Life in Rome
The Rome Center is dedicated not only to the academic offerings, but also to providing students with a high level of support for their everyday life overseas. Studies show that students who are able to integrate with the host country, and its culture, have a more engaging study abroad experience.
The Rome Center
Nestled within the grandeur of Palazzo Taverna, the University of Arkansas Rome Center is a blend of historical magnificence and contemporary educational excellence.
The Palazzo, with origins dating back to the 12th century, stands as a testament to Rome's rich tapestry of time, boasting a noble past marked by frescoes, paintings, and architectural beauty.
Students can relax by the fountains of Piazza Navona or visit the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain or the Spanish Steps, shop at the traditional open market and old bakeries of Campo dei Fiori, or visit the many churches within the area. Further along is the Tiber River, and if you cross the ancient bridge, Ponte Sisto, you arrive in Trastevere, another very picturesque area of Rome.
Living in Rome
We use apartments – Not dorm style housing. The chosen locations house between four and six students per apartment. This is a full immersion program, so your neighbors will be Italian families who usually own their apartments. The apartments themselves have been renovated for the purpose of catering to students. You will live like a local, but with student amenities!
There are some things which may, or may not, differ from your life in the United States. For example:
- The Wi-Fi is not broadband, and if you have 6 students, each with 2/3 devices connected simultaneously, the internet speed and your ability to download may be impacted.
- Kitchens usually have a gas stove. We will show you how to use the stove, but you will need to turn the gas off after using it for safety reasons.
- Limited hot water availability may require you to organize a schedule for showering.
- Living in a large city, there is a lot more ambient noise and it may take you a week or so to adjust, especially if you are coming from a small university town.
We use housing providers who will give you an apartment orientation on your arrival and explain to you how to contact them, should you need assistance.
The apartments have a common living area, 2-3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and 1 or 2 bathrooms, depending on occupancy. Bedrooms are double occupancy. Each apartment is equipped with basic furnishings and supplies, including one single bed per student, 2 sets of linens and towels, closet/clothing storage space, typical Italian cookware and kitchenware, a table and chairs, and a furnished sitting area. The apartment unit is provided with a washing machine and a TV.
Single rooms are available by request for an additional fee, you will hear more about this option in the pre-departure meetings.
Things to Do
The Rome Center hosts several events during the year; due to its unique location in the heart of Rome, conferences, lectures and workshops are organized here and offered to our students.
Some of the projects the Rome center has hosted include:
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Future Talks
The digital format by EIIS and Enel X, organized the session
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Society of the Future
with Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at Oxford University Luciano Floridi
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Hypermeritocracy
with the Italian architect, computational designer and writer Arturo Tedeschi
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Space Technology
with Chief Technologist at NASA Douglas Terrier
Apart from being given the opportunity to create group-centered activities, students are also given the chance to join weekly core activities that are held several times each week and one-off activities that change on a rotational basis.
Orientation
The orientation period is designed to familiarize students with their new surroundings, beginning with the Rome Center, and including the city of Rome as a whole.
Orientation week also includes a few mornings of sightseeing to help students recognize the important architectural sites and historical landmarks within the city center’s neighborhood.
During orientation, faculty and the Rome Center staff will introduce themselves. The instructors give you an overview of the courses and schedule, while the Rome Center staff will provide you with some information about what to expect from your new life in Rome. This information will help you get a feel of the place, settle in and open up to this new cultural environment.
Travel
Site Visits
In order to offer the student a comprehensive understanding of the city of Rome, site visits are organized and included within the educational programs of the different courses. During the semester, there are various one-day tours to sites within the vicinity of Rome.
Traditionally we plan the following visits: Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel / St. Peter’s, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, Spanish Steps and many more!
Tours
Although the program is based in Rome, the Rome Center arranges several excursions which are considered part of the program and curriculum. These are day trips within the Lazio region. The excursions include transportation, entrance fees to museums and the participation of a Rome Center professor who leads the group.
Code of Conduct
- The University of Arkansas Rome Center follows the same standard set of guidelines in the University of Arkansas Code of Conduct. We have added a Rome Center Waiver, which covers the unique set of circumstances that students will find themselves in during their semester abroad.
- The University of Arkansas’ ability to investigate reported incidents and enforce the University’s policies depends on the accuracy and specificity of the information provided. Concerned individuals are encouraged to provide as much detail (names, dates, times, location, nature of the behavior, etc.) as possible so that appropriate action may be taken.
- Reports submitted anonymously significantly impact the University of Arkansas’ ability to investigate and address the behaviors reported. To the extent possible, the identity of reporters may be kept confidential. However, reported students have the right to request any record submitted. Concerned individuals should contact appropriate officials for further information.
