A Step Back In Time: The Italian Universities Stick to the Traditional Ways of Learning Classics
La Sapienza University is a giungla, jungle. Or so the Italians I met beforehand described it. I knew that it was chaotic judging from friends who have been there, and knowing about the Italian system in general. So, I was prepared to ride with the Roman waves, because to be studying in the city of Rome was enough for me to come. La Sapienza was top in the world for Classics until this year, so I was intrigued to see why. There are significant differences between there and Durham, which make you in many ways grateful for being at Durham. But there are also many lessons that I have taken from my experience here in Rome on my Erasmus thus far. It’s these experiences that I’ll give a brief account of, for the benefit of those who might want to embark on an Erasmus next year, or those enthusiastic in general.
First week the online university site crashes. No one knows if, where, and when their classes are, or if their professors have posted anything on their page. I talk to a student next to me in the Humanities Faculty at a work-table, asking her if it has crashed for her too. She calmly looks at me with a gentle smile, saying yes it is not working. But, why is she not frustrated? No one around me seems so either, it is all buzzing with students chatting to each other, plastic espresso cups in their hands bought from the several vending machines around the campus. She tells me that it always happens at the beginning of every year. To them, it is perfectly normal that technology fails them.
A noticeable difference between Rome and Durham is the technology and modernity. I notice this in every aspect. In class, there will probably be one or two people with laptops out of more than fifty people because everyone handwrites. It is very funny observing the Italian students handwrite, because a lot of them literally write essays rather than the tactful bullet-points, often on square paper (do not ask me why. However, this second term I purchased square-paper notebooks because you could fit in more on a page rather than the lined ones that were available at the stationary vendor by the roadside). Very few teachers use slides; the rest just sit at the front, occasionally read from a book, maybe even write on the chalkboard if available, but principally speak at you for two hours. Yes, lectures are at least twice a week, each two hours long. Some courses are even three times a week, or lessons are 3 hours long. My Greek Art esercitazioni were a couple of times a term, but could last up to four hours. The beginning of term can be challenging because some classes have too many people and so you either end up sitting on the floor or standing up. However, fewer and fewer people come afterwards and the professor requests a bigger classroom.
A big shock was visiting the library. I wanted to take out books at the philosophy department, and as you know it can be done in seconds in Durham. Here, you need to grab a piece of paper, write down every single detail of one book: title, author, year of publication, your name, your home address, date, library identification code. It took me quite some time to understand what I needed to do, given that a) I was not familiar with the system b) my Italian was not quite up to scratch then. I asked one of the library girls to help me, and she showed me. Once she gave me a card to have access to the library, she showed me where the book was located: when you find it, you put your piece of paper in a red slip, and replace it with the book. But, it turns out I could not take this book out because it was a book that my professor was going to exam me on. All I could do was read it in the library. I was not going to do that with the six books I was supposed to read for my philosophy exam. Yes, six books. I tried for at least a month to try to get all of them second-hand or online, but eventually I either bought brand new or second-hand ones from former students.
This is also a significant difference between Durham and Rome. Books. The professors set you books to read for the exam. It is a lot of reading, I never completed it all. The Italians love books: my philosophy teacher, Prof. Spinelli, even showed us a YouTube video of a Spanish man, as a joke, showing the benefits of a book as though it were the best and newest technology. He even had us read one of his own books he wrote, which I thought was quite funny. At first it was daunting: I had to learn certain vocabulary I would not use in everyday language (I could now describe the architectural terms of an ancient temple in Italian, but not really in English) and I definitely had frustrations with it because I had so much to read yet could not speed up my pace. However, I quickly began to love the fact that there is such an emphasis on reading. Apart from the technology being unreliable as one of the reasons why they stick to books, another perhaps is that Italians like to stick to the traditional way of teaching and learning. I remember bumping into an acquaintance back in London and telling him about the Italian way of teaching. He replied to me that it sounds very much how it used to be back in the day when one would go to university because they merely wanted to take their studies further. To me, I think that is how many of the Italian students (on my course at least), perceive going to higher education. When I go to the library, there will be no one on laptops or phones or at least distracted by their devices: everyone is highlighting books and writing notes, and I do not exaggerate. Experiencing this work ethic, the books, the lessons conducted, I have found it refreshing to see most students willing to learn and work hard because they are interested.
The university offers a much wider range of modules that you can take than at Durham and many other places. You are able to turn up to as many as you wish. The only thing you need to do is sign up to the exams you wish to take (there are different dates you can do your exam on, and you can choose more than one in case you fail or get a bad mark in the first one you do). I unfortunately had many clashes so could not do many modules. I wanted to do Pre-Roman Civilisation, however it clashed with History of Ancient Philosophy which I needed to take as for some reason I had to do at least twelve credits of philosophy (which at first I was not particularly happy about, but when I finished my course, I thought it was one of the best things I had ever done and Prof. Spinelli was a fantastic teacher). In first term I ended up doing Greek and Roman Art (two archaeological modules) and Ancient Philosophy. I decided not to do any language in first term, because the Latin class I turned up to the teacher was speaking too fast and solely reading the Latin then translating it. I was not a fan of this way of teaching and my Italian was not great yet. My courses had enormous content. Greek Art spanned from the proto-geometric period all the way up to the Hellenistic era and a little of when the Romans intervened. Roman Art too was from the very early stages of Roman civilisation back from eighth century BC up to Holy Roman Empire. Ancient philosophy required me to know from the Presocratics to Aristotle: Thales, Parmenides, the Sophists, particular attention to Plato’s Protagoras. It was a lot, even for my Italian classmates. This is all taught in one term. Durham very much spreads out the learning, concentrating on the smaller details. There are pros and cons to both methods of teaching. Despite the sheer amount that I learnt, I was so glad that I had the opportunity to learn the basics of my degree that are not available to me at Durham.
