As 2019 draws closer, so does an important milestone for The American University of Rome: our 50th Anniversary. Celebrations of our half-century will take place throughout the year, and preparations are well underway to ensure that we celebrate the first 50 years of our wonderful University in the best possible way. We hope to bring together our entire community of current and former students, faculty, staff and friends of AUR as much as possible throughout the year, and in the run-up to the year’s events we will be keeping you updated on opportunities for getting involved.
In order to celebrate AUR’s history, we first needed to understand it. This entailed delving into AUR’s extensive (and chaotic) archive of photos and documents, which revealed that the origins of AUR were far more complex than the “official” version of events that was accepted as our history – until now. We discovered that AUR was founded not only by David Colin, but also by an Italian lawyer and academic, Giorgio Tesoro, and Europe’s first female radio broadcaster, Lisa Sergio. Their collaboration in founding the University came as a response to World War II, with their vision being of an institution in Rome which brought together the best characteristics of American and European higher education, with emphasis on the humanities.
A few snippets from our photo archive
The revelations brought to light by the archives form the starting point for two projects. The first is a publication telling the story of AUR, from its beginnings as a passion project of three like-minded friends to its life today as a vibrant hub on top of the Gianicolo, and will explore the people, places, and stories that have been linked to our University over the past 50 years. The second is an exhibition of the highlights of the archive, which will bring together photos, documents and memorabilia which encapsulate AUR and our story so far. A preview of this exhibition was revealed to our community on October 3rd, which you can read about here.
A few snippets from our photo archive
The exhibition will launch in late May, and will accompany the 2019 Commencement ceremony and a special 50th Anniversary Alumni Reunion, all to be held in Rome. We are hoping that this series of events will see a wide range of our community brought together to discover the secrets of AUR’s past, to celebrate our current successes and to support the vision for our future.
Throughout the anniversary year, we will be running a special series of lectures alongside the usual program of events. This lecture series will bring in speakers whose topics will reflect the diversity of AUR’s curricula and to celebrate the very best of each discipline. We are delighted to announce that the first speaker will be archeologist Jacky Nowakowski, who will join us in early 2019 to speak about the search for traces of King Arthur at the site of Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, England. Further particulars on this talk, and for the proceeding talks which will make up the 50th Anniversary Lecture Series, will be available soon, so stay tuned!