The University of Notre Dame was founded in November 1842 by Rev. Edward F. Sorin, C.S.C., a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a French missionary order. It is located adjacent to South Bend, Indiana, USA the center of a metropolitan area with a population of more than 300,000. One of North America’s leading undergraduate teaching institutions, Notre Dame also has been at the forefront in research and scholarship.
In 1969, Notre Dame made a bold move to require all its undergraduate architecture students to spend their third year in Rome as part of the Rome Studies Program. Directors believed the Eternal City offered students an opportunity to immerse in the classical and vernacular urban architecture which are foci of the five-year program. Fifty years later, architecture students are still residing, sketching, and studying in Rome each year. Since 2001, other undergraduates have joined them. For those students, there has been no shortage of places to explore, Papal Masses to attend, or service opportunities to join. Undergraduates from all of Notre Dame’s colleges and courses of study are invited to study in Rome.
The Rome Global Gateway officially opened in 2014 after construction was complete on the beautiful Via Ostilia. Two years later, Notre Dame International and the Rome Global Gateway launched the Rome International Scholars Program which is open to motivated undergraduates interested in independent research, internships, or service, in addition to Italian language courses. For graduate students and faculty, there are dozens of seminars, lectures, and events hosted at the Rome Global Gateway, in addition to a lengthy list of partner research institutions, libraries, and archives, whose doors are open to Notre Dame scholars.
