Number 32 | Spring 2017

Villa Rossa

MAKING

Voice

MemoriesSUF THEN AND NOW

An Alumna from 1960 reflects on a half century

of changes

Page 6

IN MEMORIAMFamily and colleaguescelebrate the life of

Jennifer Cook

Page 8

THE JOB OF A LIFETIMEElia Landi shares 30 years

of memories workingat the Villa Rossa

Page 10

A MATCH MADE IN FLORENCEA couple reminisces

about meeting at SUF

Page 12

The VILLA ROSSA VOICE is a Syracuse University in Florence publication.We welcome your questions and comments.

Editorial staffDirector

Sasha Perugini

EditorMichelle Tarnopolskymtarnopo@syr.edu

Graphics and LayoutFrancesco Guazzellifguazzel@syr.edu

Tribunale di FirenzeRegistro Stampa Periodico No. 5854

All material © Syracuse University in Florence

http://suflorence.syr.edu

Cover photosVilla Rossa archives

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LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR AND THE EDITORby Sasha Perugini and Michelle Tarnopolsky 5

SUF  THEN  AND  NOWAN ALUMNA FROM 1960 REFLECTS ON A HALF CENTURY OF CHANGES

by Kay Johnson6

IN  MEMORIAMFAMILY AND COLLEAGUES CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF JENNIFER COOK 8

THE  JOB  OF  A  LIFETIMEELIA LANDI SHARES 36 YEARS OF MEMORIES WORKING AT THE VILLA ROSSA

Interview by Benjamin Lee (Syracuse University)10

A  MATCH  MADE  IN  FLORENCEA COUPLE REMINISCES ABOUT MEETING AT SUF

by Caroline Schagrin (Syracuse University)12

THE CONTINUUM OF WESTERN PAINTINGCOMING FULL CIRCLE AFTER STUDYING ART IN FLORENCE

by Barbara Zanelli (bzarte.com)13

LOST AND FOUNDRESTORING WOMEN ARTISTS TO THE PUBLIC MEMORY

by Kirsten Mary Willders, Michelle Ayer, Julie James, Stefani Francisco, Emma McNay14

A FLOOD OF MEMORIESFEMALE ARTISTS AND THE 1966 DELUGE OF FLORENCE

by Erin Moore, Hannah Augst, Marissa Endow, Andrea Mosk, and Amy Carton15

TAKING THE PLUNGELESSONS LEARNED WHILE STUDYING ABROAD

by Hannah Fritschner (Syracuse University)16

THE INTEGRATING POWER OF SOCCERWEST AFRICAN REFUGEES HELP SUF GET INTO THE FINALS

by Caroline Schagrin (Syracuse University)17

GAY RIGHTS AND FILM ACTIVISMSUDDENLY LAST WINTER BY GUSTAV HOFER AND LUCA RAGAZZI

by Queena Chen, Mai Kobayashi and Abby Schulz18

A TEAM EFFORTPUTTING ON A PRODUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDY OF ERRORS

by Sara Schleicher (Syracuse University)

19

MAKING SPACE FOR CONVERSATIONLANGUAGE EXCHANGE AT SUF

by Loredana Tarini, Italian Language Coordinator

20

A GLOBAL LEGENDA VISIT TO THE PIAGGIO MUSEUM

By Antonella Francini, Direct Placement Coordinator

21

CENTERING LANGUAGEMY EXPERIENCE AT THE CENTRO DI CULTURA PER STRANIERI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE

by Sara Krevoy (USC)

22

BLAST FROM THE PASTA FORMER STUDENT THANKS AN INFLUENTIAL TEACHER

23

CELEBRATING GARY M. RADKEAND THE SU GRADUATE PROGRAM IN RENAISSANCE ART

24

STAFF & FACULTY WATCH

25

FIGHTING  FASHIONABLYA LECTURE ON ARMS AND ARMOR IN THE RENAISSANCE BY SUF ALUMNA VICTORIA BARTELS

by Molly Jess Van Deursen (St. Michaels College)

26

Letter from the Director

I recently realized that people had stopped referring to me as the “new director of SUF” and rightly so,given that I am now celebrating my sixth anniversary in this role. Under SUA leadership, the program haswitnessed significant changes throughout these years as we have grown in numbers and expanded ourcurriculum to include new clusters like engineering, design and sustainability and have restructured howwe coordinate our academics. We have also regretfully lost precious staff and faculty members like librarycoordinator Carol Estall and art history professor Jennifer Cook, to whom we have dedicated a piece inthis issue (page 8). And we have been honored by the presence of illustrious visitors from our home campuslike the Board of Trustees for Arts and Science in 2014, Chancellor Kent Syverud in 2015 and our braveleader Margaret Himley, most recently in 2016. In honor of this issue dedicated to memories, I would liketo thank the entire SUF community for the incessant dedication to the program and confidence in myleadership. I have sometimes used a metaphor to describe to those unfamiliar with our operations whatmy job feels like: it’s like I’m the driver of a fast, beautiful, highly engineered, powerful Ferrari (rossa, likeour Villa) but behind it there is an enormous team of highly qualified engineers, technicians, experts, fansand supervisors who study the best tactic for each circuit. Each semester is a race, and our students’growth and appreciation is the reward. But there’s one thing that has not changed a bit throughout mytime at SUF: my gratitude for being part of this superb, highly professional, hardworking team.

Sasha Perugini

Letter from the Editor

This issue of the Villa Rossa Voice celebrates the indelible memories that are made during a semester spentstudying abroad, both by the students themselves and by the staff and faculty of a program like SyracuseFlorence who usher them through this life-changing experience. In fact, many of us who work in studyabroad are here because we started as international students ourselves. It’s now been twenty years sincemy own profound experience spending two semesters here in Florence, and the memories I cherish fromthat time – especially the ways I grew and what I discovered about myself – remain some of the mostvivid of my life. I’m not the only one. We are very excited to share the stories of several SUF alumni in thisissue, especially that of Kay Johnson who arrived in Italy by ship for the second-ever year of the program’sexistence in 1960 (page 6)! Memory lane can also be a bittersweet path, especially when tied to belovedmembers of our community who are no longer walking the halls of the Villa Rossa like Jennifer Cook, whopassed away in July 2016, and Sergio and Elia Landi, who retired from their jobs running our coffee shopin June 2016. However, we are proud to see their legacies live on in the spirit of the Syracuse Florencecommunity.

