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Art history professor publishes art history textbook.

Assistant Professor of Art History Julia C. Fischer recently published “Art in Rome: Antiquity to the Present,” with Art in RomeCambridge Scholars Publishing. 

“Art in Rome: Antiquity to the Present,” is designed for a study abroad onsite art history course in Italy. The textbook covers the major artistic and architectural masterpieces from ancient Rome through the twenty-first century. Art ancient Rome, the Early Christian period, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Baroque, and the eighteenth through twenty-first centuries are thoroughly covered in its 294 pages.

“Students who utilize the textbook in their onsite course, as well as the erudite traveler who wants to extensively explore the art of Rome, will be able to witness the evolution of the art in Rome from its origins through the present day,” said Fischer, who has been teaching in Lamar University’s Department of Art for nearly seven years.

The fifteen chapters of “Art in Rome,” now available on Amazon, are organized topographically with each chapter corresponding to a specific area of Rome and exploring sites and monuments within the specific location.

“Each chapter is designed to correspond to one three-hour onsite lecture, easily walking from monument to monument,” said Fischer. “Whenever possible, the chapters of the book are also arranged chronologically. Therefore, many of the ancient monuments are examined in the beginning chapters and then subsequent chapters move chronologically through the Early Christian period, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque and the modern periods.”

Fischer believes “Art in Rome: Antiquity to the Present,” will appeal to instructors of this onsite course because it is comprehensive and topographically arranged.

“I tried to write it in a format that was not just informative but really engaged the student in order to enhance students’ knowledge of Rome, while also allowing them to get as much out of their study abroad experience as possible.”

Julia C. Fischer“Art in Rome,” is Fischer’s second published textbook. She worked with Cognella Press to publish an art appreciation textbook in 2015, “How to Speak Art: Understanding Its Language, Issues, and Themes.” The book explores works of art from prehistoric cave paintings to modern artists such as Christo. Her latest book has been a goal of Fischer’s since she was a child.

Fischer lived in Rome and remembers at the age of nine realizing she wanted to pursue art history. “I fell in love with the city, art history, Latin and Greek. I took an art in Rome onsite course and since then it’s always been one of my goals from way back to write an art in Rome onsite text,” said Fischer.  “There’s mothing out there that covers antiquity to present.”

Now that the textbook is published, Fischer said her next goal is to work with LU’s study abroad office to establish a trip for LU students to take the “Art in Rome” onsite.

“The ultimate goal is to teach the course in Rome,” said Fischer. “Eventually a study abroad trip will be developed to accompany the ‘Art in Rome’ text.”