COURSE CALENDAR — 10 WALKS THROUGH ROME

WEEK 1 — Mon Jan 19

No Walk — Classroom Meeting (8:30–10:15)
What Does It Mean to “Read a City”?
Introduction to the course, expectations, and how to observe urban life beyond tourism and autopilot.

MODULE 1 — Tradition, Tourism, and “Authentic Rome”

WEEK 2 — Jan 26

WALK 1 — Trastevere
Theme: Tradition, gentrification, and the staging of authenticity
Meeting: 9:15 in class; walk follows

Readings

·       Simon Bronner, “The Meaning of Tradition”
Explains how “tradition” is not fixed, but constantly reshaped—useful for understanding how Trastevere markets itself as timeless.

·       Montanari & Staniscia, Rome: Tourist Pressure and Sustainability
Shows how mass tourism transforms neighborhoods economically and socially.

·       ferro trabalzi, “Trastevere Then and Now”
A site-specific history of how Trastevere changed from a working-class quarter into a tourist brand.

WEEK 3 — Feb 2

WALK 2 — Campo de’ Fiori → Trevi Fountain
Theme: The historic center as spectacle
Meeting: 9AM at Campo de’ Fiori (statue)

Readings

·       Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self, Ch. 1
Introduces the idea that social life is a performance—perfect for understanding tourist behavior and public space.

·       ferro trabalzi, “The Centro Storico as Stage”
Applies Goffman’s ideas directly to Rome’s historic core.

MODULE 2 — Power, Memory, and Heritage

WEEK 4 — Fri Feb 6

WALK 3 — Roman Forum
Meeting: 9:15 Piazza del Campidoglio

Readings

·       Khan Academy, “Forum Romanum Overview”
Provides basic historical context for the ruins we will walk through.

·       Michael Elliott, “Our Memorials, Ourselves”
Explores how monuments shape political memory.

·       ferro trabalzi, “The Forum as a Demolished Neighborhood”
Shows how archaeological preservation erased a living community.

WEEK 5 — Feb 9

WALK 4 — EUR District
Meeting: 9AM Piramide Metro B

Readings

·       Anna Notaro, “Exhibiting the New Mussolinian City”
Explains how Fascist architecture used modernity to promote empire.

·       Igiaba Scego, Cassandra a Mogadiscio (excerpt)
A personal, decolonial reflection on EUR’s colonial memory.

·       ferro trabalzi, “EUR: Architecture, Ideology, and the Illusion of Modernity”
Connects buildings to political power.

WEEK 6 — Feb 16

WALK 5 — Ex-Jewish Ghetto
Meeting: 9:00 Tiber Island

Readings

·       Marie-Louise Richards, “Erasure and Vulnerability”
How marginalized communities are made invisible.

·       Sean Wyer, “Gourmet and the Ghetto”
Shows how Jewish history is turned into a tourist product.

·       ferro trabalzi, “Jewish Rome: A Timeline”
Historical grounding for the site.

MODULE 3 — Margins and Inequality

WEEK 7 — Feb 23

WALK 6 — Aqueducts Park
Meeting: 9:00 Metro A Giulio Agricola

Readings

·       Antwaun Sargent, “At Least They’ll See the Black”
Explores visibility vs. invisibility in marginalized spaces.

·       ferro trabalzi, “The Aqueducts as Informal Rome”
Explains how people live on the city’s edges.

WEEK 8 — Mar 2

WALK 7 — Testaccio
Meeting: 9:00 Via Marmorata & Via Galvani

Readings

·       bell hooks, “Choosing the Margin”
Frames marginal spaces as sites of creativity and resistance.

·       Eva Recinos, “Kamoinge Workshop”
Shows how marginalized artists create their own spaces.

·       ferro trabalzi, “Testaccio as Post-Industrial Rome”
Links culture, labor, and urban change.

Mar 9–13 — Spring Break

WEEK 9 — Mar 16

IN-CLASS QUIZ 1
Modules 1–3 (Trastevere → Testaccio)

MODULE 4 — Multicultural Rome

WEEK 10 — Mar 23

WALK 8 — Esquilino & Market
Meeting: 9:00 Santa Maria Maggiore

Readings

·       ferro trabalzi, “Contested Multiculturalism: Esquilino”
Shows how everyday coexistence actually works.

·       Maged Srour, “A Multicultural Jewel”
Focuses on the market as a shared social space.

·       i-Italy, “USA vs Italy: Diversity vs Mixing”
Compares different models of multiculturalism.

MODULE 5 — Nature, Leisure, and Public Space

WEEK 11 — Mar 30

WALK 9 — Villa Doria Pamphili

Readings

·       Katrina Grant, “The Garden as Stage”
Shows how parks are designed as social theaters.

·       Brambilla et al., “Soundscape in Roman Parks”
Introduces how people experience parks through sound.

WEEK 12 — Apr 6 NO CLASS

WEEK 13 — Apr 13

IN-CLASS QUIZ 2

WEEK 14 — Apr 20

WALK 10 — Villa Borghese

Readings

·       Continuation of Grant
Extends ideas about performance and leisure.

·       ferro trabalzi, “Villa Borghese and the Public Good”
Connects parks to politics and tourism.

WEEK 15 — Apr 27

Writing Week (no walk)

WEEK 16 — May 4

Course Conclusion
Final Essay Due 12:00 PM