Sept. 2, 2015
Saturday, Sept. 5, marks the official opening of the Rome Center of The Catholic University of America (CUA) and Australian Catholic University (ACU) at Via Garibaldi 28. CUA President John Garvey, ACU Chancellor John Fahey, and ACU Vice Chancellor Greg Craven will meet in Rome with distinguished guests to celebrate the opening.
This new venture brings together students and professors from the United States and Australia in Rome and marks a three-continent endeavor creating new possibilities for interdisciplinary and intercultural scholarship.
CUA has operated a center in Rome since 2002, bringing in 150 to 200 students annually as part of their course of study; between 30 and 50 students from Loyola University Maryland also participate.
The Catholic University of America's offerings at the new Rome Center include semester-long programs, primarily for students enrolled in the schools of arts and sciences, music, and architecture, and short courses in law, canon law, business and economics, and theology and religious studies. Students will begin using the space on Monday, Sept. 14.
The center will host public lectures by CUA faculty and invited scholars as well as receptions for Roman Church officials. It will be a hub for ACU and CUA faculty visiting Rome, short programs for alumni, and possible short-term professional development programs for faculty and staff.
Among the center's amenities are newly renovated living quarters for 70 undergraduates, a wing for graduate students, apartments for visiting faculty, a studio for architecture majors, a chapel, and a garden. Students, faculty, and visitors can access other areas of Rome via four buses, which stop just outside the center, and the Trastevere streetcar line, a 10-minute walk away.
The new center is located on Rome's Janiculum Hill about a mile from St. Peter's Basilica, an area that has been part of the city of Rome since the Roman Empire and was enclosed in the great walls of the city built by the emperor Aurelian in the mid-third century. Built for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion in the early 1960s, the building replaced a family villa that was on the site. Noted Italian architect Giò Ponti had a hand in its design.
The joint operation of the Rome Center is the second collaborative venture between the two universities. Since 2009 CUA's School of Nursing has had a reciprocal student exchange with the ACU School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine.
For more information about the center, visit rome.cua.edu/center.cfm .