Michelle Tarnopolsky

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ifty-six years later, I still agree with my19 year old self who, thought that Ihad learned more from my Syracuse

Semester in Italy than I did from any other col-lege semester. In addition to course studies, Ibecome fairly fluent in a second language, wasimmersed in another culture, a different way torelate to food and alcohol, was amazed with theaverage Italian’s sense of history, experiencedearthquake tremors and the shortage of water,enjoyed carefree bicycling, and more on-site artthan I could possibly absorb in four months. Ilearned about living with a war widow raisingher child in a city with occasional bombed build-ings still in evidence. I experienced living with a

Contessa and her sister whohad lost their social statusfrom Italy's political reorgani-zation.

When a professor from UnionCollege took her art historystudents to Florence thisspring (2016) and invited me

to join them, I was thrilled. I had never beenback to Florence since my semester abroad.Amazingly, my friend's apartment on Via Masac-cio was only one block from the Syracuse cen-ter in Piazza Savonarola. And, when I rang theSyracuse doorbell, what a surprise! When stu-dents opened the door in 1960, there were asmall number of classrooms but no secretarialoffices. Our housing had been taken care ofthrough [a company called] Experiment in Inter-

national Living. Today, a receptionist welcomesvisitors and directed me upstairs where I waseven more surprised. There is now a spaciousoffice with three delightfully friendly staff em-ployees, not to mention additional private of-fices.

When asked if I had seen the garden, the staffwas surprised when I said there was no gardenwhen I attended. Apparently, unknown to me asa student, a Contessa was still living there in herhome in 1960 and kept her garden for privateuse. In addition to now using the whole building,

by Kay Johnson (Syracuse University)

F

“ I no longer noticed men pinchingwomen on the buses. I was surprised to se e a few pregnantwomen out on the stre ets. ”

SUF THEN AND NOWAN ALUMNA FROM 1960 REFLECTS ON A HALF CENTURY OF CHANGES

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Syracuse has purchased an adja-cent property and made a signifi-cant library complete with severalcomfortable study rooms. As re-flected in both the increased staffand building space, current stu-dent enrollment is also muchhigher. In 1960, there were about25-30 students. Today, there areabout ten times that number persemester.

The most striking change is thetraffic. Florence was much quieterwhen bicycles and vespas werethe order of the day with a fewcars mixed in. I loved watching thenuns riding vespas with theirhabits flying in the wind. I nolonger noticed men pinchingwomen on the buses. I was sur-prised to see a few pregnantwomen out on the streets. Andthe gabinettos...they have disap-peared. Sadly, many of the beststatuary and sculptures have nowbeen moved to indoor locationsdue to air pollution.

While some things have changedduring this half century, the Italian zest for lifeand outgoing friendliness continues today. Localfruit and vegetables are the best tasting ever.While I did notice a few sneakers among theyounger set, most of the Florentines continue

to dress elegantly even for an afternoon chat onpark benches. The city itself continues to bebeautiful and overflowing with exquisite sculp-ture and works of art. With the exception of being unable to locate

my original host family, it was a pure pleasure torevisit Florence and the Syracuse program. Iwish much learning and joy to all current andfuture students. And thank you to the staff forsuch a warm welcome to a former student!

A page from the 'Syracuse Semester in Italy' pre-departure information pamphlet from 1960.

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On the ship bound for Italy (author pictured top row, fourth from the right).

From SUF Director Sasha Perugini:

“Despite the cold, we decided to gather out herein the garden this evening around the tree thatwe have decided to plant in honor of JenniferCook. We chose a mimosa for this purpose be-cause of the Italian custom to gift womenbranches from this tree for the Festa dellaDonna in March. This way, Jennifer’s memorycan live on not only in this grounded, rooted wayin the garden of the Villa Rossa, where shetaught for 26 years, but also beyond these wallswhen its branches are shared, much like the giftsof her teaching, rooted here at Syracuse, thenspread throughout the world through her stu-dents. For Jennifer was, above all else, a passion-

ate, engaging teacher with infectious enthusiasmfor her subject. In fact, she is the only professorto have won the Syracuse University MeredithTeaching Award, who was not from the Syracusehome campus, the year the award was firstlaunched in 2001.”

From the statement Jennifer wrote as part of hernomination for the Meredith Teaching award:

“I am truly honored to be considered for anaward in recognition of good teaching becauseteaching, in addition to being my daily job, is myvocation and my passion. Perhaps I should notadmit that my choice to become an art historianwas secondary to my choice to become a teacher;

n July 26, 2016, Syracuse University in Florence lost a pillar of itscommunity: Professor Jennifer Cook. For 26 years she was a belovedteacher and colleague at SUF. The following November, her friends

and family gathered for a memorial at the Villa Rossa. A mimosa tree wasplanted in her honor with a plaque to mark it, and people shared stories toremember her life. It was a moving tribute for all involved and we share heresome excerpts of the words that were expressed that evening.

IN MEMORIAMFAMILY AND COLLEAGUES CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF JENNIFER COOK

O

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I wanted to teach something that would excitea broad spectrum of students, enhancing theirlives long after graduation. Having grown up ina middle class family in Boise, Idaho, the dis-covery in my junior year of college that I, too,could enjoy and relate to art, notwithstandingmy total lack of artistic ability, was a major mile-stone in my life. It has been my goal ever sinceto share the wealth – to enrich people’s livesby teaching them how to see the beauty andfind the visual wealth in the world aroundthem.” She goes on later to say, “I feel it essen-tial to bring enthusiasm to every lecture; if Idon’t find it exciting, I shouldn’t expect them tofind it so. A good memory is my great fortunebecause the only way to maintain enthusiasm,after years of dealing with the same objects, isto remember my own reaction upon seeing a

given work for the first time. Isometimes tell a story or twofrom my personal travel expe-riences, reliving first encoun-ters (frequently while on myown junior year abroad). Thismay be kind of corny, but Ican’t count the number oftimes students have ap-proached me on a Mondaymorning, excited to recounthow they have traced my foot-steps to some revered spot orout of the way place. It is hardto beat the sense of empow-erment I get when a studentcomes up to me after havingtaken his/her visiting parentsor significant other to a mu-seum or a church we havestudied, proud and excited tohave impressed others withtheir newly learned knowl-edge. (Welcome to the de-lights of teaching, I amtempted to say.)”

