Warwick in Venice

Annual Report2012-2013

For information, please contact:

Helen Johnson, International Office,

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Introduction
  3. Management
  4. Premises
  5. History and History of Art Term
  6. CaFoscari and Warwick
  7. CircoloItaloBritannico
  8. Lecture: How to Write a History of the Sea
  9. WBS Year Abroad Seminar: Easter
  10. Monash and Warwick Collaboration
  11. WBS and IKON Research Centre
  12. Erasmus Intensive Programme: Walking, Watching and Awakening in Venice
  13. Incroci De Civilta
  14. Vogalonga
  15. Art Night
  16. Regatta Storica
  17. Carlton University, Ottawa
  18. Making Space for Festivals, 1400 - 1700

Appendix 1.Venice Centre Management Committee

Appendix 2.Venice Advisory Board

Appendix 3.Membership of the Venice Advisory Board

Warwick in Venice

1.OVERVIEW

This is the first annual report for the Warwick Venice Centre at Palazzo Pesaro Papafava (PPP)and one of the aims of the report is to capture the rich and varied use of the PPP over a twelve months’ period.

2.INTRODUCTION

Warwick in Venice is consistent with a number of strands in the University’s Strategy. It contributes to the ambition of attracting the highest quality of students and staff(particularly, though not exclusively, in History of Art and History) because of the opportunities it provides for learning and research in Venice. The Centre is also important for enhancing the University’s international reputation by providing a showcase for Warwick in a World Heritage City located at the centre of Europe. Venice is at the centre of an excellent transport hub, linking Northern and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and further localities worldwide. The city and its heritage constitute a strong point of attraction, in particular for North American and, increasingly, Asian markets. Events taking place in Venice benefit from this added value and can also count on additional publicity and visibility.

From a research perspective, in addition to facilitating scholars’ access to resources in Venice, the Centre has already played a key role in a number of funding applications, including large EU grants in the Arts and Social Studies. It also has the potential to become a focal point for research in Warwick’s Global Priority Programme on Connecting Cultures as well as other GRPs. The Centre will also play a key role in the development of Warwick’s global alliance with Monash University, with already well-established synergies between Monash Prato and Warwick Venice fostering further collaborations in both research and teaching areas. For example, Venice was at the centre of a project on Study Abroad co-funded by Warwick (IATL) and Monash. The project whose final reports were submitted in 2012/13, involved more than 250 students and staff

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Innovation in the undergraduate curriculum is another strategy objective, and this is supported by the unique teaching opportunities provided by enabling student site visits and access to archive and library facilities in Venice. Warwick’s ambition is that every student should be an international student: one way of achieving this is through study opportunities overseas, and the long-established Venice teaching term provides approximately eighty students a year with a chance to study abroad.

As Warwick develops its International Summer School there will be opportunities to host modules at the Venice Centre, adding another dimension to our provision. Intensive teaching programmes will also find in the Venice Centre an ideal resource and have the potential to attract funding, international partnerships, and high calibre applicants. The Centre’s ability to attract funds is also demonstrated by a recent private donation and by the interest demonstrated by Warwick alumni in Venice-based events. The Centre also engages with the local community in Venice by hosting the CircoloItaloBritannicoVenezia and by taking part in cultural initiatives such as Venice’s Notte Bianca. The establishment of a ‘Distinguished Lecture’ based in Venice (the first talk was given by Mr Neil MacGregor in Autumn 2011), while building on an existing tradition linked to the teaching term, also allows the Centre to make the most of its facilities by offering a high-calibre event capable of attracting an international audience and producing significant publicity at a relatively moderate cost. In the autumn term 2013, the Department of History of Art hosted the first Warwick in Venice lecture; ‘Portraying Beauty, Parmigianino, Raphael and Titan’, presented by Elizabeth Cropper, Dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

The activities of the Venice Centre include two financially independent but inherently connected areas: the Venice Teaching Term on the one hand and, on the other, a growing number and range of research, teaching and public events taking place at the Centre around the year. While these two elements must remain separate for financial as well as administrative purposes, they are relying on synergies which are only made possible by Warwick’s presence in Venice on a permanent basis. The current arrangements, which include the lease of year-round premises in the Palazzo Pesaro Papafava and the employment of a Venice-based administrator, allow for continuity, visibility and growth in ways which are vital to both areas. Additionally, when measuring the level of activity sustained by the Venice Centre and its impact on the University, only an overall perspective will provide an accurate picture. For this reason, while recognizing the independence of the teaching term, this document will take into consideration all Venice-based activities and seek to highlight areas of contact between them as well as possible areas of joint or interconnected growth.

