Ahh, summer break — that glorious time when the sun comes out, the Domer-made rosé starts flowing and school is officially out of session. Right? Well, we can’t speak for your sunbathing or wine-drinking habits, but at Notre Dame, summer is not a school-free zone. The summer term on campus doesn’t start until next week, but plenty of classes are already underway across the pond.
- Cool Classes
- Irish-American Tap Dance
- One's Life Story
- American Political Journalism
- Summer Abroad
- Culture, Conflict, and Commemoration
- Moreau First-Year Experience
- Beginning Furniture
- The Chemistry of Fermentation
- Rethinking Crime and Justice
- Playing Shakespeare
- The Arts of Asia
From international law in Poland to business in Japan, Notre Dame students are engaged in all kinds of learning this summer in the University’s study abroad programs. Just about any class would be cool when it’s taught in a far-flung foreign city, but a few selections from this term’s international course catalog rise above the rest. Here are our favorite classes of the summer: study abroad edition.
International Law and the Holocaust. Set in six cities throughout Poland, this political science and peace studies course traces the World War II-era roots of contemporary international law. The class, taught by Polish-born political science and law professor Emilia Justyna Powell, features visits to Auschwitz and other historical sites as well as meetings with Polish policymakers.
Architecture and Design in Berlin. Where better to learn about modern design than the home of Bauhaus? Taught by the German department’s Denise Della Rossa, this course traces Berlin’s distinctive architecture from the 19th century to the 21st.
The Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem. Photo by Matt Cashore '94
Three Faiths, Two Peoples. If Berlin is the perfect place to study design, then Notre Dame’s Tantur Ecumenical Institute is definitely the place to study interfaith dialogue. This study of Christianity’s relationship to Judaism and Islam features classes at the Jerusalem Global Gateway, excursions around the Holy Land, and a field trip to Amman, Petra and the Wadi Rum desert of Jordan.
Business and Culture in Japan. Sorry, New York — the city that houses the most Fortune 500 companies these days is Tokyo, and this Mendoza course helps students dive in to one of the world’s most booming markets. Under the tutelage of Jessica McManus Warnell of the business school and the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, students will learn the basics of intercultural communication and Japanese economic history.
Notre Dame's Rome program holds class just down the street from the Colosseum. Photo by Matt Cashore '94
Framing Rome. All of the classes we’ve featured in this series so far have been cool, but this one may be the coolest. This course considers Rome’s portrayal in photograph and film over the past century and a half, asking students to consider how the tourist experience is shaped by these iconic images of the Eternal City. It’s also taught just a block from the Colosseum — talk about a Roman holiday.
Sarah Cahalan is an associate editor of this magazine.