From a letter written by for-mer TA Betsy Purvis in sup-port of Professor Cook’snomination for the award:

“Perhaps the two most deci-sive moments of my graduate career were theday I realized I wanted to be a teacher and thefirst time I saw Jennifer Cook teach. When thetime came for me to begin working as a teach-ing assistant I knew beyond a shadow of adoubt with whom I wanted to work. After threeyears of working under Jennifer’s tutelage I canstill happily say that I find constant inspirationin her example as a teacher and a mentor.In the past years I have worked with Jennifer inboth her survey classes and her upper levelseminar. In each of these different classroomenvironments the principle of student involve-ment has always reigned supreme. Often theirinvolvement is elicited first by her obvious lovefor the subject matter. Her respect for the stu-dents’ opinions and reactions, in turn, inspiresthem to take the material to heart and engagewith it at both a personal and intellectual level.Ultimately, even the most reluctant studentscome away with a greater enthusiasm for learn-ing and a sense of active responsibility for theirintellectual growth. If they learn only one thingin a course with Jennifer Cook, it is that educa-tion is not simple a rote, mechanical exercise,but rather a process of looking, thinking, react-ing, responding, and ultimately engaging withthe world, the ideas, and the people around

them. In short, the results of her approach toteaching are a proud testament to the power ofgiving of oneself in order to open the eyes andthe minds of others.In some ways it is difficult for me to express thedegree to which I owe a debt of gratitude toJennifer Cook. Indeed, if there is a single per-son with whom I can credit my development asa student and a teacher she is far and away theone. As a student she has helped to direct mein my research and in pursuing new ideas, andas a teacher she has always encouraged me tobe a creative thinker in terms of ways to com-municate information and ideas to our stu-dents. Admittedly, the degree of intellectualfreedom she allowed me right from the startwas a bit intimidating at first, but ultimately ithas shown me that the only way to effectivelylearn and teach something is to make it one’sown. Hopefully, that is also one of the lessonsour students learn as well. Education, which atfirst seems to some like a burden of work andresponsibility born of obligation, becomes alove of knowledge and discovery born of re-spect for those who not only demand, but alsogive excellence.In the end, I owe infinite thanks to JenniferCook for teaching me how to be a teacher. If inmy career I manage to do for my students whatshe has done for me and countless others, itwould be the greatest thanks I could give her.”

For more about Jennifer Cook’s life, see herobituary here

Jennifer with husband Mario Ronchetti.

Jennifer's memorial in the Villa Rossa garden.

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BL: How long has your family been living in Florence?EL: Sergio and I got married in 1962 and movedto Florence a couple of years before that.

BL: Please describe your family’s structure.EL: The family is composed of my two childrenfrom whom I have two grandchildren. Namely,my son Fabio and his wife Rossana have a sonnamed Omar. Then, my daughter Silvia and herhusband Gelsomino have a daughter namedSyria. Sergio had a beautiful family, it was verylarge. His father was one of 12 children. Sergiois one of 6 children. A large family, all’antica. Wecame to work here in 1980 because his father –his babbo as we say here in Florence – was the

gardener of the countess. The school was look-ing for a girl, a woman who could work a bit atthe bar, but who could also do a bit of every-thing. There weren’t many students, sixty or so.So we started working here because my fatherin law had been working here for years. He’dbeen here since 1957, in the garden. All theplants here were planted by Sergio and his dad.

BL: Did you meet here?EL: No. We met in the Mugello. We come fromthe town of Borgo San Lorenzo in the Mugello.Do you know where Giotto was born? Thechurch where I was married is Giotto’s church.We were both born there. We were married andmoved to Florence. My son Fabio and I later re-turned to Vicchio in the Mugello, where we havea house. Silvia on the other hand lives near the

stadium. Sometimes we staythe night with her in Florence,for the convenience. Fabio andmy daughter-in-law Rossanacommute. It’s just 45 km, so it’snot far. But at night when it’sdark to drive, sometimes weprefer to stay here in Florence.And my granddaughter’s here.

BL: What is your relationshipwith the Villa Rossa and Syra-cuse University?EL: It used to be quite impor-tant because we were the cus-todians. It was me, Sergio andSilvia. When we retired, at 60,

the general director in the US, who ran the Se-mester in Italy program, asked us to come backand run the café, just the café, because the stu-dents liked us so much. So we came back. Nowwe’re pensioners!We have had so much moral satisfaction. We’reclose to so many staff and faculty members. Be-fore, it was smaller, even more like a family. Myfamily is still here! But it’s still the same, we havegreat relationships with everyone. This is a verylovely position.We’re always here with the stu-dents, this our little corner, where we’ve beenfor 30 years!

BL: Have your roles at the Villa Rossa always beenthe same?

Interview by Benjamin Lee(Syracuse University)

THE JOB OF A LIFETIMEELIA LANDI SHARES 36 YEARS OF MEMORIES WORKING AT THE VILLA ROSSA

The Landi family: Fabio, Sergio, Elia and Silvia.

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EL: In the past it was just us doing everything.The director would send Sergio to check outthe beds where the students were sleeping, tomake sure it was all OK. There was only us!Now there’s Jim and Roberta [in charge ofhousing]. It used to be very different. And if thestudents had a problem, they’d come to me, orto Sergio. Be it problems about love, or theirdiet…Now there are so many people to helpthem with these things. It’s changed a lot. Athome, I have so many lettersfrom students thanking us.One girl, one time, fell in lovewith a boy – it happenedsometimes, right? – and shetold me he wanted to bringher in his car into the coun-tryside. And I told her, don’tever go far away on your ownlike that! And later shethanked me. Because Ameri-can girls, they’re so sweet,but they think any man onthe street are all bravi, butthey’re not! You have to becareful, I would tell them. Atfirst it was Silvia [working] at the bar while wedid everything else.Sergio and I were happy to continue working,even though we were retired. Sergio wasn’t thetype to hang around smoking in a café or on apark bench. So we’ve had a good position here.We’ve always worked a lot, but it was alwaysvery satisfying work. Now things have gotten much more formal; itwas different before. We used to host partiesat our house. There were talent shows, withMichael Calo playing the guitar. Students drankwine with us, especially the girls. We would calltaxis for them. The taxi drivers wouldn’t wantto take them, because they said they’d had toomuch to drink. So Sergio would have to takethem home! But he was happy to do it. It wasso different. You just can’t compare. It was a bigsacrifice, sure, but it brought so much satisfac-tion. There’d be a bouquet of flowers waitingfor us the next day from students to thank us.They’d give me hand cream. Because I workedso much. These are the lovely things I willnever forget.