- If you have witnessed a student violating the Code of Student Life, complete the Public Reporting Form to make our staff aware of the situation.
- Resident Assistants (RA’s) and Coordinators for Resident Education (CRE’s) should go to Symplicity Advocate to submit a report.
FAQs
The first thing to bear in mind, whether you are coming in the fall or spring semester, is that you will need comfortable footwear for all of the daily walking and site visits you will have in Rome. Many former students have mentioned that they lost weight during their stay in Rome because they walked much more than they did back home. Bring comfortable sneakers! Generally speaking, Rome’s climate is mild - It is unusual to have an extremely cold spell and, if that happens, it would be for a brief period. It is not necessary to bring a lot of heavy clothes, but you should have some gear for rainy days, which are more likely to occur with greater frequency in November and in the winter months. Sweaters and light coats work well in the Roman winter.
If you are coming in the fall semester, the whole of September and most of October remain relatively warm. You might need a cardigan or light jacket for early mornings and evenings. November and December are cooler, and it can get cold in December so you should have a jacket or coat with you for colder days and some jumpers or sweatshirts underneath. Some students have remarked that the weather here is similar to Fayetteville’s in the sense that it is changeable from day to day. You certainly need to have some layers as Rome’s weather is unpredictable.
The weather is generally colder during the Spring semester, with January and February being the coldest months of the year. Sometimes it remains cold during the first half of March. On cold days, you might need a hat and gloves. Moreover, if you get to go on tours in the North of Italy, you will find that the temperature in northern cities is noticeably lower than in Rome.
Finally, bring clothes for where you plan on travelling; if you plan on going up to Germany during the Fall Semester, you will need to have proper winter clothes and shoes as they will be experiencing much colder conditions than in Rome.
Our studio is equipped with a network of computers connected to a server and 24/7 internet connection. There are also numerous outlets where personal laptops can be connected to the system.
We strongly advise you to bring your own computer/laptop with you where you will be connected to the Rome Center network system. However, for security reasons, you should not leave your laptop overnight in the school.
Communicating with family and friends in the US from Italy is easier than ever. The only barrier might be time differences and how often you talk with them. The most economical choice is calling by WhatsApp or Skype when you are connected to the WIFI in your apartment or at the Rome Center, which is equipped with a 24/7 internet connection.
Students will need to have a working phone whilst in the program so that we are able to contact them, and vice versa, should the need arise. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is to buy a SIM card and sign up with a provider when you arrive in Rome. The SIM costs around €10 , and it will cost around an additional €10 per month to use the service. The plans offered to students usually include about 100GB of data, unlimited calls to Italian numbers, limited texting and limited call time overseas. There are several phone companies with affordable plans in Italy.
You will need to have a phone that allows you to use another carrier’s SIM card. Check with your provider to make sure that this is possible. Verizon usually works abroad, but AT&T is known to lock the phones of their users who are still in a plan. Investing in a second-hand phone just for the trip might be a worthwhile solution, as some American carriers can charge up to $30 USD per day for an international plan that is much more expensive and limited than an Italian alternative.
DO NOT try to wifi-hop around Europe! Not many restaurants and coffee shops have accessible WIFI that you can rely on!
There are three Metro (subway) lines A, B and C, but the network does not cover the whole city. You would therefore probably use the bus more than any other means of transport in Rome, even though it is sometimes a slow means due to heavy traffic in the city. Lines A, B and C operate from 5.30 am to 11.30 pm Monday to Thursday and on Sunday. On Friday and Saturday, they operate from 5.30 am till 1.30 am. Buses run until midnight.
You will need to buy a bus/tram/subway ticket before getting onto the bus or subway, which can be purchased from tobacco shops, newspaper stands, or subway stations.
We have listed below the different ticket types:
- Regular ticket, valid for 100 minutes, allows the passenger unlimited travel on all buses and trams, as well as one subway ride. Cost: €1.50
- Weekly pass covers bus/tram/subway. Cost: €24
- Monthly pass includes all rides on the bus, tram, and subway networks. Cost: €35
The monthly pass is probably the cheapest solution if you need to use public transport daily. However, as far as the historic center is concerned, the best way to get around is on foot.
DO NOT try to use public transportation without a ticket, as there are city employees that check tickets on buses, trams, and trains. If you are caught without a ticket or a non-validated ticket, you will be fined.
The electric network in Italy operates at 220 volts and not 125 volts as in the States. Certain equipment like portable computers operates perfectly well without the need for any kind of converter. However, hair appliances like straighteners and hair dryers are notorious for causing issues in Italy. You can easily find those items here. Phone and laptop chargers usually operate well without converters.
