Forced Nomadism and “Frozen Transience”: Roma Mobilities in Rome Today

When we speak of the mobility of the Roma (“gypsies”) 1 of Europe today, we do not speak of culture, of their ancestral relationship to place, home, and movement. Their current situation, which has gained media attention because of France’s recently implemented policy of “voluntary repatriation”, is forced nomadism by another name. The Roma’s historic nomadism has been used, conveniently, as an excuse for the lack of housing and dwelling places they face today. “They don’t want regular housing.”’ – “They can’t live like us, in one place.” While the Italian word for gypsy, zingaro, is recognized as offensive today, like “gypsy” is here, the word still commonly in use in Italy is nomade, which carries with it a profound and sometimes instrumental misconception

On the notion of home and the goals of palliative care

The notion of home is well known from our everyday experience, and plays a crucial role in all kinds of narratives about human life, but is hardly ever systematically dealt with in the philosophy of medicine and health care. This paper is based upon the intuitively positive connotation of the term “home.” By metaphorically describing the goal of palliative care as “the patient’s coming home,” it wants to contribute to a medical humanities approach of medicine. It is argued that this metaphor can enrich our understanding of the goals of palliative care and its proper objectives. Four interpretations of “home” and “coming home” are explored: (1) one’s own house or homelike environment, (2) one’s own body, (3) the psychosocial environment, and (4) the spiritual dimension, in particular, the origin of human existence. Thinking in terms of coming home implies a normative point of view. It represents central human values and refers not only to the medical-technical and care aspects of health care, but also to the moral context

Forced Nomadism and “Frozen Transience”: Roma Mobilities in Rome Today

When we speak of the mobility of the Roma (“gypsies”) 1 of Europe today, we do not speak of culture, of their ancestral relationship to place, home, and movement. Their current situation, which has gained media attention because of France’s recently implemented policy of “voluntary repatriation”, is forced nomadism by another name. The Roma’s historic nomadism has been used, conveniently, as an excuse for the lack of housing and dwelling places they face today. “They don’t want regular housing.”’ – “They can’t live like us, in one place.” While the Italian word for gypsy, zingaro, is recognized as offensive today, like “gypsy” is here, the word still commonly in use in Italy is nomade, which carries with it a profound and sometimes instrumental misconception.This proceeding is from the 99th ACSA Annual Meeting Proceedings, Where Do You Stand. Posted with permission.</p

Walking Nolli: Cartography and Choreography as a Study Abroad Introduction

The authors co-taught and organized a semester-long study abroad program for 48 students in Rome, where our College maintains a full-time studio and facilities on the Piazza Cinque Scuole, a location in the heart of the old Jewish Ghetto. In parallel with several charrette studio offerings and traditional sketchbook and history classes, we offered a two-week introductory project that operated on two levels. On a practical level, we wanted to provide students with a framework for exploring the city, for getting beyond the centro and figuring out Rome’s patterns, major routes, and transit on their own. On a deeper level, however, we wanted students to gain exposure to the layered history of the city, and to confront the dichotomy between experiential and abstract notions of space. We wanted them, right away, to understand the city as both an archeological and a navigational situation, and to reconcile the oftenconsiderable gulf between historical information and lived experience.</p