La Prima Settimana

Benvenuti!

We had a busy first week of the program. On Monday our group began arriving bright and early at the UW Rome Center to move into their apartments. We have students living near the Campo de' Fiori, the Pantheon and in Trastevere. Everyone is spread out in the city, but all within easy walking distance to the UW Rome Center.

Monday night we went out for our first group dinner at Trattoria Moderna - a nearby restaurant, where the chef, Livio, updates traditional Roman fares. It was delicious. I think the dolci options were a particular hit with the group.

On Tuesday we had orientation at the UW Rome Center. The group had the rest of the day to continue settling into apartments, buy groceries, acquire cell phones, and orient themselves to their new surroundings.

Wednesday we had our first seminar meeting in the classroom. We had a productive and lively discussion, introducing our course on the transformation of the religious image. The material for this seminar was very challenging, but group participation was excellent, setting a positive academic standard for the rest of the quarter.

Thursday was an intense day in the field. We started by meeting the UWRC in the morning. The topic for the day was urban renewal and the layers of Rome - this being a fitting theme for our ancient day. Our route took us through the Jewish Ghetto, stopping along the way to see the the Theater of Marcellus. We were able to walk down next to the theater and pass through amongst the ruins. Our journey towards ancient Rome then led us to the Campodoglio and Santa Maria in Aracoeli. From these vantage points on the Capitoline Hill, we were able to get a sense of the way life in modern Rome continues to function and progress around and on top of its past.

We had our first student presentation led by Becca on Trajan's Column. Seeing the monument in person, we were able to assess and discuss our previous night's reading concerning the visibility of the sculptural decoration and the column's function as a funerary monument.

Next we traveled down Via dei Fori Imperiali to the hot bed of Roman tourism, the Colosseum. Our destination, however, was not the impressive Flavian amphitheater, but rather the Arch of Constantine. This was Anisha's presentation site. She raised interesting issues regarding the mixing of imperial Roman styles on the arch and the subsequent historiographic debates.

We had absolutely beautiful weather for our day traversing through ancient Rome. We can only hope for more bel tempo! Our maneuvering through the city as a large group has so far been successful and pleasant. Here's to many more site visits paired with lively discussions. Andiamo!