One difference you might find is in the shape of the plugs, and for these you need an adaptor to change the U.S. plug shape to match the ones used in Italy. You might want to bring a few of these.
You can easily buy an adaptor in any electrical shop. However, it might be helpful to have them upon arrival in Rome for your appliances. Italian outlets use the C, F, and L plugs. If you plan to travel to other European countries during your time in Rome, you might want to bring an adaptor with universal settings.
There are Bancomat (ATM) cashpoints in almost every bank. You can withdraw automatically from 10 to 350 euro a day, subject to a monthly credit limit depending on the cardholder’s facility. All credit cards Visa/Mastercard, Maestro, or American Express can be used to withdraw cash, and a small charge is levied for each withdrawal. It depends on your bank in the United States and the bank you use to withdraw money in Rome.
Alternatively, you could change money at an Italian bank or money exchange offices at a cost. Money exchange points tend to charge a high commission. We advise our students to have a credit card with them and this way money can be transferred from the United States upon their request.
For access to money in the case of an emergency, we suggest that family and friends back in the States do a money wire through Western Union which has offices here in Rome. Students can access the money through a nine-digit code and use their passport as I.D.
Students must have packages sent to the Rome Center’s address. Below is the full address:
- Student’s name
- University of Arkansas Rome Center
- Palazzo Taverna - Via di Monte Giordano, 36 - 00186 Roma
Packages sent to a student’s apartment will not make it!
Packages arriving from outside the EU will go through customs in Milan. Packages can either:
- Be stopped in Milan for testing (Usually dried foods)
- Be stopped due to a lack of information
- Be denied entry
- Be levied a Tax (33% of the stated value of the item)
- Go through customs without any problems
If any of the first three incidents occur, the student will be notified about what to expect, which could be anything from a request for more information to a need to pay €40 for a test to be run on the package prior to it being released. The Rome Center will assist the students with whatever request comes from the customs department.
If a tax is levied on the package, we will not know until it arrives at the Rome Center. Any fees under 100€ will be automatically paid by the Center, students will need to reimburse this cost in order to receive their package. Packages with fees totaling over €100 will be sent back to the shipping company and the student will be asked if they are willing to pay the tax. Students can refuse to pay the customs tax, in which case the item will be sent back to the sender where applicable.
Do not send medication through the post as it will not be admitted through customs. If you need to send medication, please contact MedinAction and they will explain how, and if, you can have access to your medication here in Rome.
UARC occupies two spaces within a historic palazzo which is closed to the public; there is a 24/7 concierge who receives packages throughout the week and passes them on to the Rome Center Administration. Students will be notified of packages arriving by the student life office.
There are about three post offices, located not far from the Rome Center, from which you can send packages and letters. The Italian postal service works well; however, we advise against sending food and drink as that becomes complicated due to restrictions on entry into the US. You can send things abroad at reasonable prices too. To check opening hours for post offices, click on the following website: https://www.posteitaliane.it/en/index.html.
Alternatively, you could use the services of Fed-EX, UPS,SDA, or DHL where packages can be taken directly from the center, but naturally the cost of shipping or airfreight is higher.
Open Weekends where students are free to travel are built into the program. Besides this, the Rome Center offers a variety of opportunities for the students to participate in inter-regional and regional travel. Some of the trips are included in the program fee, whilst others are offered as an optional tour. Students choosing to join the optional travel programs will be charged through their university account. Destinations for mandatory and optional trips might change depending on changes in the needs of the program, or changes to the Italian law regarding approved activities of Universities in Italy.
Students must complete the Student Travel Form for any trips they plan to take. The information uploaded to the Travel Form enables the Rome Center staff to know where students are each weekend, which is important in the unlikely case of an emergency. Use the Travel Registration Form.
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Many important points are touched on during orientation week: from who you should contact in the case of an emergency, to the academic offerings at the UofA Rome Center. The orientation sessions in Rome are structured to help our students form a sturdy base from which they start to explore their new and exciting environment. We would like to get to know you as well!
If you plan to travel independently before or after the program, you can store your luggage at the long-term luggage deposit at the airport. The left luggage facility at Fiumicino airport is on the Arrivals level of the International Terminal. The baggage store is open from 07:00 until 23:00.
Left baggage room and porter services#.
You can also store luggage at the central station in Rome (Termini). There is a fee for each piece of luggage, according to the total number of hours/days in storage. Left Luggage Rome Station | Stow Your Bags
Please note that it is not possible to store luggage here at the UA Rome Center.