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The Thomistic Institute Study Abroad Program

Ancient & Medieval Rome:
In the footsteps of Thomas Aquinas

The Thomistic Institute in Washington, D.C. has partnered with one of the great Roman universities, the Angelicum (the Dominican Order’s “Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas” in Rome), to offer a unique and exciting study abroad program.

This one-semester study abroad program runs in the Spring semester of each academic year. It is open to students currently enrolled in a university-level degree program. All courses and program activities will be in English (except for an optional language elective course in beginning Italian).

Come to Rome in 2026!

Applications for Spring Semester 2026 are due August 15

If you are currently enrolled in a university-level degree program and want to study the ancient and medieval Roman intellectual tradition while living in the heart of the Eternal City, our Study Abroad program is for you!

Applications for Spring 2026 will open soon.

For questions about the program or the application process, contact Dr. Rebecca Marisseau at rmarisseau@dhs.edu.

Join our no-commitment email list to receive updates about application deadlines and program offerings.

Rome: A Crossroads of Intellectual Traditions

For millennia, Rome has been a crossroads of traditions—not just for the Italian peninsula, but for ancient Greece, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. 

In the medieval period, Rome held together the traditions of pagan antiquity, the riches of Christianity from both East and West, Jewish thought and traditions, and Arabic philosophy, giving birth to renaissance humanism and even the beginnings of modernity.

The TI Ancient & Medieval Rome Program focuses on Rome as the intersection of these great traditions of East and West through the study of ancient and medieval history, philosophy, art, and religion. It will focus on key primary source documents, including texts from ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, classical Jewish and Christian sources, medieval theology and philosophy, and Thomas Aquinas. Explore our core courses.

Study, Explore, and Make Lifelong Friends

The TI Ancient & Medieval Rome Program provides an opportunity to study under prominent scholars while living in the heart of the Eternal City. Credits count toward students' degrees, and expectations are commensurate with the best universities in the United States.

As a TI Study Abroad student, you will live with like-minded young men and women in beautiful Villa Irlanda, on the grounds of the Pontifical Irish College, just steps from the Lateran Basilica and the Colosseum, within the ancient walls of the city of Rome. Learn more about Villa Irlanda

You will have the option of making pilgrimage visits to the historic religious sites of Rome. Organized by Dominicans of the Angelicum, these visits will take you to the splendor of the Roman catacombs, St. Peter’s Basilica, the tomb of St. Paul, the monastic cell of St. Dominic, and the tombs of Roman martyrs like St. Lawrence and St. Agnes.

Program Cost & Financial Aid

ALL-INCLUSIVE PROGRAM COST: $24,988 *

Includes: 

* Subject to change. Scholarship assistance and financial aid are available for qualifying students. Click here for more information.

TI Study Abroad Students (Spring 2024) standing in front of The Angelicum

TI Study Abroad students (Spring 2024) at the entrance of the Angelicum.

Rebecca Marisseau, Ph.D.

Meet the Administrator: Rebecca Marisseau, Ph.D.

Rebecca Marisseau earned her doctorate in History from Brown University. She studied for a semester in Rome and held an internship in the archaeological study collection at the American Academy in Rome. She is enthusiastic about helping students discover the treasures of the Eternal City through the TI study abroad program!

Are you ready to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure? Join our email list below!

The TI Study Abroad program has been everything in a philosophy education that I didn’t know I was looking for. To study St. Thomas in the heart of Catholic and Western civilization has been an experience I hope never to forget, and will hopefully remain with me spiritually and intellectually for the rest of my life.

—TI Study Abroad Student, Spring 2023