[Pointing out photos on bar wall] Rab Hatfieldbrought us to Paris for 4 days with the stu-dents, and it was bellissima. He brought us allover. I have so many lovely memories with Rab.

Sometimes there were students with problems,who were really quiet for example, and I hadthe patience to talk to them, and then wewould become close friends. And of course I’vealways helped them learn Italian, explaininghow to ask for things politely, for example,minor things you might say, and certainly withme they could be informal, while with the pro-fessors you need to address them properly,with the formal address.

A lot of the plants in the garden are mine! Forexample, a student gave me the palm tree. Theolive tree – have you seen how beautiful it is?– is from so many years ago.

Architecture used to be upstairs in the Loggia,and you know architecture students are alwaysworking. We would come and wake them up!We’d leave around 9pm and bring them thingsto eat, whatever was left over, cookies, etc.

These architect students gifted me an apronwith all their signatures. It has faded in thewash, but you can still see all the names. Wewere really close. Then Architecture moved to[Via] Buonvicini, then [Piazza] Donatello.One time, when we did a Thanksgiving party…we cooked 12 large turkeys in the oven! Andwe did all the vegetables, the sauces, Sergiogot the demijohn, with the skirt and the candle,for the wine. It was bellissimo, so much fun. Thenext day: what a mess! But we had to clean it!It’s not like there was a cleaner…We did it all!But it was so much fun. We had more opportu-nities to be with the students. We still do now,but it’s different. Someone comes for a quickcoffee, so it’s hard to talk at length. Thingshave changed a lot. I think for the better. It’smore professional. But we had fun back then.Sergio and I would come home pretty late,8:30/9, but we were happy. There was noschedule. The bar was over where the bath-rooms are now. It was very informal. Peoplewould take things and leave coins on thecounter. I must say American students are veryhonest. But one time, we found a girl, a klepto-maniac, we realized wallets were disappearing…We found out that this girl was from a verywealthy family! BL: Do you have advice for students?EL: Always behave politely and seriously, re-spect everyone regardless of their religion, poli-tics or race and good luck for a bright future!Remember: arrogance doesn’t pay in life. Kind-ness pays. Being mad, rude, doesn’t pay. Forexample, you might be irritable, but I’m nice, sothen maybe tomorrow when you return, you’renice. Being mean doesn’t bring any satisfaction.

GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

SUF staff and faculty say arrivederci toElia and Sergio Landi

The history of the Landi Family is inter-twined with that of the Villa. Until their re-tirement in the summer of 2016, Sergio andElia Landi worked for SUF for 36 years,much of which was spent running ‘Elia’s Bar’where staff, faculty and students could al-ways count on a cappuccino being servedwith a warm smile and a come stai. Theirdaughter, son, daughter-in-law and son-in-law have similarly spent decades as staffmembers of Syracuse University in Florence.To honor their years at the Villa Rossa, theSUF community contributed to a book withmemories and photos for Elia and Sergio,some of which we have reproduced here.

“Sergio and Elia: From the moment I arrived tothe Villa Rossa as a junior study-abroad stu-dent in January 1986, you made me feel wel-come and at home, a feeling that continuedwhen I returned as a Master's student andagain as a faculty member. Bar Elia has alwaysbeen the true heart of SU Florence, thanks tothe patience, good humor, "spirito Viola," andlove that you have shown generations of stu-dents, staff members, and visitors. The VillaRossa will never be the same without you!” –Molly Bourne

“Along with dozens of colleagues, and thou-sands of students, I can bear witness to the factthat if anyone ever went into Bar Elia feelingsomewhat down, they came out of there,thanks to the place's namesake, with their spir-its truly lifted.” – Eric Nicholson

“Every Monday and Wednesday during the se-mester for the past twenty-four years, I enteredthe Villa Rossa and went straight to Elia's Barto buy my bottle of water and caffe macchiato.Sometimes, while waiting in line, I listened tothe conversations between Sergio and Elia andthe students. Sergio waited patiently whileTracey or Todd tried in vain to remember theItalian for "mustard." Elia chatted to Lauren andLarry about the weather as she prepared theircappuccini, and, though Lauren and Larry hadonly the vaguest idea what she was saying, theylistened and laughed and nodded, because theyloved her smile and she made them feel athome. When I started networking with SUFalumni, I was impressed how many of them re-membered Elia and Sergio fondly. But that'shardly surprising: the Landis are a warm,charming, caring couple, and we will all missthem.” – Dorothea Barrett

“For any event, whether memorable (the GulfWar, 9/11, birth of children, death of belovedcolleagues) or mundane (who won the partitaor where are you taking the students this week-end), Sergio was the first person I ran to withgreat news, and the first person whom I turnedto to cry on his shoulder. I love Sergio andElia...they are family to me and no one will everreplace them.” – Elaine Ruffolo

“Sergio and Elia were always there to listen. Iconsider them an integral part of my life andmiss them every day. I'm sad that I won't findthem in the bar when I come to visit, and willmiss those heart cappuccinos.” – Camille Crites

Elia and Sergio with former director Mike Calo.

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ike most study abroad students, Elliot Freeman and BriarGoldberg had no idea what to expect when they arrivedin Florence, Italy back in 2002. Fast-forward 14 years

later; the two are happily married and have returned to Florencefor the fifth time since finishing SU’s program. Elliot was an architecture student from Tufts University, whileBriar studied political science at Santa Clara in California. The twomet at the Villa Rosa during their semester abroad, however theydid not start dating until four years later. They both laughed asthey reminisced about how they met. Elliot explained that hewalked around Florence with a small handheld video camera tocapture his experiences and actually has it on tape when he metBriar at mutual friend’s birthday party.Although they remained long-distance friends after the programended, it was not until 2006 when they were both finally singlethat they began dating. Elliot explained how he flew out to Cali-

fornia to visit a friend and decided to meet up with Briar. For eight months,they flew back and forth between Boston and San Francisco until Elliot de-cided to move to California. They wed in July 2010. Elliot and Briar speak fondly of their time studying at SUF. “By the end ofthe semester, everyone knew everybody and it was kind of like a giantfamily,” Elliot said. Briar explained how coming to SUF truly made her feelinvincible: “Once you’ve done something like this and lived with a familyfor four months who doesn’t speak your language and you figure out howto travel all over Europe, you can do anything.” Briar and Elliot love visiting Florence because of the relationships theyhave made in this city. Briar sees her host family every time she comesback and the night she and Elliot got engaged on the Ponte Vecchio, thefour of them had dinner together afterward. They love Florence’s size be-cause it is not so large that public transportation is constantly needed, noris it so small that you stop discovering new places. Because they were stu-dents in Florence and were able to visit all the museums and learn thecity’s history during their time at SUF, they feel they can come back andjust relax, eat Italy’s amazing food, and explore without feeling like tourists.

