Looking back at my blog, I realized I haven't actually clued you all in into what I'm really doing here. The truth is that I'm in Italy to do more than travel and drink wine and eat gelato. I know, I know, those last three things should definitely be enough to satisfy me.
But, I'm still a junior (3rd-year, clueless, whatever you wanna call it) college student. I think this blog might make it seem like the most interesting moments I have here involve some kind of party or weekend travel. Actually, though, one of the coolest (at least I think so) sides of my life happens right here in Bologna, at the university.
Right now, I'm enrolled in 4 classes. Two are taught at the actual university, and the others are through my exchange program, BCSP. The university classes are in Italian literature and Roman history, while the BCSP classes are in advanced grammar and modern European history. It's ended up being a sweet mix of small and huge, as well as familiar and unfamiliar. The BCSP classes tend to be smaller and somewhat more discussion-based, like they would be in Chicago. They run on a similar schedule too, with regular homework assignments and exams.
UniBo classes are completely different. My literature class is probably the largest lecture I've ever been in. Foreign students have to read 3 books to be prepared for the final exam. I'm reading the Inferno (by which I mean I've read maybe 2 cantos), and I'm hoping to read Machiavelli's The Prince and something by Italo Calvino before the final.
Most university courses here culminate in a final exam given orally, with the professor or a TA. This means that you sit down with them and they ask you a bunch of questions about what you've read or heard in lecture. Then they give you a grade on the spot. That grade is your grade for the whole course. Sounds scary right? It is. The good news is that you can take the exams more than once. In fact, most professors offer the exam monthly or bi-monthly, so if you're not happy with your grade the first time, you can re-take it. Phew.
My literature and my Roman history class work roughly the same way. My Roman history lecture is also humongous, but not in reality. The professor speaks very quietly, the hall has bad acoustics, and his microphone breaks at least once per class, at which point one of us has to run and get the technician from next door to come fix it. As a result of all this, a good half to two-thirds of the students stopped coming to class. But, little nerdy Harriett went diligently to class every day, a method that seemed to reap little reward at first. However, the professor finished talking about Roman history about 3 weeks before the scheduled end of the course. Christianity invaded, the Empire crumbled, the Medieval age had begun. There was nothing left to talk about. So, on Tuesday, the professor turned the collapsing Empire into a democracy and asked us if we would like to end the course the following day. Obviously everyone raised their hands. This is the point where my attendance paid off. The professor took down the names of everyone who had been in regular attendance, and indicated that our attention through all his whispering lectures would be rewarded in the exam.
I told you, riveting.
As terribly exciting as I'm sure it's been to read all about my academic life in Bologna, I should go study for these rapidly approaching final exams. Wish me luck!
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