Rome Trip to Begin Running Annually
The Rome winter term abroad program has long been one of Exeter’s most popular programs. Exonians stay in welcoming host family houses while studying alongside Italian students. However, some have questioned the biennial aspect of the program, disappointed that they do not have the same opportunities as modern language students. Starting next year, the Rome Winter Term abroad program will run on an annual basis for students taking Latin or Greek.
The application process for next year has recently begun and applications are due Apr. 28, and the results will be announced shortly after.
The change is expected to provide more opportunities for students interested in experiencing a modern perspective of the classical language while also fostering greater consistency with the host school in Rome.
“I’m so glad they’re offering it every year, so more students will have the same incredible opportunity that I had this year.”
The program consists of around a dozen students who have taken or are taking classical languages. The students involved spend winter term in Rome with classic language instructor Sally Morris as their chaperone. In Rome, they study a range of subjects including Latin, Greek, Italian, English and Roman Topography. In addition, in hopes of greater cultural immersion, students take periodic breaks from school to explore the different ancient sites and museums that Rome has to offer. The trip is especially impactful for those interested in history.
Students who travelled to Rome this past winter are excited that the school is increasing the program’s frequency. Recalling their own experiences, many highly recommended the trip to interested classics students, emphasizing especially the sightseeing and cultural immersion opportunities.
Senior Katie Liptak, who took part in the program this year, described the city as unforgettable and said that it had a profound effect on her understanding and perspective of the language and its modern-day cultural ripples.
“Rome is a living city rooted in a rich past, a past which is visible in every aspect of the modern city,” Liptak said. “Being able to see in person the ruins and cities and artistic representations of what we, as classics students, have spent years learning and reading about added immeasurable depth to my understanding. Living and learning there changed my outlook on my place in history and why I am studying the classics.”
The program already changed slightly this year, since it was the first time students had the opportunity to stay with host families in Rome. The department hopes to continue this tradition in the future, as host families provide students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding in both the history and daily cultural aspects of the language they have been studying.
“I stayed with an Italian born and bred family who welcomed me into their home with open arms and past the language barrier,” Liptak said.
Sally Morris, the director of the Rome program, believes that offering the program annually is an important step for the Academy in enhancing the Classics Department. While Latin may be a “dead language,” with the Rome trip, according to Morris, students get to see firsthand the “modern perspective into the foundations of Western Europe” and “feel a deep sense of the complexity of history running right to the modern age as Rome has been both developed and excavated in such a way to expose the multiple layers.”
Morris continued, illustrating specific examples of the students’ experiences in Rome. “Students have a greater sense of the magnitude of the Roman Republic and Empire from walking the streets and living among the architectural and artistic vestiges of that period of history,” Morris said. “Their appreciation for Latin and Greek increases as they translate lines from Book 8 of Virgil’s Aeneid, describing the very site where their school is now placed, and as they scale the Palatine and the Capitoline and descend into the Forum for classes.”
Students who went on this year’s trip seem to agree. “The trip made me really understand the concrete importance of the classics, because even though a Latin translation can sometimes feel like a drag when you’re doing it in your dorm room, when the places referred to in the text are all around you, those translations take on a much deeper meaning,” senior Duncan Nyland said.
Morris expects positive impacts from the decision to run the program every year. “The classical language students will have the opportunity to experience a classical immersion program and share their experiences with their peers when they return to campus,” she said.
A poll the classics department took in the winter confirmed that many students were already interested. As a result, the application process is presumed to be very competitive. The Global Initiatives Director Eimer Page confirmed, saying, “I think eligible students are already probably aware that this might be a possibility for them, so there may already be a group poised to pounce on the application when it reaches their inbox.”
With this progressive decision, classics students will no longer be forced to count off the years to figure out which year they may partake in the trip. The classics department and students alike look forward to the program’s annual nature.
“I’m so glad they’re offering it every year, so more students will have the same incredible opportunity that I had this year,” Liptak said. “I will never forget it and recommend it to anyone interested in Latin and Greek and the accompanying history and culture.”