There is strong evidence that the Venice term is one of the unique selling points for History and History of Art undergraduate programmes. Without the term, Warwick would not be able to attract such high quality students to these courses. As international collaborations develop, there is also a growing requirement for conference and seminar facilities.

3.MANAGEMENT

The work of the Centre is be led by the Academic Director, a member of academic staff of the University of Warwick appointed by the Vice-Chancellor. The current Director is Dr LoredanaPolezzi, from the Department of Italian.

Currently the Centre is supported by the Venice Academic Advisory Committee (VAAC). Its terms of reference for 2013-14 are:

  1. To agree annual business plans and monitor performance against financial and other targets.
  2. To act as a forum for all parties interested and to advise on the further development of the Centre, including relations with local organisations such as University partners and statutory bodies, new partnerships and activities, new furniture and equipment, promotion and publicity, and major events (e.g. public lectures) to be held at the Centre.
  3. To consider any other matters proposed by the Chair relating to the successful running and development of the Centre.

Although not a formal committee of the University, the Committee is accountable to the Academic Resourcing Committee and the Central Administration Review process for the management of the Centre budgets.

4.PREMISES

Warwick’s Centre in Venice has beenhoused in the fifteenth century Palazzo Pesaro-Papafava since 2007. This stunning building, in gothic style, belonged to a rich patrician family who exercised considerable power in political and economic spheres. The main conference facilities of the Palazzo are on the first floor; the two seminar rooms can hold between 50 and 60 delegates each in a theatre-style, and the main hall can accommodate up to 120 people. The facility can hold up to a maximum of 150 people at a time. The air-conditioned library on the ground floor can be used for smaller meetings, and, weather permitting, the garden is ideal for informal sessions. Rooms can be laid out to accommodate lectures, workshops, drinks receptions and formal dinners.

The University holds the Palazzo on a five-year lease, which was renewed in September 2013. The lease stipulates that the premises may only be used for cultural and educational activities, and that none of these activities may be of a commercial nature. The University may sub-let the premises for non-commercial, cultural and educational activities, and is entitled to recover the costs of events.

Over the past five years, having a continuous presence in Venice has allowed the University to establish and maintain a high profile in the City (winning awards for its cultural activities in the process), to ensure continuity for teaching-term activities, and to transform the quality and quantity of other events organized. In particular, the lease of the Palazzo allows visits by staff and PG students at all times, ensures the presence of a functioning office, and permits the safe and effective storage of materials (including library holdings).

A number of activities are now carried out at the Palazzo on a yearly basis (e.g. cultural events such as the Arts Night or the Venice Lecture, or teaching programmes such as the Easter visit by the Department of Italian). Other events such as conference and symposia are organized on a one-off basis, or as part of broader research programmes and collaborations. A Venice Summer School is included, for instance, in the recently announced programme ‘Transnationalizing Modern Languages’, which is led by the University of Bristol with Warwick, St Andrews and QMU and received 1.9 million from the AHRC under its ‘Translating Cultures’ theme.

A new addition to facilities in Europe is The University of Warwick Brussels Office located in the EU Quarter in Brussels close to the main European Commission buildings and the European Parliament. Materials on the Venice Palazzo will be sent to the Brussels office to promote the conference facilities.

As an example of activities undertaken at the PPP, this report sets out some of the uses of the facility and will provide inspiration for future events.

