By: James Morgan
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – The Rome Center is reopening for University of Arkansas students this summer.
Twenty-nine students will go to Rome this May for a summer session at the Rome Center. This is about 40 percent of the normal capacity for summer programs in Rome.
“We are specifically accommodating students who have study abroad requirements, so that’s architecture and landscape architecture majors,” said Brian Poepsel, Assistant director of study abroad for the University of Arkansas.
The Rome Center has been closed since March of 2020 when over 100 students were sent home in one of the University’s first actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poepsel said there are students studying abroad right now, but this will mark the first organized effort by the University to resume normal study abroad programs.
The study abroad office is recommending a continuation of already approved programs such as the Rome Center in the fall. Study abroad programs through third parties and foreign exchange programs are also expected to continue through the fall semester.
“It’s not a 100 percent back, but we are returning to international travel,” Poepsel said.
Students that will travel to Rome this summer will have to provide documentation of their status as students, as Italy is one of several countries that has not approved international tourist travel within the country yet.
“You can’t enter as a tourist, so for summer travel, that basically looks like students carrying a big folder full of paperwork with them to immigration when they enter Italy,” Poepsel said. “It’s different than before when you could just enter Italy as a regular traveler from the US without any visa or special permission.”
Poepsel said despite these roadblocks, students that visit the Rome Center will have unique access to the country and its landmarks without the usual crowds of tourists.
Applications are available for the Rome Center’s fall and spring programs, with the fall program application deadline on May 15.