Italy Ostiense (Rome)

The Ostiense field school takes place in the heart of Rome and provides high expectations from students for accommodation and food. Alas, this is an archaeology program so to keep costs low, the program provides rustic, low end accommodation. Students should understand that this is not a semester abroad program where they stay in high-end American owned/American run dormitories.
There is a gap between Board peer-reviewed ranking and student ranking of this program in its 2nd year of operation. It is not unusual to see changes in student satisfaction between years – much depends on group dynamics and the type/quality of archaeological record recovered at each season. But the gap in 2025 is significant (1.18 points) and the field school director must directly address student concerns. Syllabus must better reflect research activity and methodology and mandatory readings should be more relevant and further discussed during the program.

Students clearly found participation in this program to be a valuable experience. Their interest in the subject matter increased markedly, and they rated the field school highly overall. The list of required readings is adequate, and the list of recommended readings if extensive and helpful. The only concern is the students rating the accommodations rather poorly. It would be advisable for the directors to see if anything can be done to improve the situation.

Instruction is clearly working very well, and students are happy with their learning experience –
which is CFS' priority. However, there were issues with food and accommodation that should
be resolved.

[Future participants] would learn a lot and get an experience that will change them for the better.

This program is very much worth the cost and I did learn a ton despite the hiccups.

Well worth the experience, information, opportunities, and education.

It was an amazing experience to be immersed in the culture and seeing all of the relevant archeological sites firsthand.

I’ve been a part of a few field programs, and this is the first one that I’ve been on that has people from such a wide range of backgrounds. I think that this allowed for a wider learning dynamic which was great to be a part of. I think the social stuff within our group was well-managed and I am grateful for Dr. Alapont’s open and consistent support as I can only imagine the challenges behind planning and coordinating everything amidst new challenges popping up throughout the month.

It’s rough living with strangers, dealing with the heat, catching busses, and living off of mostly pasta for a whole month- but the knowledge you will gain during this program is unparalleled. You will never be able to truly get this much of a feel for osteology from a text book. See the bone, feel the bone, be the bone.

Despite my criticisms, I would say that this was well worth it. I had a great time overall, got to meet some amazing people, and I walked away with invaluable knowledge and experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. So if anyone was at all interested in archaeology, especially in this region, (and they had the means to do it) I’d highly recommend this program to them.

overall I learned a lot and enjoyed being in Rome and getting to do an archeological dig. However, I would tell them to be prepared to not often have a set plan because there were multiple times when our plans would change and we were not always informed. The experience was great, but there were also frustrations among the group with living situations which consisted of more people in each room than we had been told.

The professor’s lack of leadership and organizational competence made me lose trust in CFS’s ability to provide valuable educational experiences to students.

There is a lot you learn from the hands on experience, and you learn how well you work with others during what may be stress inducing (such as the high heat and humidity).

Not only were the professors, Alapont and Ana, super easy to talk to but also we’re super encouraging when I struggled and answered all my questions with enthusiasm. I also loved meeting so many new and interesting people who I might one day work with!

I enjoyed it but archaeology is really niche

Very interesting subject matter.

I would not recommend this program to a friend. the accommodations, structure of the teachings, and quality of people was not where it should have been. the $4000 I had to pay for this program was not seen in the quality of any of our food, accommodations, academics, excursions. though it was lovely to explore this city of rich history, we were over an hour from the city center.

I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested in getting first hand experience in bio archaeology, and learning about Roman archaeology and history.

I learned a lot and had a lot of fun plus Anna was a great pottery drawing teacher and very there for us through the whole program.

Although things were not exactly to plan via the syllabus, I ultimately felt very comfortable in the accommodation, the work experience was extremely beneficial and exciting. Dr. Alapont, Anna and Natalie were wonderful teachers. I’m very grateful for their patience with our group, and guidance. I do feel like more efforts could’ve been made initially like on the first day to spark conversation; to encourage more conversations/comradery, and also establish an air of respect. However overall I enjoyed the program a lot and wish nothing but the absolutely best and success for future years.

The instructors are awesome and always excited to share their love of the field with you. Feel the bone.. touch the bone….

Professor Alapont and Ana were both amazing and made this experience what it was. Anything that went wrong was made many times easier by their chill presence and leadership.

The teachers are very knowledgeable and eager to help and teach us. They really want us to learn and have fun doing so. I want to give special shoutout to Ana. She was super important to the daily logistics of the program. She was also able to teach us things seperate from bone analysis.

Overall [the] program was interesting and engaging.

It was extremely beneficial towards learning osteology and micro-excavations and the processes that go into the aftermath of data basing and photography. I thought the professor and Anna were extremely nice and understanding towards all aspects of one’s learning abilities. You will definitely know the differences between the bones after this program!