They both said their experience made them more spontaneous andaccepting of different people. They had this offer as advice for stu-dents returning to the US after studying abroad: “Take the sameopen mind you had here where you’re trying new things and get-ting outside your comfort zone and use it at your home school.” Briar said it was a tough transition when she returned home andthat it can be hard going back to your old routine and old friends.“Recognize that some people have not had this experience and re-alize how lucky you are.”

A MATCH MADE IN FLORENCEA COUPLE REMINISCES ABOUT MEETING AT SUF

by Caroline Schagrin (Syracuse University)

“ Br iar se es her host family every t ime shecomes back and the night she and El l iot got engaged on the Ponte Vecchio , the four ofthem had dinner together afterward. ”

L

Briar and Elliot in 2002 when they met.

Elliot comes to dinner when Briar's parents visit Florence.

Proposal on the Ponte Vecchio in 2009.

With Briar's host family in 2016.

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THE CONTINUUM OFWESTERN PAINTINGCOMING FULL CIRCLE AFTER STUDYING ART IN FLORENCE

hen I left for Florence my junior year atSyracuse I promised myself I would doeverything in my power to learn to

speak Italian. This was the only expectation Imade for myself and I had no idea at the timethat I was planting a seed that would later flowerinto the reality that I am living today: to be apracticing artist. The biggest reason I learned Italian so quicklywas my host ‘grandma,’ Alda, and her husbandOvidio. Night after night she patiently spent timewith me as I made baby steps, and phrase byphrase she and I reveled in my progress. Ovidioseemed focused on fattening me up with his in-cessant command, “Mangia!” which I dutifullyobeyed until finally I learned the word, “Basta!”As my ability to speak Italian grew, I fell deeperand deeper in love with this land and its peopleand culture. I appreciated every little detail fromhow the simplest of purchases was wrapped solovingly to the magic of the domed cathedral inthe central square. With their passionate expla-nations of the paintings and frescoes in churchesand the architecture itself, the SUF teaching as-sistants inspired a new appreciation and awe inme for the lineage of artists that have come be-fore us. For my Michelangelo class with Professor Hat-field, I’d spend hours in the library researching,

unfolding treasure after treasure of my heroMichelangelo’s writing such as his poems aboutPlato and Socrates. I learned about the mythol-ogy of the time in the land where the Renais-sance was born, ancient Greece revived incountless statues and buildings all around thismagical city. As I continued to develop deeperItalian friendships, I didn’t want to leave in June,so I found an au-pair position and stayed therest of the summer. Now I was fully aware thatmy seedling was growing, putting down rootsand budding, and I knew I would come back.Five years later I returned to live, work and find amaster painter to study under. Again Alda andOvidio helped me by allowing me to stay withthem until I found a job and an apartment.Within a month I found a position as a cocktailwaitress at the Lion’s Fountain, a shared room lit-erally down the street from them, and drawingclasses with Mario Pachioli, a Florentine sculptorwho studied with Pietro Annigoni, the famedFlorentine master painter. It was this connection

that would lead to where I am today.After eleven months of life as an expat I returnedto NYC for a vacation back in my homeland. Idecided I would take a class at the Art Student’sLeague to stay fresh in my drawing skills whilefiguring out my next move for when I would re-turn to Florence (I had an open return ticket). Iread the bios of the teachers trying to decidewhich class to take, and I happened upon NelsonShanks. I read that he too had studied with An-nigoni in Florence! Taking this as a sign, I regis-tered for his class. After telling him my story,Nelson invited me to show him my portfolio athis home in Bucks County, PA. His assistant es-corted me on the train to his mansion and wespread out my drawings and prints on his flooramidst the Old Master Baroque Italian andFrench paintings, sculptures and furniture thathe avidly collected. He offered me a full scholar-ship right there to come to his new school, Stu-dio Incamminati in Philadelphia. I couldn’t believemy luck! I had found my master painter to studyunder just as Michelangelo had done 500 yearsbefore me. At Studio Incamminati (named after aschool in Bologna founded not long afterMichelangelo’s death) my dream of learning topaint as the Old Masters had became a reality.Thank you to Florence and Syracuse Universityfor nurturing and cultivating the seed that grewinto a flowering of appreciation of the contin-uum of painting in the western world!

“ I appreciated every l i t t le detai lf rom how the s implest of pur-chases was wrapped so lov-ingly to the magic of the domedcathedral in the central square. ”

by Barbara Zanelli (bzarte.com)

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Kirstin Mary WilldersThis event was a welcome opportunity to partici-pate in the growing wave of scholarship regard-ing women artists. The Editing Marathon aspiredto be beneficial to the international art world on-line as well as to our humble assemblage of like-minded women in the Villa Rossa. Throughoutthe evening, we each shared our research on our“adopted” woman artists with the others present,creating a microcosm of information on femaleartists newly rescued from a male-dominated arthistory that had (until recently) forgotten them.Amongst the other “adopters” participating wereprofessional women artists, art historians, histo-rians, museum curators and enthusiastic ama-teurs. The youngest in our company was aten-year-old girl. She told her mother that shewanted to experience something new afterschool so her mother decided to bring her to theWiki Marathon. The event provided an opportu-nity for new contacts and connections in ourown lives, in addition to those we were makingthrough academic pursuits. The community thatis working so hard to give women artists theirequal share of history through Wikipedia is vi-brant and diverse, and we were fortunate tohave the chance to interact with its membersand contribute in our own small way. It was veryexciting to learn about and share the stories oflittle-known female artists!

