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from The Daily Texan, 2 April 2010
The Rome Study Program
by Sheri Alzeerah
Surrounded by shelves of Italian literature, walls plastered with
theatrical production posters and an old black-and-white sketch of
a Roman fountain, Antonella Del Fattore-Olson, Distinguished Senior
Lecturer in the Department of French and Italian, sits in her office
in Homer Rainey Hall.
Pointing at the fountain sketch signed by her first group of students
she took to study in Rome more than 10 years ago, Olson smiled and
said, "To me, that's a precious document."
Olson, a native of Rome, created the College of Liberal Arts' Rome
Study Program in 1996.
"To look at Rome, something very familiar to me, through the
eyes of the students is like seeing a new picture every summer I go
there," Olson said.
Olson and Douglas Biow, director for the Center of European Studies,
take about 32 students to Rome for the first six weeks of each summer
session to take part in an intensive language and culture program situated
in the historically rich hub of Italian civilization.
"In Rome, we only need the textbook as a guideline, everything
else is real. It surrounds the students," Olson said. "They
live what they learn."
The Rome program is open to all UT undergraduate students, as well
as students from other universities, who are in good academic standing.
The courses, each taught by Olson and Biow, include Second-year Italian;
Rome, Eternal City: Myths and Realities; and Contemporary Italian Culture.
Students can earn three to six UT credit hours. To boost the rate at
which students pick up the language, they live with host families in
Rome, said Thomas Garza, associate professor and director at the Texas
Language Center.
"They're not just going to see Rome in a touristic sense," said
Garza. "They're going to see it in a domestic sense."
John Pointer graduate from UT in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in
music.
"There is nothing--absolutely nothing--that can compare with
living with a Roman family and experiencing that city as a resident.
It is beyond words," Pointer said.
Public relations junior Summer Moore found ways to prep for her Italian
adventure beyond her two semesters of Italian.
"I was extremely nervous about speaking with my family," Moore
said. "Honestly, I spent the whole nine-hour plane ride listening
to Italian for Dummies on my iPod."
The host families often know each other and the students form a familial
network within days of arrival.
"It's not just your family, but it's you connecting with another
family through another student who is a friend of yours, or maybe you
become friends with the student because the families are friends," Olson
said.
In Italy, family and food are vital parts of the culture. Students
are encouraged to join their families at dinnertime to simply eat and
talk.
"Dinner is almost a ritual experience because the dinner is the
moment in which the family gets together no matter how busy we are," Olson
said. "Food--it's important. It's something that talks to
you, and you talk through it."
Memorable moments happen everywhere in Rome, Pointer said.
"I spent hours every night around dinner and on the balcony talking
about everything from politics to religion to pronunciation to really
flavorful insults," Pointer said. "Watching the sun set over
the Gianicolo Hill, watching the sun come up over the forum, standing
in the middle of Piazza Venezia at 4:45 a.m. and having 20 silent minutes
between the late-night revelers and the early-morning delivery trucks,
seeing the layers of Roman evolution in each building, twisting around
in the Jewish ghetto, having lunch in Trastevere, standing where Caesar
and senators stood--everything [is memorable]," Pointer said.
Students from a wide range of majors flock to Rome to study.
"We see the classics majors who are going for the archeology
of it. We see the fine arts majors who are going for the art history
museums," Colleen Boyle, International adviser at the study abroad
office, said. "But we also see business students who are interested
in Italian political and business affairs."
Olson recalled a comment made by one of her students that inspires
her: "You have taken a group of kids and made them citizens of
the world."
"To be citizens of the world--that is to respect other cultures,
to respect other people," Olson said. "Well then, I win.
It was all worth it."
Preliminary meetings about the Rome Study Program are
held for students from October through May. The estimated 2010 cost
is $4,000, which covers medical insurance, housing with three meals
per day, transportation from the airport to Rome, bus tickets and guided
visits. The fee does not include airfare, textbooks, or UT tuition
and fees. Financial aid and scholarships are available. Interested
students can visit http://sites.google.com/site/romestudyprogram/ for
more information.
"I am very grateful to the College of Liberal Arts for the scholarships
they generously have been giving to students participating in faculty-led
programs and for their support and encouragement," Olson said.
Olson put a new twist on an old cliché when she said: "When
in Rome, follow your heart because your heart is going to be full of
so much."
Antonella Olson and Douglas Biow with students in
Rome during the summer of 2009 | 
