Saturday, December 22, 2012

First Thoughts


It really astounds me that I am about to be living in the midst of the history of one of the greatest civilizations that has ever been a part of humanity. Naturally, given my course of study, I'm inclined to consider Rome as the greatest. In Rome, the ancient and modern worlds collide. The twenty-first century meets the Roman Revolution. The curia is only some paces from the club. Walking through the forum, you are immersed in ancient Rome’s downtown district. Formidable feats of human architecture and technology - the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Baths of Caracalla - are situated in the city next to simple bakeries and cafes, where people speak Italian but still savor the traditional Latin greeting: salve.

The commands and legacies of emperors long dead still linger in the city and the provinces afar. Rome made her presence known up through Italy, over the Rhine into Germania and Gaul (modern France), even as far as Britain, where Hadrian’s wall told the world that Rome could go anywhere, conquer anyone. In Nîmes, southern France, Thomas Jefferson gazed at the Maison Carrée relishing in Rome’s power still to strike awe in the present. Then 250 years later so did I, on my first study abroad: The Grand Tour.

Two Central Michigan University professors and thirteen students travelled to Rome for a week, then went up to Florence for four days, followed by three days in a village in the south of France from which we took day trips to Nîmes and Arles, and ending with a week in Paris. It was, for me, a pivotal experience during that summer of 2011. It was an academic opportunity unmatched, to actually study the history of Rome on site, and to simultaneously read and discuss ancient and modern interpretations of such a grand civilization. Our group was intelligent, and our professors were both quite brilliant; it was all-around enriching, edifying, and to me, inspiring. I needed to be everywhere, and see everything, but at the same time, I needed to absorb very meticulously, to use all of my senses, to be patient and mindful. I felt very connected in Rome, especially. In Rome I never found myself facing writer’s block – still today when I think and write about Rome, it flows.

When I went on my first study abroad, I was already a history major, but at the time I was planning on attending law school. However, once I experienced such an immersion in history as I did in those three weeks abroad, there was no doubt in my mind that history was the only thing I wanted to do. I changed my plans and began pursuing relatively intensive preparation in classics. This has included study of Latin and Greek and extensive reading and writing of ancient (and medieval) history. Now my academic career is culminating with the spring 2013 semester in Rome, which will provide study and experiences rather conducive to my aim of attending graduate school after I graduate in May.

Not only will I be continuing my study of Latin in Rome this spring, but I will be studying archaeology on site with two courses, one on the general archaeology of Rome and the other analyzing Troy through literary (Homeric) and archaeological evidence.  I will also be learning Italian, not only in the classroom, but exercising it on a daily basis out in the city. Finally, I’ll be in an interdisciplinary religion course – All Roads Lead to Rome – which will evaluate Rome’s role as an importer, exporter, cultivator, and transformer of religious life. This will very much complement the study I’ve done in Roman religion over the past semester.

This time that I’m immersed in the study of ancient Rome while actually within the city limits, I won’t be cut off after a week. I have an entire semester, but already it doesn’t feel like quite enough. I leave one month from tomorrow, on January 23rd. I’ve booked a ten-day spring break trip to Greece, a country which, although in economic turmoil, is not something I can pass up travelling to while already overseas. In fact, I’d expect that tourists would mostly be welcome in these tumultuous times, since capital needs to be invested in the economy if they are ever going to pull out of this. I’ve also booked a four-day trip to Dublin. For both trips I’ll be quite independent, which is something I’m apprehensive about, but that I also find exhilarating  I’ll be sure to practice caution, and I’ve necessarily read up on safety measures.

On the whole, I am so incredibly enthused and privileged to have this opportunity. I am going to learn, read, write, walk, talk, speak, and experience at an incredibly excessive rate. I don’t expect to take many photos; I wouldn’t want to find myself looking through a lens, but not quite seeing. I will very much be aiming to absorb. I do expect to chronicle much of the experience through writing, however. I may even start working on my first book. As I said, I feel very inspired when in Rome – and now once in Greece, too, I can’t even fathom the weight that the world will be holding over me. These are only the surface of the surface waves of the anticipations that come fleeting at me rather consistently now reaching into the month prior to my departure. More on academics next time, but for now I’ll say I’m spending winter break working on my languages. I of course plan to serve as a strong CMU ambassador while at the American University of Rome, so some fine-tuning in my Latin and a head start in Italian is in order. Time is moving quickly. Festina lente!