Textbooks can’t compare to being in Italy

This program was everything I could have asked for and more as we experienced an in-depth view of the history of the Roman Republic while being able to walk the same streets as the individuals that created it.

Being able to have our James Madison professors with us made the transition to learning in another country so much more comfortable as we had previously established relationships with them.

I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into this program, but I would recommend it to anyone that loves history and/or art and culture. I found myself wandering the streets of Rome and Florence, constantly bewildered by their art and beauty and the deep pride and admiration that the Italian people had for their home cities. Being able to wake up and look out my window to see such beautiful and ornate architecture was such a gift that I will always remember.

The Italian people were so welcoming to us and so excited to show us their food and traditions.

We were so fortunate to have gotten so many opportunities to experience the history and the culture through many tours of both cities and their multitudes of museums and historic sites. By allowing us to explore the ancient ruins of various cities, we were truly given the opportunity to understand what life was like for the people that founded these great cities and the generations after it. When we visited Ostia Antica as a class, we were able to see what was left of the homes and the mosaics and the art of the walls that was made centuries ago, while at the same time we could walk the basalt streets, with the permanent grooves created by trade carts when the port city thrived.

I found myself choked up many times simply because I felt so lucky to have been able to be there and to experience what I love first-hand, not out of a textbook, but by being there and seeing and feeling it.

Name: Alana Maynard
Status: Senior
Major: Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy
Hometown: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Program: Comparative Republicanism in Rome and Florence