Launched from the Rome Global Gateway, initiatives are long-term collaborations on a single theme designed to bring together Notre Dame students and faculty with partners in the city. Three initiatives are currently underway. These projects link teaching, research, and our mission as a Catholic university.
In collaboration with the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and the Centro Studi sull’Immagine e la Cultura di Roma at La Sapienza University, this project seeks to publish and interpret all of the printed maps of Rome made since the arrival of the printing press in the city in 1467 until the Reunification of Italy. No other city in the world can claim to be documented by such a rich series of maps. The first goal is to make these maps, which are spread among libraries and archives around the world, accessible to scholars and students. The second is to interpret this rich horde of cartographic images.
Rome sits on one of the major pathways for migrants to Europe. The humanitarian, economic, religious, and political aspects of contemporary human migration transform the city in many ways. Through this initiative, faculty and students collaborate with six local agencies in diverse ways from community-based learning to research.
Together with the Archivio Storico della Communità Ebraica di Roma, promoting the preservation of Jewish heritage in the city is the focus of this initiative. This collaboration between one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world and ND in Rome began when the University purchased a villa near the Gateway to use as a student residence. The villa was used as a school for Jewish children from 1938-1940 when they were expelled from Italian public schools after the racial laws were instituted.
- 1969 The Rome Studies Program is established by architect Frank Montana
- 2007 The Hesburgh Library began cataloging the library collection as part of the University architecture library
- 2010 Notre Dame purchases a building on Via Ostilia and begins renovations
- 2017 Students move into the Villa on the Celio, a new student residence owned by Notre Dame
- 2019 Architecture alumni and friends will gather in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rome Studies Program