Trip to Pompeii

While in Italy, we spent one day in Pompeii with a tour guide exploring the ruins of the city.  The city was buried in 9 ft of volcanic ash and debris in 79 AD after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which towered over the city.  The explosion of the eruption was equivalent to 50 atomic bombs being detonated simultaneously.  Most of the people in the city at the time were buried alive or died of suffocation from the toxic gases that polluted the air.  In one of the pictures above you can see a body that was preserved by the ash.  You can still see their facial expressions as well.  From first look, you can tell that this was a gruesome death.  The bodies themselves decayed within the ash, but a cast of the body's details wash imprinted in the ash.  Archaeologists discovered that the could preserve the entire body by injected plaster into the cavity left by the body in the ground.  They could then raise the entire mold with the skeleton inside and untouched.  Closer analysis could late be done using x-ray machines.  

Another interesting concept from an architectural standpoint is how the people of Pompeii created their columns.  Many of the columns were created using mostly brick masonry and were later finished with mortar to make them smooth and fluted to maintain the various orders of columns from that era.  This is very similar to our stucco techniques today.

Theatre of Marcellus

Here is the exterior of the theater of Marcellus.  In the close up, you can see the structure is mainly solid stone.  You will also notice square holes all over the facade.  These holes were made to allow for scaffolding to be erected while the workers were constructing the exterior wall.  These holes would have eventually been covered up by the marble tiles that we associate with the monumental buildings throughout Rome.  The marble tiles would be set in place with a small gap behind them and they would get backfilled with mortar to create a tight bond.  During this process, they would also be leveling and checking the plumb of the tile while it was curing--quite a difficult process.  Bigger holes were also created, but much later after the construction was complete.  This were made by people trying to remove any of the metal clamps that were used with the stone walls.  Iron at the time was a very valuable material and would often be stolen from the sites, even during initial construction.

The Roman Colloseum

Here are a couple of pictures from inside the Collosuem.  It is hard to imagine how the Romans could ever have built something so massive using only stone, concrete, and their own muscle.  Seating around 50,000, the Colloseum is very comparable to a modern day sports stadium.  They even made use of solar shading to reduce glare inside the arena.  Built up from Nero's dried lake bed, the structure consists of over 100,000 cubic meters of stone.  The open spans in the interior corridors were made possible with the innovation of the arch.  The arch transfers it's loads down to the two made supports on both sides and also pushes out slightly.  The continuous ellipse of the Colloseum allows the arches on the exterior to brace themselves.  After an earthquake brought down a section of the exterior wall many centuries ago, however, the arches started to loose their integrity.  They fixed this by installing flying buttresses on the exterior to keep any more arches from blowing out.

The Roman Baths

The Roman Baths.  Here is a small sample of what made up the floor inside the Roman Baths.  You can get a sense of the intricacy and attention to detail that they put into all of the architectural features throughout.  This particular floor is a marble mosaic made from small tiles about the size of a dime.  Truly amazing!

Trevi Fountain

This site is very popular and was pretty close to our hotel in Rome.  You could usually find hundreds of people at any given point of the day walking around and shopping in this square.  What a site!  It's even more dramatic at night.

Trip to Rome Reflection

I had a great time in Rome seeing everything that we have learned about throughout the quarter and more.  I also really enjoyed getting to know everyone better, both the students and professors.  This was an experience I'll never forget.  Even though I took several pictures along with everyone else, I don't think it can replace the experience of actually being there and seeing it for yourself.  I can tell friends and family all about the Vatican, the museums, the art, but it will never truly sink in until you've been there. 

I was inspired but the Roman's ability to build structures to the scale that they did using only the basic building materials and technologies.  The roman civilization definitely left their mark in the world for their innovations in engineering and design.  It is important to remember that not everyone Rome benefitted from the lavish luxuries that we associate with Rome.  But just to have a system of clean running water for all to benefit from was pretty amazing.  I'm almost certain that the quality of life was much greater than other establishments around the world at the time simply due to the water and sewer systems that they utilized.

