Submitted by Olivia May on the 2020 spring semester program in Rome, Italy…
This past week in my Rome Modern City on-site class, we traveled to an area in Rome called the Piazza di Popolo. After our teacher gave us a brief history of the area, we walked down a few of the surrounding streets. What really stood out to me were all the recognizable chain stores like Foot Locker, Adidas, North Face, Lush and that there were no local Italian shops. At the end of the street, my teacher asked us for our observations and many students brought up how touristy the area was. Our teacher brought up a very thought provoking question about how “authentic” this area was in Rome and how much of the historic center is changing to cater to tourists and thus some of the Roman culture and heritage is being lost. This was fascinating for me to think about and I’m glad I have this class to teach me more about Rome and make me appreciate the city on a deeper level.