5. VENICE ANNUAL REPORT – AUTUMN 2012
ART HISTORY
Some forty students spent the autumn term of their BA or MA in Venice studying art history under the tutelage of two Warwick members of staff. They share flats throughout the city and the islands (thanks to the help of our Venice-based administrator Chiara Farnea) and experience Venetian life for ten weeks, travelling on foot and by boat. All History of Art students follow an Italian language course specially designed and delivered by Ca’ Foscari and meet Venice university students through a buddying scheme. They were joined for the first time ever by three Ca’ Foscari students who took the undergraduate module for credit as part of a new exchange agreement.
The Venice ten-week term forms the compulsory first part of the MA strand Venice and its Legacy (medieval to modern, sources, monuments and objects), and a third-year Honours option for undergraduates (art and architecture and Venice and north Italy 1100-1600). Both cohorts are taught in original buildings and in front of works of art as much as possible, with supplementary lectures and seminars delivered in the Palazzo Pesaro Papafava. Full day teaching trips took place in Padua, Vicenza, Bologna and there was also a tour of the Veronese to Tiepolo exhibition in Udine (for MAs) with the curator, Dr Linda Borean. Students were also encouraged to spend five days on independent study/travel related to their course or dissertation. Some travelled as far as Naples and Prague, others explored the Venetian countryside.
Aside from benefiting from the well stocked lending library in the Palazzo, students have access to the library of Ca’ Foscari and the other specialised art history libraries of the city: the Biblioteca Querini Stampalia, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, the Biblioteca of the Museo Correr and that of the Fondazione Cini. As usual, a research seminar was held (Dr Federico Botana on a rare Florentine renaissance manuscript depicting Aesop’s Fable), as was the interdisciplinary annual December convegno where both young scholars and established speakers give papers on Italian art, architecture and history. This year’s guests included Lorenzo Buonanno (Columbia), Dr Michael Rocke (Villa I Tatti), Dr Stefano Riccioni (Ca’ Foscari), Dr Jessica Richardson (Villa I Tatti). Back in Warwick, an internal agreement was reached between the department and the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance to enable future MA students to spend their first term in Venice taking courses in both Art History and History.
Dr LOUISE BOURDUA & DR LORENZO PERICOLO
5.2. VENICE ANNUAL REPORT – AUTUMN 2012
HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Since 1967 the Warwick History Department, joined in 1977 by the Warwick Art History Department, has sent a group of third-year undergraduates to Venice every autumn term. No other British university teaches in Venice and this option is an important factor in attracting many applicants to study History at Warwick. Each year between 30 and 45 History students take the Venice term and they study Italian for the two years before their departure for Italy. The knowledge of Italian which they acquire not only enables them to study Florentine and Venetian history in depth; it is also a potentially invaluable asset to them when they are seeking employment after graduation. All students rent flats during their time in Venice, and our Venetian administrator, Chiara Croff, helps to arrange the accommodation. While they are in Italy, History students take a module on the history of Florence and Venice during the Renaissance which is taught by Warwick staff. The history of the two cities is studied in all its principal aspects, cultural, economic, political, religious, and social. The point of the module is to give students a unique opportunity to study the history of a great Mediterranean city while living in it, and Venice is well-suited for the purpose, since its overall appearance and structure have changed so little in the last four hundred years. Guided tours of the major monuments of the city are a key part of the module. Students also have the chance to spend ten days’ travelling across Italy, particularly to Florence.
Warwick has close links with the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari. Its students now take the history of Florence and Venice module alongside Warwick students. In addition, our students have access to facilities such as Ca’ Foscari’s libraries and language centre. There is also a ‘buddy scheme’ which teams Warwick and Ca’ Foscari students, encouraging an even greater immersion in local life.

Dr JONATHAN DAVIES

6. CA’FOSCARI AND WARWICK

Autumn Term and Erasmus

The Universities of Ca’Foscari and Warwick have a long history of collaboration and also engage with Erasmus exchange agreements in the areas of Economics, Classics, History, History of Art and Renaissance Studies. An agreement has also been signed to enable ten students to join the History of Art and History autumn term in Venice. The Ca’Foscari students study for credit on the Warwick modules, and in turn Warwick students are able to take advantage of the library and language facilities at Ca’Foscari. Student feedback from the students has been positive.

“Academic staff are highly competent and professional while the atmosphere is quite informal. This is very helpful to our integration within the group as well as to creating a stress-free environment. The lectures are very interesting, not difficult at all, and you can have the slides immediately after the end of the lecture and staff are always available if you need any clarifications. I am really satisfied with the experience.”

“The experience of the Warwick in Venice term has been really positive and challenging, and this applies to both to lectures and seminars. I must admit it was quite demanding to try to reconcile the Warwick programme with my ‘standard’ Ca’ Foscari courses (it might be useful to suggest to the next group of participants that they should take a break from their normal lessons, so that they can fully enjoy the Warwick term!), but the results have been highly rewarding, thanks especially to the Warwick academic staff, who are very competent and professional, as well as always available and understanding of our needs.”

7. CIRCOLO ITALO BRITANNICO

The CircoloItalo-Britannico was founded in 1967 when Derek Traversi, British Council representative in Italy gave the inaugural lecture.

Circolo membership is made up of people of different nationalities with common cultural interests who meet regularly to attend lectures which are informal and given in English and which embrace a wide range of subjects. Book presentations and visits to exhibitions and places of interest are arranged whenever possible.

The Circolo’s relationship with Warwick University began in 2007 at Palazzo Pesaro Papafava, with a talk given by MrEdward Chaplin, the then British Ambassador to Italy, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Circolo. It was more or less on this occasion that talks began with Warwick and the owner of the Palazzo to see whether the Circolo could take up “permanent” residence there the following year. This was agreed upon and the Circolo opened its 2008/2009 season at the Palazzo with a talk given by Professor Sergio Perosa, one of the founder members of the association.