The food was great too.  I learned that tomatoes were not actually part of the Italians original diet and that traditionally, you don't eat meat with your pasta dish during a meal--the is an American-influenced tradition.

I don't know much Italian, but in some cases, I was able to get away with Spanish.  However, that made the locals think that I was from a Spanish country.  In the tourists areas though, it seemed like there was someone who spoke enough english to get a point across.  I also discovered that you could find much more affordable meals away from the main attractions.  One of my favorite dishes was the grilled calamari that I had at one of the restaurants in Rome.  It was almost an entire leg of squid sliced open, slightly crispy.  Once you get over the fact that you're eating a dead sea creature, it's very tasty.  The night out at the dinner with the dean was definitely the best meal I had on the whole trip.  Overall, hanging out with new people outside of my major was fun and exploring through an ancient city was also an experience in itself.

Final Presentation - PBL 2 - The Pantheon Controversy

We have just completed our last class of the quarter before the trip to Rome.  I was very pleased with our second PBL results.  We had several ideas for this assignment and narrowed it down to a video presentation.  Our group decided to do a skit where we would act as people with clashing ideals and we would meet in a closed-door conference to discuss the future use of the Pantheon.  The result was a combination of live and pre-recorded interactions between the people.  The recorded portion can be viewed on the side.

I was extremely satisfied with our presentation this time around.  Our group had several great ideas every step of the way.  We wanted our presentation to meet the goals of the problem, but make it entertaining as well to keep the audience engaged.  We threw a little commercial break in there too to mix it up a little bit.  But overall, I had a lot of fun doing this and I think we all learned that we could be creative through open discussion of ideas and putting our skills together.

Class Tuesday, Nov. 4

During class on Nov. 4, our group started generating several ideas for the direction of our next presentation for our second PBL project based on the Pantheon.  Our PBL involves protesting the burial of a prime minister in the pantheon in present day.  We came to the conclusion that we should research the history of the Pantheon in the different areas of study including architecture, purposes, and historical uses, as well as viewpoints from the various communities as specified in the PBL.  By having background in these different areas we will then be able to converge are previous ideas from the first brainstorming session into a solid idea for the direction of our next presentation.

I am personally going to look further into the construction and architecture of the Pantheon and also discover what view points that current historians have on the use of the Pantheon today.  As a result, we should be able to find a solution as a group from all of our different perspectives on the situation.

Reflection: The Colloseum Project

1.) WHAT I'VE LEARNED

While working on this project, I would say that I learned about four times as much as I had anticipated to while researching my specific topics about the Roman society.  I attribute this the wealth of information available on Roman history as well as the connections between culture and technology of all of the systems used during that time period.  I found many interesting documentaries about the division between the classes and common cultural practices.  I also discovered a few interview articles about the many different theories on how they achieved marvelous feats such as the velarium.

2.) PROCESS

To solve the problem given in this assignment, our group started by using post it notes to draft a relationship map between the key ideas of the Colloseum.  Using a C-map, our group was able to plot several topics related to the Colloseum and its development.  We mainly wanted to focus on the significance that the project had on the Roman society.  We then thought it would be a good idea to draw parallels between Roman society and modern society in America today. Surprisingly there are many relationships between the two.  

There are so many interesting aspects about the Colosseum that we could have made a presentation that lasted well over an hour, but we knew that we had to make the presentation concise and emphasizing key points.  The points that we came up with were: the arch, the construction of the colosseum, the political and social aspects of the project, and the entertainment it provided.

I personally researched the construction aspects of the projects because it directly pertains to my major.  I enjoyed learning about how the structure was assembled using the bare materials that they had to work with.  I also looked at the velarium system that was used to shade the Colosseum from the suns harsh rays during the day.

3.) BENEFIT OF GROUP

Working in interdisciplinary group benefitted my experience because I was able to get different viewpoints on ideas rather than someone from my major who may have similar ideas.  I also learned a great deal of information from the other group members from the areas of the Colosseum that they were studying.

