Me at the iconic Spanish Steps, one of the stops on Audrey Hepburn’s path in the movie “Roman Holiday,” which we were assigned to retrace for Contemporary Images of and from Rome.
Author: Katherine Taylor | Major: Journalism
As I trek across the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, the hot Italian sun beats down unforgivingly. To my left, bright rays glint off the Tiber River, giving the Castel Sant’Angelo a warm glow; to my right, Vespas, taxis, and Smart cars whiz by over uneven cobblestone. The air rests heavily on my skin like a thick second layer of clothing. Even at 9 in the morning, Rome is shaking me awake with espresso and sunshine and racket.
Once off the bridge, I turn left off of the busy road and enter a sanctuary of shaded Roman alleyways. The narrow lanes are calm. Noise from the main road is muted by the thick walls of old buildings, which house leather shops and gelatarias and local restaurants. I round the corner to Palazzo Taverna, scan my key card, and step into a beautiful pebbled courtyard, ready for another day at school.
My walk to the University of Arkansas Rome Center had become routine by week 2 of my 5-week program. It was a part of my day that was performed rather than lived; it was utilitarian rather than experiential. And yet, the more I reflect on it now, the more I realize how much that walk — the contrast, the layers, the nuances — parallels my experience in Italy’s capital.
Rome is a city full of contrast. Old and new. Beautiful and ugly. Fast and slow. Traditional and modern. The perspective of the city I brought with me — an overly romantic view of Rome as a static historical monolith, untouchable and anchored firmly in the past — was one that left no room for reality, and thus none for truth. Rome was not what I expected it to be. And that forced me to learn.
At the Rome Center, I was part of the Summer Core program. Any major is welcome in Summer Core, and courses in multiple disciplines are offered. I was in two: Contemporary Images of and from Rome, and To Rome with Love. I chose this program and these classes because I wanted to have a truly deep understanding of a country besides the United States; I wanted to learn about Italian culture at the same time that I was immersed in it, instead of reading about it in a textbook from thousands of miles away.
On the first day of To Rome with Love, I had no way to know I’d enrolled in a speed-run crash course for all things Italy. The class was divided into a language and a culture section. In the language section, we learned basic Italian: how to introduce ourselves and say where we are from, how to order at a restaurant, lots of food vocabulary (as is appropriate, of course, when in Rome), and other useful phrases to help us get around. Our language professor, Barbara Spaccini, was kind and patient; she corrected us gently, and wasn’t afraid to let out some good-spirited laughter at our more amusing mistakes.
The culture section of the course covered a range of topics centered around specific themes, including politics, food, and immigration. More than learning what year Italy was unified (1861) or how many times per day the average Italian consumes coffee (4), I felt as though I was leaving school every day and seeing my education come alive in the streets of Rome. When we learned about the history of Italian food, I understood why I saw things like carbonara and cacio e pepe on every menu. When we learned about the immigrant presence in Italy, I empathized more with the people I passed on the street every day. When we learned about the Grand Tour and the meaning of the word “tourist,” I realized that I am a small part of a long legacy — an individual with a personal journey, but also following the path millions have taken before me
My other course, Contemporary Images of and from Rome, also brought Rome into greater focus; the blurred picture I arrived with cleared. The course was structured around a few main themes: Rome as a myth, Rome as poetry, Jews in Rome, and immigrants in Rome. I connected really strongly with the latter two.
Prior to taking this course, I had a one-dimensional view of Italy. I thought it was a homogenous nation full of dark-headed Catholics who ate a lot of pasta. I thought it was all art and beauty and history. Taking Contemporary Images, though, I was able to see Italy and its capital city from multiple angles — exposing some uglier parts, sure, but bringing me closer to the truth. Professor Calabretta carefully selected films for us to watch, texts for us to read, and sites for us to visit, making sure that each layer would make Rome more three-dimensional in our minds.
The part of the course I connected with most was the unit on Jews in Rome. Jews have actually been in Rome since two centuries before Christ — meaning before Catholicism even existed. However, Jews have long been persecuted in Rome. The Roman Empire taxed them heavily and destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem when they refused to pay those taxes. They were required to live within the walls of a ghetto built specifically for Jews in Rome from 1555 until 1870. On October 16, 1943, over a thousand Roman Jews were rounded up by the Gestapo and taken to concentration camps. Only 16 of those Jews survived.
Not understanding the history of Jews in Rome means disregarding all that they’ve contributed to the city. It allows for erasure of the horrors they had to endure. And it paints a false picture of Italy as a monolith. I am grateful that I learned about this community through Contemporary Images, because I’m not sure I would have ever learned about it through my courses in Fayetteville.
Me at the iconic Spanish Steps, one of the stops on Audrey Hepburn’s path in the movie “Roman Holiday,” which we were assigned to retrace for Contemporary Images of and from Rome.
My courses, the streets I walked on, the museums I visited, the trains I took, the pizza place I went to almost every day — all of these things and more sculpted my experience in Rome, creating something beautiful and honest that I wasn’t expecting and wouldn’t trade. I would absolutely recommend the Rome Center Summer Core program to any U of A student. The advice I would give, though, is this: Arrive with your mind clear of preconceived ideas. Be a blank canvas, and allow Rome to paint a self-portrait. And be prepared to drink a LOT of espresso.