By now, you know a little about the 23 of us and about our program itself, but it might help to know a little about what these past few weeks on campus have been like. We’re in class each day from 11:30 or 12:30 until between 4 and 5, with a short break between classes for lunch and last-minute reading. We have four classes—Roman Civilization, Modern Italian History, Shakespeare’s Europe, and Italian Publics—and to a large extent these classes are student-driven. We are responsible, for example, for leading discussion in English class and for presenting on the daily reading in our classics and communications classes.
The work-load (several hundred pages of reading each week, plus papers, presentations, and tests) can be overwhelming, but it can also be immensely rewarding. The things we’re learning in one course reinforce what we’re learning in every other course, and in only a few weeks, we’ve learned an incredible amount about the culture and history of Italy.
We’ve even picked up a little Italian along the way! This week, we had an introductory Italian lesson from the head of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Throughout the semester, we’ve slowly been learning a few basic Italian words and phrases, but this was by far our most intense and most extensive lesson. All things considered, I think we’re doing rather well; we can say good morning and good night, and we can count to 23. That’s all we’ll need to know… right?
Now, as impossible as it seems, we only have two more weeks on campus. Two more weeks of classes and presentations and papers. Two more weeks until this adventure we’ve been looking forward to for over a year finally begins.
Somewhere between studying Petrarch and the Roman Empire, between watching Italian movies and learning “Eh Cumpari!” (“Hey Friend,” an Italian novelty song with a frustratingly catchy beat), I’ve realized I’m surrounded by 22 truly amazing people. And looking around the classroom each afternoon, I know there is no other group with whom I would rather share this experience.
Two more weeks. I think I speak for everyone when I say… I can’t wait!
Brian Neumann
Blog Team
Italy 2012