by Sarah Levin-Richardson
Building on the Department of Classics’ 30+ year tradition of taking students to Rome, eight undergraduates and two graduate students joined Prof. Levin-Richardson in Early Fall (mid-August to mid-September) for 1,000 years of Roman history in four weeks.
Highlights included the Colosseum as it emptied out after a long day, wandering around the ruins of Rome’s port of Ostia, seeing the colorful details of ancient Rome’s wall paintings and mosaics, and learning about the religious, ethnic, and gender diversity of those who called ancient Rome home.
Our graduate students took leading roles, with Lauryn Hanley sharing her expertise of Etruscan culture at the National Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia, and Laura Harris guiding us through tombstones and other inscriptions at the National Roman Museum at the Baths of Diocletian.
Students used their free time to visit Rome’s numerous churches, learn about Italian coffee culture, or venture to other parts of Italy (Florence, for example). Generous grants from donors (the Jim Greenfield Travel Endowment, Jim Greenfield Travel Award, Jim Greenfield Scholarship, Roseanna Wabel McDermott Endowed Fund for Study Abroad, Ringland Rome Prize, and Ringland Rome Bursary) helped make this program a success!