4.) OVERALL EXPERIENCE OF PROBLEM

I thought that the all of the research that we came up with and presented was interesting and beneficial for all ages, but I think our approach could have been better after watching the other groups' presentations.  We focused on using diagrams, pictures, and interesting facts in powerpoint and drawing relationships to modern society.  This may work for older kids, but would probably lose younger kids' attention.  If I were to do this again, I would suggest a more hands-on approach where the kids would use typical arts and crafts to model the construction techniques of the Colosseum.

First PBL: The Colloseum

Here is the project guidelines for our first PBL, based on the research of the Roman Colosseum:

The Big Contest

Part One

Sam carefully maneuvered his motorcycle between the cars in the parking lot next to the International office. He is a man on a mission; the latest university budget cut has left his group with little money to run a program very dear to his heart, the “International Business and Technology” program. There is no money what-so-ever to travel; meanwhile his group members had set their eyes on the Eternal City “Rome” as their next destination.

Sam was in a reflective mood, he just came from the tribunal meeting where he had a serious discussion about keeping the program alive. However, without a travel abroad experience, his will have to limit their activities to seminars and discussion. He predicts that most of the members will drop out if the international travel component is eliminated. Sam‘s group wanted to raise money, but did not know how? They have heard of the cut in the international grants for travel but they did not feel that bake sale can make-up difference to help them in their travel expenses. After all, the trip to Rome will cost two thousand dollars without food. They could go on the diet…. But even that is not sufficient!!

As Sam stopped by the International office, he noticed a sign about a competition posted by the Association of Professionals for Preservation of Heritage (APPHS). The APPHS is trying to raise the awareness of school students of all ages of professional careers in preservations of heritage by providing exciting resources that stimulate their interests. The association is phasing-in a new program about international and historical architecture, construction and culture; it has announced a contest for college students to develop resources for school students about the subject in the Eternal City, Rome.

Resources on Construction in Rome for Children of all Ages

Prize is $5,000 in scholarship- The scholarship will be used for exploration of archaeological sites involving Historical Structures.

Guidelines:

1. Develop Authentic and Engaging Educational Resources (in any form) that stimulate the interest of school students in historical architecture, construction and art in Rome and excite their inquisitive minds of the culture in Rome at that time.
2. Although the entire roman heritage is addressed, the focus will be on the Colosseum project
3. Resources shall include but are not limited to art, history, technological solution to building design and construction problems.
4. The research of the heritage shall link the history to the present and future
5. The proposal shall extend to methods of dissemination of the resources to school children.

Selection of winning proposals will be based on the proposal strength in engaging the school children, fostering their interests in conservation of heritage professions, and the proposed resources and their methods of dissemination. Oral Presentation will be given in front of a committee of professionals on Tuesday October 28. The committee encourages the students to be creative in their proposal presentations.

Part Two
At University Hall

The next day, Sam, Angel, Antonio, Sarah, Matt and Andrew are discussing the subject at lunch at one corner of University Hall cafeteria. “Look dude”, said Antonio, “my major is Spanish, I have taken some Gen Ed classes in History and Culture, but repairing the steps of our back porch is my only and last experience with construction projects”. Sarah mumbled “I am a Business major, what do I know about the subject? I am just interested in traveling.” Matt remarked kiddingly, “I am a techie I may be able to contribute in the technology area but the Roman did not have computers then!” After a heated discussion about the subject Andrew stood up and said “hold-off you guys, we each have our own strength and we all have done research, it is all about research, isn’t it..” “No!!” quickly interrupted Matt, “it is also about putting together a successful proposal and delivering it.” Angel who remained quiet during the entire discussion, raised her head and said “I really think we can do it and have fun on the way!! There are zillions of materials available on the subjects, all we have to do is to assemble the information, make sure of its accuracy and document it, then deliver the proposal in a creative way. That should be lots of fun!!”

