Your Hosts

Christine Del Favero serves as Emerson’s director of alumni relations, supporting alumni as they connect to each other and the College for life. This includes working with volunteers to create virtual and in person gatherings, designing opportunities for mentorship and career conversations in Emerge (Emerson’s online professional community), and bringing Emerson to professional conferences and festivals wherever our alumni have a presence. Over her career, Christine has led engagement programs in both educational institutions and museums and is thrilled to combine process and creativity by working with the most innovative and enthusiastic alumni around. Culturally Dutch, Christine grew up summering in Holland and loves sharing the food, art, and way of life of the Netherlands with others. Her favorite thing about being at Kasteel Well is waking up to a view of peacocks out her bedroom window.

Rob Dückers is an art historian who loves late medieval and Renaissance art in all its forms and is eager to share his enthusiasm for these periods with his students. He has been teaching courses on Renaissance and Baroque art at Kasteel Well since 2004, as well as serving as one of the assistant directors of the Kasteel Well Program. He often guides student excursions to major European cities, from Prague and Florence to Paris and Berlin. Besides his duties at Emerson, Rob is an active scholar who regularly publishes and lectures on late medieval art. He is also in demand as a guest curator for exhibitions, collaborates on projects with (inter)national museums, and serves on the board of several historical societies and cultural institutions. And whenever you cannot find him, he's off in a corner somewhere, enjoying his signature cigar…

Dulcia Meijers has been teaching at Emerson’s European Center since Fall 1986. Courses such as Western Civilization, Renaissance & Reformation Thought, Romantic Painting & Poetry, and Renaissance & Baroque Art are part of her repertoire. In 1992, when the founding directors of Emerson’s European Center, John and Sheila Barbetta, returned to the US, Dulcia took over the directorship. With her team, she further developed the academic and residential program to what it has now become, and obtained over a period of 12 years substantial funding from the Dutch authorities for the renovation and restoration of the historical buildings and grounds. The Castle experience for Emerson students has thrived under her transformative leadership. Dulcia’s second home is Venice/Italy; it has been the focus of her scholarly work and publications ever since she set foot on Italian soil in the ’70s.