ABOUT THE COURSE

WHO IS IT FOR ?
The Course is for all students interested in the experience we are offering. Our students come from across the academic spectrum, from the classics to medicine and pure mathematics. No one need feel nervous about seeming ignorant. Much of the content of the course is new to most people.

The majority of students on the Course are from British schools, mostly coming as part of their Gap year. Together with students from many other countries: the United States, Holland, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Argentina, Mexico, Canada……our community has an interesting international dimension.

“I just wanted to say how lovely it was to see you again in Venice, three years after being on the Course myself. It almost felt like meeting a long-lost family again. Being back in Venice, I had so many flashbacks and once again realised how much of a life-changing experience those months were, and how much I have missed it. Thank you for inviting us to join you in the little wine bar near the hotel.” (L.B, former student from Holland).

WHEN ?
Once a year, from late January to mid-March.

THE FLORENCE & ROME EXTENSIONS
We regard the extensions as an important part of the Course.
They are offered as an option, on grounds of cost and possible other commitments. To see Florence and Rome is a major part of the Italian experience. Their individual and different identities are striking after Venice, which in retrospect comes into special focus after Florence and Rome.

THE GAP YEAR - THEN & NOW

THEN. The Course was started in 1965 by John Hall in the context of the English educational system, where it is common for students to take a Gap year before starting university. Going to Italy after leaving school is a tradition established centuries ago and is as alive and relevant as ever. History - Art - Music - wonderful Architecture - good food - good wine - good coffee - fashion - design - sunshine - a welcoming friendliness…..a life-style where the vibrant present (it’s always vibrant in Italy) is lived in a visibly present past. Of all countries, it is Italy that offers the most potent distillation of Western Civilization.

NOW, with long-distance travel so easy and inexpensive many students who attend the Venice Course go on to back-pack all over the world, loaded not only with water bottles but with a totally new awareness of global issues of today and tomorrow and of what European civilization is about - interesting to compare with what they see in other continents - AND - a seriously improved curriculum vitae.

THE VENICE COURSE - an INVESTMENT
The long-term aim of the Course is to lay cultural foundations and to promote clear thinking on contemporary issues - a life-long investment.

More immediately and materially, in the question of university entrance, the course is highly regarded in many university departments. Nothing in the Course is dumbed-down. The list of our referees and lecturers explains very clearly why the Course
is taken seriously.

On the question of careers, participation in this course is considered a positive addition to a curriculum vitae. There is a large, invisible network of alumni and many have gone on to successful and distinguished careers. In the art world, alumni include specialists at Christie's and Sotheby’s, several directors of commercial galleries, the International Head of Old Master Paintings at Christie’s, New York, the Professor of Renaissance Art at the Courtauld Institute, London University, and the Director of the National Gallery, London.

WHY VENICE ?

Venice has been our main centre for 45 years.

Its history highlights issues of interest and relevance today . Founded in a precarious lagoon environment , its survival depended, and still depends, on ecological factors- attention to tides, channels, water levels. Its lack of land resources but fortunate geographical position between Europe, the Levant, Africa , the East and Asia lead to Venice’s development of mercantile and diplomatic skills and an international network of trading contacts overriding frontiers of nationality and religion. Underpinning world trade was a political constitution, developed by Venetian merchant families, - a state system which worked for centuries and which was considered a wonder of the world.

A result of prosperity is the great Art city of today - the ancient Byzantine mosaics and jewel-encrusted Pala d’Oro in St. Mark’s, Giovanni Bellini’s altarpieces , the revolutionary Giorgione and Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and then Tiepolo – all in situ; the magnificent architecture of Palladio’s churches looking out across the water; the Piazza S. Marco, the Piazzetta, the Doge’s Palace, Sansovino’s library and the Basilica of St. Mark’s - an unequalled architectural complex giving onto the glittering water of the Bacino of St. Mark’s.

The range of its artistic achievements compares with that of any other city, while its advantages as a centre for study and living are incomparable – its human scale, its lack of noise, pollution and violence, its sense of separate identity and the unforgettable beauty of sky and building reflected in the waters of the canal and lagoon.

Venice is and always has been a city for pleasure and delight. Venice invites exploration and draws you into the secret city that is invisible to “whistle-stop” tourists. Find your favourite café or trattoria, sit in the sun with a glass of prosecco, contemplate and enjoy the stunning surroundings.

Our students stay in a central hotel ten minutes’ walk from our lecture centre, a modernised convent with state-of-the-art lecture room, equipment and recreational facilities, not unlike a university campus.

"I owe more to the months spent on the Venice Course than I do to the whole of my time in the sixth form at Public School or even to my three years as an undergraduate at Cambridge. The instruction provided was excellent and also so enjoyable that I cannot think of it as separate from the outings we were encouraged to organize independently - to see the villas on the Brenta, to the remoter churches of the city, to the Fenice Opera House. Our exploration of Italian Art and Architecture was particularly exhilarating because it was inseparable from our introduction to a foreign way of life." (Nicholas Penny, former student, Director of the National Gallery, London).