Brooke Braden: Classical Summer School at the American Academy in Rome

This summer, with the generous funding from the Classical Studies travel award, I participated in the American Academy in Rome Classical Summer School, which took place from June to July. With the support from this award, I spent over five weeks in Italy, during which I visited many different ancient sites and museums including those in Rome, the Bay of Naples, Tarquinia, and Florence. Under the direction of Dr. Evan Jewell (Rutgers University, Camden), our group explored themes of “wayfinding” in ancient cities, personal representation and identity in the ancient world, and how ancient Romans navigated within a culture of competition. During the trip, I saw some of the most notable ancient Roman artifacts and sites, including those at Herculaneum, Paestum, and Ostia. One of my favorite sites was Pompeii, where I saw many ancient graffiti in situ. By being able to study these ancient remnants in their original contexts, I gained a much greater understanding of how ancient Romans navigated their towns, interacted with each other, and operated on a daily basis. 

During the program, we were granted exclusive access to several ongoing excavations at sites including Pompeii, Hadrian’s Villa, and Falerii Novi that were explicated by leading experts in their respective fields, which was very helpful in showing how ancient structures are identified once uncovered as well as how ancient artifacts come to museums after being unearthed in their find spots. Daily site lectures helped me think about how to incorporate textual material with physical art and artifacts, which I look forward to demonstrating in my future teaching endeavors. In addition, I participated in several pedagogical seminars and workshops in which my group and I discussed different ways to approach and teach about ancient materials. I was able to put these learned skills into practice with a site presentation on the Round Temple in the Forum Boarium in which I discussed the scholarly debates surrounding the identification of the temple and the historical context in which it was built. In addition, we were able to show off our more creative sides with performances at the ancient theatre in Ostia, in which I performed a Sappho vs. Catullus skit with another group member. My entire experience could not have been possible without the generosity of the travel award, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to engage in person with these ancient sites and artifacts. I look forward to using the skills and knowledge gained during this program in my future teaching and mentoring!