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Director Waller's Welcome

We are Loyola University of Chicago’s European campus founded by John Felice in 1962.

Guided by nearly 500 years of Jesuit tradition, the John Felice Rome Center pedagogy requires engaging in the Eternal City while reflecting on one’s experience resulting in faith, knowledge, and the promotion of justice.  

With 60-plus years of innovation in international education, our 22,000 alumni represent a tapestry of intellectuals, visionaries, and activists. Given the monumental challenges facing the planet, we are proud of our former distinguished alumni which include diplomats, Hollywood filmmakers, chief executive officers, grassroots organizers, a United States Governor, and many others shaping our world in positive ways. The more one reflects on this rich tapestry, the clearer it becomes that the JFRC impacts students in unexpected ways, planting seeds and contributing to building successful lives.  

Our Teaching Philosophy 

Almost 70% of our classes meet “on-site” for lectures and class discussions throughout Rome’s vast array of ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque, and modern architectural wonders. You will be exposed to a series of classes in Rome and throughout Italy steeped in an interdisciplinary study of art and philosophy, business and global health, music and history, theology, social and behavioral sciences, the natural sciences and architecture, Italian language immersion, archeology, ethics, and literature.  

Educating the Whole Person 

All our classes emphasize critical thinking, hands-on learning, and ethical discernment through real global engagement. You will be challenged to raise tough questions about how you envision your future; the origin and nature of the universe; the meaning of justice; and the purposefulness and dignity of every individual human person. 

Engaged Learning 

And we don’t stop with questions. At the Rome Center, we expect our students to use what they learn here to respond compassionately and effectively to the most contemporary and urgent social, economic, health, and political issues; we form leaders who possess a deep capacity to envision a more just and humane world.  

Through this website, I invite you to learn more about the John Felice Rome Center and the kind of intellectual, professional, and ethical formation for leadership that a Rome Center study abroad education offers. The choices you make today will impact the rest of your life.  

Welcome to the John Felice Rome Center!  

Cordiali saluti, 

Dr. Todd Waller 
Director, Loyola Rome Center 
Loyola University Chicago 

We are Loyola University of Chicago’s European campus founded by John Felice in 1962.

Guided by nearly 500 years of Jesuit tradition, the John Felice Rome Center pedagogy requires engaging in the Eternal City while reflecting on one’s experience resulting in faith, knowledge, and the promotion of justice.  

With 60-plus years of innovation in international education, our 22,000 alumni represent a tapestry of intellectuals, visionaries, and activists. Given the monumental challenges facing the planet, we are proud of our former distinguished alumni which include diplomats, Hollywood filmmakers, chief executive officers, grassroots organizers, a United States Governor, and many others shaping our world in positive ways. The more one reflects on this rich tapestry, the clearer it becomes that the JFRC impacts students in unexpected ways, planting seeds and contributing to building successful lives.  

Our Teaching Philosophy 

Almost 70% of our classes meet “on-site” for lectures and class discussions throughout Rome’s vast array of ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque, and modern architectural wonders. You will be exposed to a series of classes in Rome and throughout Italy steeped in an interdisciplinary study of art and philosophy, business and global health, music and history, theology, social and behavioral sciences, the natural sciences and architecture, Italian language immersion, archeology, ethics, and literature.  

Educating the Whole Person 

All our classes emphasize critical thinking, hands-on learning, and ethical discernment through real global engagement. You will be challenged to raise tough questions about how you envision your future; the origin and nature of the universe; the meaning of justice; and the purposefulness and dignity of every individual human person. 

Engaged Learning 

And we don’t stop with questions. At the Rome Center, we expect our students to use what they learn here to respond compassionately and effectively to the most contemporary and urgent social, economic, health, and political issues; we form leaders who possess a deep capacity to envision a more just and humane world.  

Through this website, I invite you to learn more about the John Felice Rome Center and the kind of intellectual, professional, and ethical formation for leadership that a Rome Center study abroad education offers. The choices you make today will impact the rest of your life.  

Welcome to the John Felice Rome Center!  

Cordiali saluti, 

Dr. Todd Waller 
Director, Loyola Rome Center 
Loyola University Chicago