This class investigates the urban, social and cultural development
of the city of Rome from ancient times to 21st century, as well as
fictional representations of the city in different media. Students
will be encouraged to reflect upon such questions as: why has the
popularity of Rome grown around the world to the point of giving the
city an almost mythical status? What is the role played by Rome in
contemporary collective imagination? How do artists from different
cultures and countries represent Rome in their works? Is it always
the same Rome, or do they depict and maybe even experience a
different Rome? What is the interplay among urban landscape, culture
and art in different stages of Rome’s history? How do political
ideologies affect the shaping of a city and the fiction describing
that place?

Materials covered during the semester will include:

* Representations of ancient Rome in 20th- and 21st-century
theatre (Camus’ Caligula), film (Scott’s The
Gladiator), television shows (HBO’s Rome), graphic novels
(Asterix) and detective fiction (Saylor’s Roman Blood).

* The architectural and artistic development of Rome during the
Baroque era.

* Filmic and literary representations of Rome in the Fascist era
(Wertmuller’s Film of Love and Anarchy; Moravia’s The
Conformist and its film rendition by Bertolucci), during World
War II (Rossellini’s Open City), and in the post-war years
(from Roman Holiday to Fellini, Pasolini and Moretti).

The class is aimed at students who are interested in Italian
history, literature, art, film and culture, as well as urbanism and
architecture, interdisciplinarity and comparisons between different
media.