Michelle Ayer I decided to write about three artists who were

also nuns: Luisa Capomazza, Prudenza Cambiand Maria Angelica Razzi. Suor Luisa Capomazzawas a 17th-century Italian painter of religioussubjects and landscapes in Naples. Though hercareer and work has been documented byBernardo de Dominici, there is a lack of identi-fied paintings attributed to her. She is describedby De Dominici as having very much enjoyed thepractice of painting. Suor Prudenza Cambi wasalso a nun and artist who resided at the conventof Santa Caterina da Siena in Florence. She hasbeen identified as one of Plautilla Nelli’s artisticdisciples. Although there is no work attributed toher, Cambi may have assisted Nelli with herpaintings in the 1560s. Suor Maria AngelicaRazzi was a nun at the same Florentine conventas Nelli in the 16th century. While there are nosurviving convent records that document her ac-tivity as a sculptor, her bother Serafino Razzi tes-tified to the fact that she created terracottafigures of the Madonna, saints and angels.

Julie JamesI chose to research Isabella Mazzoni and LucreziaQuistelli as little-known Early Modern artists. Is-abella Mazzoni (active late 15th c.), the secondwife of noted sculptor Guido Mazzoni, learnedsculpting from her husband and participated inhis workshop. While she and her husband wereunable to have children, a daughter from Guido’sfirst marriage was also given instruction in theart of sculpting, and together the two womenassisted in Guido’s bottega in Naples and possiblyin France. Lucrezia Quistelli della Mirandola

(1541-1594) was the daughter of a Medici courtofficial, Messer Alfonso Quistelli della Mirandola.She became a painter under the instruction ofAlessandro Allori, himself a pupil of Bronzino.Quistelli married Medici specialambassador Count Clemente Pietra, and contin-ued practicing her art even after her marriage.When I selected these two women, I had noidea that Dr. Sheila Barker of the MediciArchive Project had already worked on Quistelliand written an essay on her life and work thatwill appear in a forthcoming publication. It waswonderful to have this opportunity to meet Dr.Barker and learn not just more about Quistelli,but also about Dr. Barker’s own research.

Stefani Francisco I chose to research Mariangela Criscuolo (c.1548- after 1598 Naples), an Italian portraitistand history painter from Naples as well as thefounder of one of the first female-organizedschools of art to accept both males and femalesin the course of the sixteenth century. Some ofher known artworks include the Annunciation forthe parish of Bucciano in Benevento, an altar-piece of the Virgin and Child with Saints, and theDeposition from the Cross found in the church ofSan Servino in Naples. Due to the lack of schol-arship on Criscuolo, the most useful source wasthe biography written by Bernardo de Dominici(1683-1759 Naples) in his book Vite de’ pittori,scultori ed architetti napoletani, published in threevolumes between 1742 and 1745. Althoughmuch of the biography of Mariangela describesher as a devout Christian wife and mother, heraccomplishments as an artist and founder of anart school are acknowledged. The limitedamount of scholarship showed me how impor-tant this initiative was in terms of publishing in-formation about lesser-known female artists.This is why we were all truly honored and grate-ful to have been a part of it.

Emma McNay I was particularly pleased to meet Syracuse Mas-ter of Arts alumna Elizabeth Wicks, who cur-rently works as an art conservator here inFlorence. For the Wiki marathon, I chose to writeabout two women artists from the seventeenthcentury: Diana (Annella) de Rosa and MissRozee. Diana de Rosa (1602-1643) was aNeapolitan painter celebrated for her exceptionalartistic talent. She studied in the workshop ofCavalier Massimo Stanzione and produced publicimages such as the Birth of the Virgin and theDeath of the Virgin for the church of the Pietà de’Turchini, now destroyed. Diana’s life and dra-matic death at the hands of her jealous husbandis recorded in Bernardo de Dominici’s Vite dei Pit-tori, Scultori, ed Architetti Napolitani. Miss Rozee(1632-1682) was another type of artist, a Dutchembroiderer, whose work was said to be so real-istic that it was often mistaken for oil paintingand even provoked suspicions that she was asorceress. The Wiki editing marathon was a greatexperience and it was wonderful to be part of aninitiative that works to bring attention to under-studied women artists. All of us are now sensi-tized to the oblivion to which so many womenartists have been subjected, and we will keep oureyes peeled for other “forgotten” female artistsin all mediums. We look forward to participatingin another Wiki Woman Artists Marathon in thefuture!

On March 2, 2016 SUF hosted the third annual Women Artists andWikipedia Editing Marathon along with the Advancing Women ArtistsFoundation of Florence. Five SUF art history graduate students tell usabout their experience as participants.

LOST AND FOUNDRESTORING WOMEN ARTISTS TO THE PUBLIC MEMORY

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n February 2, 2016 our class withProfessor Sara Matthews-Griecoon Visual Culture Past and Present

was invited to a special screening at SUF ofthe documentary When the World An-swered about the 1966 flood in Florence. Anatural disaster is an incredibly devastatingevent for any city, even more so for onewith such a rich cultural and artistic history.The 1966 flood of the Arno River gave wayto incredible stories, not only of tragedy and dis-aster, but also of heroism and the coming to-gether of the city with the larger art world.

Prior to watching the documentary, we didn’tknow that such a tragedy had happened here inFlorence and watching the film was a revelation.We were captivated by the use of black andwhite photographs and films from the period andmoved by the overarching themes of selfless giv-ing and a community united by hardship. It wasamazing how such adversity encouraged a physi-cally broken city to rise above its struggles andcome together to restore Florence as a worldcenter for the arts. Seeing how broken the cityonce was has instilled a newfound appreciationfor the beautiful art that decorates Florence, andthe images shown in the film will be foreveretched in our minds.

We also appreciated how the film focused on therole that volunteers – the angeli del fango (mudangels) – played in cleaning up the submergedcity. Loss and destruction slowly gave way torestoration and the expansion of the art world inFlorence, specifically new artwork created bywomen who came to be known as the FloodLadies. We found it interesting and inspiring thatFlorence reached out to the world to ask for do-nations of works of art, and it was refreshing tosee the role women artists played.

It's sad to learn that only recently were the 100+works of art by these women pulled out of stor-age to finally be put on display in the new Museodel Novecento in Florence. The AdvancingWomen Artists Foundation has made an impor-tant contribution by helping to produce this doc-umentary, bringing this moment in the history ofart to the public’s attention. It was touching tohear the stories of the Flood Ladies and see theirreactions to learning that the artwork they haddonated to Florence years before would finally beshared with the public.

