My name is Neil Cahill, a third-year Urban Planning & Geographic Analysis major, and I have just wrapped up my first week of classes as part of my Rome: Art, Language, Culture program! The program is all about the architectural and linguistic past and present of “The Eternal City” Rome. It has been an absolute pleasure so far in this program, and I have already learned so much.
I chose this program at the suggestion of one of the professors, Dr. Tom Morton. I took Dr. Morton’s Approaches to the Built Environment in the spring of my second year and greatly enjoyed analyzing the urban built environment of Oakland, specifically, and Pittsburgh, broadly. During that course, we analyzed the 1748 Nolli Map of Rome, and when Dr. Morton mentioned his teaching architectural analysis this summer in Rome, I knew I had to go!
Outside of the City of Rome and Its Architecture course taught by Dr. Morton, I am also taking Elementary Italian taught by Cinzia Delfini. I knew absolutely nothing about the Italian language other than menu items from Italian restaurants in America, so I was very much worried about any language barrier. So far though, Professor Delfini has made me much more capable in navigating the city in its native language.
In this first week I have already begun to achieve some of my goals of creating a foundation of Italian speaking and of building upon my ability of urban and architectural analysis in the city. Rome is such a great place to study in, and being here allows me to see the many different layers of both physical and social environments in the city. Throughout this program, I want to continue to grow my Italian language skills and also my interdisciplinary skills of urban analysis. As a future prospective urban planner, I want to make sure I can see, understand, and learn from the built environments of world class cities such as Rome.
I can’t wait for these next few weeks and all that I will learn. Andiamo!
