such, it melds the scholarly and creative in an organic way. It is common for a boy to comment on Medici family history when presenting on Brunelleschi's Dome, for instance, and then, in the next moment, to analyze the dome's structure and design.
In preparation for the trip, the boys are assigned an iconic Renaissance building in Florence to explore: they research the building, its patron, architect and significance; and they share the results of their inquiries with each other. They also write an essay about their team's effort and create a visual representation of the building in the medium of their choice, utilizing skills learned and practiced in observational drawing classes. They then present their findings to their classmates when we visit the site in Florence.
Our flight landed in Rome on Tuesday morning, March 1. We headed straight to the medieval city of Assisi, for a visit to the Basilica of Saint Francis. The setting of this beautiful Umbrian village, both breathtaking and humbling, reinvigorated and inspired us after the transatlantic flight.
Day One was followed by four days each in Florence and Rome. We covered mile upon mile of artistic, architectural, and natural territory each day, from Renaissance-rich sites such as the Accademia, Uffizi Gallery and Santa Croce (and the ever-popular excursion to the San Lorenzo leather market) in Florence--to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, and Vatican in Rome. At each spot, the boys absorbed, observed, and questioned. Their reflections and sketches, recorded daily in their Italian Study Tour Travel Journals, represented both academic and artistic expressions of understanding, and also served as keepsakes of their journey. Throughout the trip, their teachers and I were impressed with the connections the boys made between details they observed in the various works we viewed and their broader inferences about meaning.
Curiosity, joy, gratitude--we experienced each of these emotions during our tour. However, the overriding emotion was gratitude. We entered this school year not knowing whether we would be able to safely conduct an international trip. It required an immense amount of planning, analysis, and consultation. In the end, fortunately, we could and we did. The resilience of our boys and faculty shone through each day in every place we visited. The boys are remarkable young men and their teachers, exceptional, caring professionals.
We are grateful for continuing this unique Saint David's experience. In addition to providing our eighth grade boys the opportunity to hone their skills in analytical and creative thinking, writing, observation, and reflection about the Renaissance and Ancient Rome, it also serves as the bonding experience of a lifetime.