We found the stories and photos of individualswho experienced the flood especially moving,and we could not help but wonder how the situa-tion would have been different had the works instorage been created by men. Would they havebeen recovered more quickly or considered ofgreater value?

Unfortunately, little time is allotted to exploringthe art subsequently produced by the womenartists as few scenes actually show the interior oftheir studios. Instead, emphasis is placed on theirroles as wives and mothers, for example by show-ing a sculptress sitting at the dinner table withher family. A domestic scene like this takes uptime that might have been spent exploring thecareers of these women since 1966, and impliesthey are mothers before artists. Nevertheless, theprimary motive of When the World Answeredwas to shed light on this forgotten story and itsuceeded.

A FLOOD OFMEMORIES

FEMALE ARTISTS AND THE 1966 DELUGE OF FLORENCE

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by Erin Moore (SU), Hannah Augst (Wellesley College), Marissa Endow (BabsonCollege), Andrea Mosk (SU), and Amy Carton (Washington University)

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Mud angels take a break on the mud-covered floor of the National Library (photo by SUF professor Swietlan Kraczyna).

TAKING THEPLUNGELESSONS LEARNED WHILE STUDYING ABROAD

rofessor Alick McLean’s signature semi-nar, The Greek Odyssey, is a more in-tense version of many SUF field trips:

fun, enlightening, exhausting. It’s a ten-day whirl-wind of archaeological explorations, museum vis-its, student presentations, and intensediscussions, with some occasional snacks ofcheese and honey to keep us energized. Thirtystudents decided to start their semester early bycoming to Greece, trekking through the islands,the Peloponnesus, and, finally, Athens. Many ofthem had never left America before, but theyquickly learned how to navigate Europeanstreets and restaurants and how to interact witha completely foreign culture. They had to learnquickly: there wasn’t a lot of time for secondchances on the Greek Odyssey. On the fourth day, we finally got a free after-noon at the beach. I joined a few of the students

after lunch and soon noticed a group of Greekpeople jumping off a low cliff into the sea. Then Irealized that those weren’t Greeks, those weremy students. A few other students and I swamout to investigate. We had to climb out of thewater onto a rock face and then make our wayup the cliff to meet our group, and when we gotthere, we were all too afraid to jump into thewater below. What had only seemed like a fewyards’ drop now looked like an impossibly longfall. The students didn’t tease each other like Ithought they would, though. They were only en-couraging: I know you’re nervous, I was nervoustoo. Let’s jump together.

That afternoon seemed like the ice breaker forthe rest of the trip. The students continued toencourage each other to try new experiences,and they challenged each other in class discus-sions. For me as a TA, this group of studentsmade everything click. Even though they wereclearly exhausted, they were enthusiastic abouteach new city, new food, new site. Once we ar-rived in Florence, they embraced everything SUFhad to offer – field trips, cooking classes, volun-teering opportunities - usually still as a group.They learned that trying something new can beterrifying, exhausting, or overwhelming, but it’susually worth the risk, especially when you try ittogether. I learned with them. It’s a painfully obvious metaphor to make: jump-ing off the cliff was like taking the plunge intostudying abroad - being afraid but diving in any-way (in this case, feet first). Experience some-thing new. Learn. Change. Just because it’sobvious, though, doesn’t make it less true. Takethe plunge. Let’s jump together.

“ Jumping off the cl i f f was l iketaking the plunge into studyingabroad - being afraid but d iv ingin anyway. ”

by Hannah Fritschner (Syracuse University)

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hen I heard about the opportunity toplay calcetto—five-a-side soccer—withrefugees, local Italians, and other stu-

dents while studying abroad, I immediatelysigned up. Little did I know, this was the firstyear the program was introducing this type of in-tegration.

Jim Kauffman, the Assistant Director for StudentLife at SUF, started the calcetto tournament 12years ago in conjunction with Fabio Crescioli, theowner of the Lion’s Fountain Pub. This year wasthe tournament’s 23rd edition, however the inte-gration of West African refugees has allowed theprogram to evolve tremendously.

Kauffman came up with this idea during a con-versation with SUF volunteer program coordina-tor Vittoria Tettamanti, who works closely withVilla Cammerata, a youth hostel that housesrefugees mainly from West African countries.Kauffman said it can be difficult for countriesdealing with the migration crisis to know how toincorporate refugees into their communities.“I’ve always thought sport is a common denomi-nator,” Kauffman said. “So I thought why don’twe try involving these refugees inour tournament?”

Before every tournament begins, all of thecoaches and organizers from various studyabroad programs in Florence meet to discuss thescheduling and technicalities. During this semes-ter’s meeting Kauffman brought up his idea,which originally started out as having therefugees field their own team, but Crescioli de-cided it would be best to integrate them into allof the teams. The idea was widely supported,

however some teams were reluctant at first.

“As the tournament progressed, the teams thathad originally said ‘no, we don’t want any of therefugees,’ came to me and said ‘we’ll take ‘em!’”Kauffman said. For me, playing with these youngmen was an incredible experience. I saw first-hand how this sport truly can break barriers be-tween cultures and diminish the notion of “theother.” Our team played as one and there was noracial discrimination or any sense of discomfort.

Johnson Edosa, our teammate from Nigeria, saidhis experience in the tournament has taught hima lot about different cultures and appreciates theopportunity he had. “I love this experience be-cause I get to meet people from all over theworld,” Edosa said. For the first time since thetournament began, our Syracuse team made it tothe finals and our other Nigerian teammate,Happy, won the MVP award.

Kauffman said the greatest thing about this year’stournament was how well the refugees were ac-cepted and how exciting it was that one of themwas named best player. Kauffman hopes to con-tinue this next semester and has ideas for newinitiatives to keep it going. “It’s another good rea-son to study abroad. Part of this whole experi-ence is finding out and learning about ‘the other’.”

