Robot e Pinocchi is a documentary portrait of Ferdinando Codognotto, an Italian sculptor whose philosophical musings about the environmental impact of technology shape his intricate wood pieces.  The film was produced by Davide Alivernini and Prof. Zinder, and Prof. Zinder directed and photographed the piece.

For more information, please visit Prof. Paul Zinder’s website.

Have the Time of Your Life: Choose The American University of Rome!

AUR summer programs offer you an opportunity which combines stimulating and challenging academics with unforgettable social and cultural experiences both on campus and in the enchanting city of Rome.

Enjoy the city’s attractions and activities as a part of the community and at the same time, you may earn credits toward you degree.  Live in local apartments in a traditional Italian quarter and benefit from the student support services offered by AUR, including field trips throughout Italy, and access to the amazing “L’Estate Romana” a series of entertaining events that happen every summer.

Calendar

• Summer Session I: May 28th to June 28th, 2012;
• Summer Session II: July 3rd to August 2nd, 2012.

Application Deadline

• March 31st, 2012

Cost*

• € 1.300 (for 1 course)
• € 2.400 (for 2 courses)

*Costs listed are for independent study abroad.

Summer Courses Offered

Click on the links below for the details of each category.

Art History

Archeology & Classical Studies

Communication & Film

Business Studies

International Relations & Global Politics

Fine Arts

Italian Language & Culture

Drawing the Fountain of the Tartaruga: Rome is Our Classroom

Experiencing a Papal Audience: Rome is Our Classroom.

Excavating in Butrint, Albania: Rome-and Beyond!-is Our Classroom

Would you like to learn more?  Please fill out the form below to begin the application process

Last week, Jordan Foresi came to talk about the differences in covering politics as a television journalist in the US and Italy.

He graduated from AUR in 1998 and then went on to do an MA and did a series of internships with different broadcasters. He took his journalist exam with hundreds of others in a huge room where all were using Olivetti Lettera 22s… granted one of the best typewriters ever made, but in the 21st century, that made a good story. For his oral exam, the toughest questions came from a veteran Communist Party journalist who looked at his file and said “American, eh?” and laid into him as if the Cold War hadn’t ended.

One of his first assignments was covering the 2001 G8 at Genoa, literally a baptism of fire with violent protests and even more violent reactions by the police. It was a sharp lesson on how to cover a story, identify with the human beings involved but not be taken over by the events.

A month later 9/11 threw him into the newsroom in an even more dramatic way albeit at a physical distance.

There was no physical distance on the first big story that he had to cover in the US – the Virginia Tech killings where he had to tread carefully between the need to cover the story and the sensibilities of the friends and relations of the victims many of whom resented the media presence very strongly.

Politically, of course, the biggest story was the Obama-Clinton primaries and then the election itself. At first, he had to push his editors to convince them that the first woman running against the first Afro-American candidate was a huge story, but they soon got the message.

Back in Italy, working for a News Corps company, he was free of the implicit pressure that RAI and Mediaset companies have covering the Berlusconi government, a very concrete example of what freedom of the press means.

His talk ended with a screening of his 21 minute documentary on Guantanamo in 2008. He described the difficulties of getting permission to go there which almost a year and then the severe restrictions while he was there. At all times there was a military or a CIA person with him and his footage was inspected every evening. Apart from a couple of spokesmen, no guards’ faces could be filmed – boots or backs was the closest the camera got. And no contacts with lawyers “I was able to talk to a defence lawyer on the plane back to the US, but it was a private plane where army rules no longer applied. On base, they made the rules and I had to go by them.” Not surprising in the circumstances but good to have it from the man who was there.

Thanks, Jordan, and come back soon to tell us about the changes in Italy.

The speaker will be Brooke Galloway, Development and Policy Director of the Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center, founded in September 1999, as an on-line resource by Paula Lucas, who fled to the United States and lived in a shelter with her three sons after escaping 14 years of domestic violence and child abuse.

In April 2000, a domestic violence crisis toll free international telephone line, 866USWOMEN, was created to help an underserved population of Americans suffering with domestic violence overseas.  Brooke recently returned from Cyprus where she spent five months researching the conflict and interning at a civil society for non-profit.

She is also a project coordinator with the African Diaspora Dialogue Project. Her experience and education with conflict resolution stems from her background working with survivors of domestic violence.  Experiencing the courage of domestic violence survivors has made a lasting impression on her and she is highly motivated to focus on advocating nonviolence.

• Video: Watch an interview with AWAR founder Paola Lucas.