La Sapienza is very fortunate to have a museo which houses exact replicas of several Greek and Roman sculptures. Some of my esercitazioni for Greek Art in fact was to stand and walk through the museum, looking and observing each statue in detail with the professor pointing out particular details which would be difficult to see through a screen. You could be lucky enough to go to a museum in Rome with the professor himself as part of the course. I know that in the archaeology courses, there is the option to go do excavations in Italy to earn extra credits. For Roman Art, I am blessed to be living in Rome: I am able to go over to palazzi, musei, the Fori Imperiali any time I want. I even went to the Ara Sacra and Trajan’s Forum to revise for my exam. Luckily, a lot of my oral was focused on the former. In this sense, the advantage of the museo as well as the university location definitely makes the learning experience more varied and interesting.
The second term I am studying more unique subjects, more challenging for sure: Latin Epigraphy, Aegean Civilisation, Ancient Greek and Ancient Philosophy (on Plato’s Phaedo). In Latin epigraph, it is still difficult to understand what the teacher is always talking about. In the first lesson, she said that we would be going to the American Academy on Janiculum Hill (it has a beautiful entrance with tall iron gates) to look at some inscriptions, which would have been such a great opportunity because it is not open to the public, but alas the pandemic has forbidden us. Although I had no idea what was particularly happening in the class, I immediately loved Aegean Civilisation. My teacher had great passion, but it was the deciphering of Linear B that drew me to the course. The First Year Greek here is taught completely differently to Durham. We learn every aspect of the Greek language, its origins, the different dialects, the philology, metre (in great depth) then move onto certain texts and translations.
Then there are the exams. At Durham, we are fortunate enough to know the structure of a written exam, the lecturers help you make the best out of your revision. Here, you are told to read the books, learn from your lectures, come to the oral exam. No written work whatsoever, such as essays: some degrees have open/closed question exams, translations if an ancient language, but the only essay type work one does is probably the thesis. The teachers do not particularly guide you on how the oral exam may be conducted. Luckily for archaeology it was fairly easy to know that they will probably ask you to speak a sort of verbal commentary on the picture(s) they show you; the part on the books I was not sure at all. The exam is very informal: you wait for your name to be called (you could be waiting for more than two hours), enter the office and sit at your professor’s desk where he will show images on his screen. It was quite funny, because he was simply scrolling through his slides and I could see the titles of each one. I was then tested with his assistant, who asked me what books I studied (being Erasmus, sometimes the teachers give you different options), so I showed her my book on John Boardman on Classical Art and another book. All she did was open it up, and choose a picture for me to describe and analyse. In essence, it is basically like having a conversation, since the teachers do a lot of talking too. Bear in mind, there are other students in the office also having their oral exam with two other staff members. Some students there were redoing their exams, such as the girl I was sitting next to before the exam who was in her third year despite taking the first year module exam. Therefore, it is possible to go back quite a number of times to get the highest mark possible.
I still question myself as to how La Sapienza is amongst the top for Classics. It is perhaps that they have such a rigorous programme. There is a lot of content to learn in every module in a short amount of time. I know that in second year, it is very tough: the language modules study as many texts as you could probably think of off the top of your head (how much of each text they study I am not sure, but the variety of authors is large). In third year there is a large selection of modules you can take that are more unique, ranging from ancient philosophy, archaeology, palaeography and different types of language such as Medieval Latin or Hebrew. Each module is often worth six credits, occasionally twelve too although it requires more work and I was supposed to make up sixty for the year (I am not sure if this is the same for the Italian students). In this case, you will have a wider range of modules that you study compared to Durham, where you have a maximum of six for the year.
And so, what I have learnt from this experience thus far? The take on the Sapienza way of things has been a brilliant experience. Although there have been tough moments, I do not regret doing the Erasmus at Sapienza at all. I have had brilliant teachers, opportunities to study things I would never do at Durham, have an insight into how the Italians learn. Reading in Italian has been good practice for me, and in fact it has made me more determined to read more physical books throughout the year alongside the courses when back at Durham. The lack of assignments, however is dangerous given that you feel that you do not have urgency to read them till closer to your exams, but then you realise that you have a bombshell of reading/revision to do. La Sapienza expects the student does not need to be told to do work, we are left to our own devices. Durham, however gives us consistent reading, preparation and assignments to make sure we are more prepared for the exams and summatives. In this way, I am grateful to be studying at Durham. Another thing I like about Durham is that we often have group discussions, where students are urged to express their thoughts on certain aspects of the course. At La Sapienza, only occasionally does this happen, perhaps one to three times a term, often none for some courses. Durham can only offer you a small number of courses you may follow, whereas at La Sapienza there is a lot you can take. In short, Durham has a smaller focus, but you are highly encouraged to study the courses at a greater depth and to discuss your arguments, whereas at La Sapienza you study in enormous content, but it is up to the student to find out whether they should dig deeper into their course, form opinions and debate them with the professor in the exam. I find it a shame that only seven people this year from the Classics Department did a year abroad. Everyone should give it at least a thought. It is an incredibly valuable and memorable experience, so much so that my words cannot not suffice to express how brilliant my time has been here.
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