Presentation of the book "L’Albero dei Rosari" by Maurizio Valtieri

The Pantheon Institute is proud to announce that Maurizio Valtieri, one of our Italian Professors, presented his second novel, L’Albero dei Rosari (The Chinaberry tree) at the “Più Libri Più Liberi” national booksellers fair on December 7th.

Maurizio’s book tells the story of the clash between two separate worlds: the world of David, a 17 year old gay guy who lives his homosexuality in a positive and natural way and the claustrophobic and misogynic world of a religious institute where the so-called “Reparative Therapy for Homosexuals” is practiced…

Maurizio presented his book together with a speaker and with a psychologist who was there to explore in detail the condemnation of some therapies for homosexuals.

Some passages taken from the books were read during the event and the author also answered several questions by the audience.

November's winning picture

Congratulations to Christopher Johnson for his winning photo of the Colosseum at night! Chris won a beautiful bag with the Vespa logo!

This was the last photo competition for this semester since all of the students are now busy with their final projects and exams. The Pantheon Institute will offer a small present to all of the kids who sent their pictures to us! Thank you guys!

The Cats of Rome

Rome's cats are different...every tourist who visits the city senses it! Unlike the fluffy and sometimes aloof balls of fur you're likely to know, Rome's cats are mostly feral, prowling ancient monuments as if they owned them and answering to no one.

There are estimated to be 250,000 feral cats in Rome living in over 2000 colonies. Rome's city council has recently come out in favor of the cat's existence in Rome by citing their ancient heritage: "there is a deep-rooted affection for these cats who have an ancient bond with the city." The city council even went so far as to protect the cats, in 2001 naming cats living in the Coliseum, the Forum and Torre Argentina a part of the city's "bio-heritage."

And if you are wondering about the social interactions between cats and humans in Rome, you have to know that the fat tabbies lolling at the base of those Roman columns are fed in the lean times by the affectionate Gattare, or "Cat Women." Not everyone in Rome, of course, holds a fondness in their hearts for their neighborhood Gattara - or for the cats - but it hardly matters to the healthier ones, who augment their meals outside the finest of Rome's eateries. In Summer there are pigeons, mice and lizards to be had in the excavations and nearby fields as well. In antiquity, the cat was highly valued for just this activity - defending mankind against rodent borne diseases like the plague!

Here follows a list of the most important cat colonies of Rome:

- Largo di Torre Argentina;
- Colosseum;
- Roman Forum;
- Piramide.

Still time to have fun at the Pantheon Institute...

Fall Break is almost over and the Pantheon Institute students are about to come back to Rome and complete their semester of study abroad.

The Pantheon Institute offices are silent and empty…and it feels quite strange for us since we usually work in close contact with the students! We are now getting ready to welcome the kids back and we have already planned a series of extra-curricular activities for them.

First of all, we have scheduled a fantastic wine tasting on Monday night in a very charming wine shop that is just few steps away from Campo de Fiori. The students will have the chance to learn how to taste wines and how to combine them with different kinds of food thanks to the help and the experience of the wine shop owner.

On Tuesday night, instead, the Pantheon Institute kids will once again play soccer against some students from the Roma Tre university... Who is going to win this time?

The last activity that the students services staff has organized is a beautiful bike tour on the Appia Antica on Friday, December 3rd.The students will have the possibility of relaxing and spend a day away from the traffic and the smog of the city before concentrating on their final exams…definitely an activity not to miss!

Of course, the semester will end with a farewell party, the right occasion to say…ARRIVEDERCI ROMA!

The Pantheon Institute meets Roma Tre!

After the great success that the meeting between students from the Pantheon Institute and those from the University of Roma Tre had during the Spring 2010 semester, we decided to organize this activity also during the Fall semester.

As a matter of fact, the linguistic exchange represents the heart of a study-abroad experience: meeting the people who have always lived in the place that becomes your house for 4 months is no doubt a fundamental moment of knowledge and growth.

Students from Roma Tre came to the Pantheon Institute ready to put the linguistic knowledge that they have gained during their studies into practice. Barbara Antonucci, their Professor from the Department of Foreign Languages, came here as well.

After a first moment of embarrassment, the Italian kids and the American ones started to chat, also thanks to the help of our Professors, Barbara Parisi and Maurizio Valtieri.

The students spent about two hours together and, during this time, they had the chance to deepen their knowledge of a different language and culture and, above all, to meet new friends…and, why not, also enjoy some good sandwiches and soft drinks.

The linguistic exchange with students from Roma Tre is certainly one of the most interesting extra-curricular activities that the Pantheon Institute organizes and we hope to schedule many more events like this for future semesters.

Soccer...under the rain

It is a well-known fact that November is quite an unpredictable month as far as the weather is concerned. Beautiful warm days alternate with rainy and cold ones.

A heavy thunderstorm came down on Rome on Monday night, the day we had chosen for the second soccer match of the semester between the Pantheon Institute students and the ones from the Roma Tre university.

Despite the rain had started falling during the late afternoon already, the students who had to play the game did not lose heart and, once their classes were over, they took the subway and reached the Battistini soccer field, in the north area of Rome. There, they met the students from the Roma Tre university and the university sport activities coordinator.

The American students and the Italian ones mixed up, formed two teams and gave life to a very exciting match characterized by a high number of goals. As a matter of fact, the game ended 11-8!

Sometimes, it looked like we were watching an ice-skating show rather than a soccer match: the quantity of water that came down during the game was just incredible but both the Italian and the American students enjoyed playing so much that we are already scheduling another game in the next few days!

Photo of the month winner!

Congratulations to Alexandra Bojarski-Stauffer for her winning photo of some delicious cannoli sold in a pastry shop of Assisi. Alexandra and one of her friends will enjoy a free meal at Bibli Restaurant in Trastevere!

The new photo competition theme is "Italy at Night" and the best picture will get a beautiful bag with the Vespa logo!