Finally, Sam puts an end to the conversation: “look guys, this will give just about $1000 a piece to go to Rome, isn’t that the destination we discussed last term. So.. OKAY!! We have been at this now for a whole hour, let us vote. How many are willing to take the plunge and pull their weight.” Sam, Angel, Matt, and Andrew raised their hand. “OK!! Let us meet on Saturday and draft a C-Map and make some plans.”

Course Syllabus

32- INTR- 395 H

Instructors:

George Suckarieh, Construction

Rajiv Soman, Chemistry

Jo Ann Thompson, English

Richard Newrock, Physics

Muthar Al-Ubaidi, Mechanical

Afsaneh Ardehali, Architectural

Stewart Goldman, Art

Meeting Schedule

Tuesday

5:30– 7:15 Class

Students can stay longer to meet to solve the problems given in the class

Classroom

College of Applied Science A204

Several computer stations in the adjoining 2^nd floor of CAS library will serve during and after class time

Resources

No textbooks are assigned for the course. The blackboard site for the class provides problem descriptions along with hyperlinks, pictures, text documents and hints to problem based learning for technologies and culture. Students are expected to use the libraries to research the assigned problems for learning. When possible, students are required to bring the references to the class to share with their teammates and faculty and to document their readings in their reports.

Description

Global development of technologies of structures, and architecture through the centuries is associated with societal culture, needs, progress and yes, war. The proposed seminar/course exposes Honors students to these interrelationships, and helps them to better understand societies. In this course, teams of Honors students will research the technology of construction and architecture of roman monuments and reflect on the culture that promoted their construction.

Using a problem based learning (PBL) approach; the seminar/course will enable students to research the history of Rome by examining and analyzing various technologies present in centuries-old structures such as the “Coliseum”, “Pantheon”, “Palazzo Barberini”, “Coat of Arms Bridge”. The seminar/course will culminate with a required visit to Rome and Pompeii and other sites explored in the class for the student to experience these interrelationships. In order to get the full credit for the course the students must be enrolled in the course and be prepared to travel to Rome.

Student travel will be partially subsidized by fund provided by UC International Program office (provided they have completed their FAFSA form).

Prerequisites

English Composition

Basic computer knowledge (Word Processing, Some PowerPoint is helpful)

Course Objectives

Cognitive

1. Developing knowledge and appreciation of technology

2. Understanding the strong inter-relationship between society and technology

3. Learning effective research methodology

Behavioral

1. Improving oral and written communication skills

2. Applying resources to solve problems

3. Developing skills to function in an interdisciplinary team

4. Understanding the importance of life-long learning

Affective

1. Appreciating the benefits of history in the decision-making process

2. Experiencing a different culture

3. Enjoying the benefits of the PBL approach to learning and problem solving

4. Recognizing the student’s need to know and support each other

Grading

Oral Presentations (two group PBL) 50%

Class and Group Participation (peer evaluation considered) 20%

Individual Blog/Portfolio including reflections during the Quarter 15%

Overall reflection on Experience in Rome 15%

All students will receive a grade of IP at the end of the Quarter. The final grade will be awarded following submission of the final Portfolio/Summary upon return from Rome.

Schedule

Week 1 Course Introduction and Organization,

Group Formation and Activities

Introduction to Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

Resources and Presentation of First Problem:

Week 2-5 (First Set of Problem Based Learning)  

PBL- The Colosseum- Team 1
PBL- Roman Forum- Team 2
PBL- Roman Water Distribution- Team 3
PBL- Roman Roads and Bridges- Team 4
PBL- Ostia Antiqua- Team 5

Week 6-10 (Second Set of Problem Based Learning)

PBL- The Pantheon- Team 1
PBL- Museum of Religious Antiquities- Team 2    
PBL- Circus Maximus- Team 3
PBL- Pompeii- Team 4
PBL- Theater Marcellus- Team 5

Week 11 Travel to Rome