Time and Cost

• July 1st to the 21st, 2012
• Cost: €2,000.00

Academic Program

• Beginning Archaeological Fieldwork (ARC 293)
• Intermediate Archaeological Fieldwork (ARC 393)
• Archaeological conservation (ARC 303)
• Total Credits: 3
• Butrint Field School Program 2012
• Butrint Student Testimonials

Syllabi

• ARC 293 Archeology Beginning
• ARC 393 Archaeology Intermediate
• ARC 303 Conservation

How to Apply

Please fill out the following form to begin the application process...

Photo Gallery

Olivia Graham, JD, will kick off the series, with a lecture focusing on Ethics and the reasons good people often do bad things. In “The Ethics Minefield: The Role of the Ethics Office in Global Organizations,” Olivia will share her experience as Ethics Officer for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency headquartered in Rome. A former JAG and member of the National Board of Girl Scouts of the USA, Olivia will discuss real world examples of ethical dilemmas, the reasons for unethical behavior and how organizations operating across cultures can create programs to ensure their members maintain ethical standards.

This event, and other lectures in this series, are open to the public. This series is one of a number of special initiatives being organized in Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of Girl Scouts by Juliette Low. We hope you will join us in celebrating!

Resources:

• Business Speaker Series POSTER Spring 2012

This conference comes at a decisive moment for the EU and Europe, confronted with an economic and financial crisis of global and historical dimensions. Denmark holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at a time of great uncertainty: Can the EU member states agree to common strategies for growth, welfare, sustainability and security? Is there a European way out of the crisis? Is the very European project at stake?

Birger Riis-Jørgensen will outline the Danish agenda and prospects for the Presidency. Ambassador Riis-Jørgensen will be accompanied by his wife Karin Riis-Jørgensen, who has 15 years of experience as a member of the European Parliament before she stood down in 2009. Karin will be happy to take part of the debate and answer questions on her experiences following the Ambassador’s question and answer session. Professors James Walston & Bjørn Thomassen from the International Relations Department will introduce and chair the debate, open to all.
Join us for an evening with the Danish Ambassador on the presence and future of Europe.

In his latest article, “Reason and Religion in Rawls: Voegelin’s Challenge” (published in Philosophia) Professor Thomassen argues that we must abandon the still predominant view of modernity as based upon a separation between the secular and the religious – a “separation” which is allegedly now brought into question again in “postsecularity”. It is more meaningful to start from the premise that religion and politics have always co-existed in various fields of tension and will continue to do so. The question then concerns the natures and modalities of this tension, and how one can articulate a publically grounded reason with reference to it. Professor Thomassen argues that an often overlooked contribution to the debate can be found in the writings of political theorist Eric Voegelin. In his analysis of modern politics, Voegelin brought to light what he saw as the “hidden” connections between religion and politics in the modern world, an analysis that is becoming ever more relevant.

Founded in 1971, Philosophia is a much-respected journal that has provided a platform to many well-known philosophers.

Join us for a reading by Ms. Bard:

• Thursday, 9 February 2012
• 6.30 – 7.45
• AUR Auditorium

He arrived in Durban in 1973 and became immediately involved in the struggle against apartheid. Very soon, he had to change the way he looked at the world: “I stopped being a human being and became a white man; I decided to join the liberation struggle to become a human being again”. His active stance in providing education for black and white children alike and his forceful opposition to the regime itself meant that he was expelled from South Africa and forced into exile, first in Lesotho and then Zimbabwe. In 1990, after the release of Nelson Mandela when everyone thought that the struggle was almost over, he was sent a letter bomb. It blew off both his hands, blinded him on one eye and damaged an eardrum.

When he visited AUR last week, he spoke on “Young people and the art of peace”; in practice, this meant weaving his own story into a seamless narrative with the wider history of the anti-apartheid movement first and healing and reconciliation process in South Africa. The audience was moved by his account of his awakening during the Soweto protests “which shook my faith. Those who shot children read the Bible every day and went to Church on Sundays. How could I accept that they and I both called ourselves Christians”.

Farthe Lapsley speaking at the AUR Auditorium.

After the terrorist attack, he used his own experience to help others who had also been traumatized by terrorism and torture. He became chaplain for the trauma centre for violence and torture in Capetown and then worked closely with Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He founded the Insitute for Healing of Memories in Capetown because, as he told us “healing of memory is the key to peace” and is “the only way to break the cycle of one war which leads to another”. It was an inspiring experience for all of us to listen to an exceptional man on a vital mission.

The South African ambassador, Thenjiwe Mtintso, gave her own tribute to Fr. Michael who she had known for many years. She also spoke of the African National Council’s centenary this year and promised to return to AUR to celebrate both the ANC and her country.

From left to right: Prof. Thomassen, Prof. Walston, South African Ambassador Thenjiwe Mtintso, Prof. Villani and Father Lapsley after the talk.