All Roads Lead to a Semester in Rome: Haley Kaye ’24 Reflects on Study Abroad Experience
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Story and photos by Haley Kaye '24. This story was originally published on the UMass Amherst homepage.
If you ever find yourself in Rome, particularly in Piazza Venezia when it’s not too crowded, you can ride the 44 bus to Monteverde and find your way to the pink church on the corner. Next to it you’ll find the Centro. This was my route to my home away from home while I studied abroad in Rome, the “Eternal City." From my very first days as a UMass student, I always knew I wanted to study in Italy, and in spring 2023, I was able to make that dream a reality.
I chose to study with the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies (known as “the Centro”) in Rome, a program focused on the history of Ancient Rome and investigating how the city grew from a marshy hut village into one of the greatest historical powers ever known.
As a classics student with a double major in comparative literature, I study the histories of ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Because I specialize in Roman history, the Centro provided a chance to leave the classroom and study my source material through first-hand experience. Everyone has heard something about Ancient Rome, whether from TV shows, movies, books, classes, or even music, but a lot of what is considered “general knowledge” is often misconstrued. For me, studying in Rome was my way of gleaning fact from fiction and a chance to dive deeper into the workings of Roman history.