Description
From antiquity, Rome has set the standard for the “good life”—from the glory days of the Roman empire, through the establishment of Christianity and Papal Rome, through the flourishing of Art through Renaissance artists who flocked to sculpt and paint its churches, through the post-war “dolce vita” culture of the Veneto: In this course students will be encouraged to examine texts, historic sites, monuments and cultural icons from various epochs in Roman history to explore how the city has evolved as the epicenter of “life as it should be lived.” How has that ideal changed over time? What values seem inherent to geography, climate and the Roman temperament? How does the presence of the past—in all its complex layers—influence how Romans see themselves and thereby cultivate values and lifestyle? How does living amid so much history impact the values and lifestyles of contemporary students of Rome? Through weekly readings, excursions and personal experiences, students will explore their own impressions and transform them into lucid, engaging works of creative non-fiction. Students will be required to produce a weekly discovery draft of two or three pages, generated from assigned topics, and two polished essays that evolve out of the exercises or out of material that they initiate independently. At the end of the term, select writings will be gathered in a course literary anthology.

Course Objectives
• To acquaint the student with the voices and visions of diverse writers writing about Rome.
• To explore the evolving genre of creative non-fiction—its epistemology, aesthetics, ethics and strategies
• To explore the writing process in general and personal strategies for generating effective work
• To produce fresh and engaging personal essays about Roman/Italian experience.
• To develop evaluative strategies and vocabulary to best serve other writers in a workshop setting
• To review the mechanics of writing and hone editorial and proof-reading skills
• To explore the process of desktop publishing through our course literary anthology