Good news. We have just purchased our flights to Italy. What is even better news is that we have only one layover (in Chicago) and we will have a direct flight from Chicago to Rome. Please check and see if the name on the ticket matches your name on the passport. If not, please respond immediately so that we can correct the ticket information and there will be no delays in the airport.
Second, I attach our itinerary in Italy, provided by Educational Tours. It is a very exciting schedule that includes visits to an early Roman colony Cosa, Etruscan sites, and Florence, sites that I have not included on previous trips. The small size of our group will make it possible to visit these out of the way sites by minivan.
Third, each of you will make a site presentation during our trip. You can find potential topics for your report at http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/arch/romereports15.shtml. After reading through the possibilities, get an overview of your topic by looking it up online and/or check one of the books on the bibliography under "Places to Start." Then send me an email requesting a first choice and second choice topic and a brief explanation why you want to do those topics.
After I approve your first or second choice of topic, read through the Guidelines for Written and Oral Reports. Third, search through the sources listed on the Bibliography page, search Cole library, search on-line resources at Cole (e.g. Academic Search Complete, Art Source, EBSCO and JSTOR), search the websites listed on the homepage for the trip to Italy, and find as many articles, chapters of books, reliable websites, etc. as possible and draft a preliminary bibliography. Feel free to ask/email a librarian to help. Jen Rouse is the consulting Librarian for the Humanities and Greg Cotton is the consulting Librarian for Art, but others may be able to help you as well. Fourth, submit this bibliography to me by the third Monday of first term so that I can give you feedback on which sources are best and which ones are less helpful. Once you are back on campus, you may either come by the office so that we can discuss your bibliography or you may submit it by email.
For more information, including our tentative itinerary, and a suggested packing list, see http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/arch/rometrip.shtml.
Arrivaderci!