“ For the f i rst t ime since the tournament began, our Syracuseteam made i t to the f inals andour other Nigerian teammate,Happy, won the MVP award. ”

by Caroline Schagrin (Syracuse University)

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THE INTEGRATINGPOWEROF SOCCERWEST AFRICAN REFUGEES HELP SUF GET INTO THE FINALS

LA VITTORIA DELL’UMANITA’Ross Blackwell (Intermediate Drawing)

This semester in Florence I had a chance toplay in a calcetto (soccer) league which inte-grated two refugees into each of the teams,allowing Italians, African immigrants, andAmericans to meet and play alongside oneanother. After a season full of celebrating vic-tories and offering encouragement in defeat,I discovered that soccer is a sport that tran-scends cultural, political and language barri-ers. In the midst of the largest migrant crisisin European and Italian history, I found insoccer the unique ability to bring people to-gether, fostering joy and friendship, conquer-ing hate, and resulting in integration andhumanity.In this work I aimed to convey the feeling ofelation in teamwork and success, as well asdepict a shared love for the game of soccer.The allusion to Michelangelo’s Creation ofAdam also echoes the inception of humanity.In Florence, a mutual passion for calcio hasbreathed life into the refugee population, em-powering, inspiring and integrating a groupof people that have long faced adversity andhardship.

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Photo by Sara Schleicher

n 2016, Italy finally passed a law le-galizing same-sex marriage as civilpartnerships. Almost a decade be-

fore that, in 2007, Italy had already comeclose to giving rights to unmarried couples,including same-sex couples. This was pro-posed as the “DICO” law (DIritti e doveri dellepersone stabilmente Conviventi) establishing“Rights and Duties for Stably Cohabiting Peo-ple.” The DICO proposal sparked a wave ofhomophobia across Italy and prompted dis-cussions on the topics of society, religion, andthe true meaning of “family.” This is where ourlecturers came in. Gustav Hofer and LucaRagazzi are a couple living in Rome, Italy.Their lives changed after the proposal for theDICO law in February 2007, when the Italythey lived in no longer felt warm and friendly,but hostile and unaccepting of their relation-ship. The two filmmakers decided to followthe public discussion about the DICOthrough amateur video footage that was notoriginally planned as a film, but after 300hours of filming, it all came together as thefirst of three documentaries on life in Italy. In

their film they interview people in the Vaticanand on the streets of Rome, and follow con-servative rallies protesting the DICO. Thisfirst, multi-award-winning documentary - Sud-denly Last Winter (2008) - provides a glimpseinto a less visible side of Italian culture andItalian opinion about gay rights. As ThomasHammarberg wrote in his book, Human rightsin Europe: No Grounds for Complacency (2013):“The real problem is not an individual’s sexualorientation, but the reaction of others. What-ever the psychological roots, many people stillreact aggressively against homosexuals andtransgender persons.”Syracuse University had the privilege of hav-ing Gustav and Luca visit our location in Flo-rence for the 2016 annual LGBT lecture,speaking about the making of their film andthe situation of gay marriage in Italy today. Itis an entertaining, relatable, and ironic filmthat promotes an awareness about the differ-ent arguments for and against gay rights innot just Italy, but most of the world stilltoday. Through its humorous approach thefilm manages to promote gay rights without

the often acrimonious side of activism. The two filmmakers generously agreed tohave a brief, casual discussion with studentsin the Villa Rossa garden before the lecture.It’s not often you get the chance to meet theactors/directors of a film, and Gustav andLuca made the lecture very engaging. Theywere friendly and approachable, often jokingwith the audience. As for the DICO, unfortu-nately, it did not pass. However, the film hasan ironic ending. Gustav and Luca exchangewills and play at getting married among acrowd of friends and family outside a super-market called “Dico: Discount Italiano.” Todayyou can find the couple invited to screeningsthroughout the world or working on theirfourth and latest film. Suddenly Last Winteris the first of a trilogy, with the second filmcentered on a trip through the peninsula todecide whether to remain in Rome or leavefor Berlin (Italy, Love It or Leave It, 2011).The third film examines the disappearance ofthe liberal left wing in Italy (What is Left?,2014) and all have been released with Eng-lish subtitles.

” I t ’s not often y ou get the chancet o me et the act ors/di rect ors of af i lm, and Gustav and Luca madet he lecture very engagi ng. ”

by Queena Chen (SU), Mai Kobayashi (SU) and Abby Schulz (Babson College)

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GAY RIGHTS ANDFILM AS ACTIVISMSUDDENLY LAST WINTER BY GUSTAV HOFER AND LUCA RAGAZZI

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ictoria Bartels delivered the 25th An-nual Women’s and Gender Studies lec-ture at Syracuse University's Italian

campus in Florence called Dazzling and Danger-ous: The Dual Nature of Arms and Armor in Ren-aissance Florence. Currently the recipient of aMedici Archive Project research grant, Bartels isa doctoral candidate at Cambridge University,U.K, and a graduate of the SUF Master’s Pro-gram in the History of Art. Introducing thespeaker were her former professors, SaraMatthews-Grieco and Molly Bourne. The VillaRossa's aula magna was overflowing with in-trigued students and members of the localscholarly community.While her dissertation at Cambridge focuses on

”Masculinity, Arms and Armor, and the Cultureof Warfare in Sixteenth-Century Italy and Ger-many," Bartels’ lecture examined the natureof arms and armor in Renaissance Italy ashaving a practical use (for self-defense)and a more cultural function (as fashion-able accessories). In fact, as Bartels ex-plained, by the 16th century, arms andarmor started becoming elaborateworks of art, decorated with fine materi-als (silver and even gold), and linked tocontemporary men’s fashion, althoughwars and violent times could still requiretheir use in battle.Regardless of their occupation or even theirage, candidates for 16th-century portraitsoften opted to be painted wearing featheredand polished metal armor and an elegant swordin order to convey their success and power, re-gardless of whether they needed or even ownedsuch equipment. It also seems that medievalideas about chivalry were revived during theRenaissance, thus resulting in a romantic visionof the trappings of warfare. Indeed, ornately

hilted swords, plumed helmets, embossedbreastplates, jeweled daggers, fancy firearmsand (presumably lighter) chainmail seemed to beall the fashion. Yet life during this period couldalso be uncertain, men had a strong sense ofhonor and fights could break out for a wholehost of reasons, ranging from a heated exchangeof words to questions of family reputation. In her discussion about armor and male fashion,Victoria Bartels used records from the statearchives of Florence as well as literary sources,trial records, paintings and objects. Hattie Duke,a student at SUF enrolled in a gender studiesclass, said she felt the lecture gave a really goodillustration of some of the issues explained inher class.

by Molly Jess Van Deursen(St. Michaels College)

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FIGHTING FASHIONABLYA LECTURE ON ARMS AND ARMOR IN THE RENAISSANCE BY SUF ALUMNA VICTORIA BARTELS

“ By the 16th century, arms andarmor started becoming elabo-rate works of art , decoratedwith f ine mater ials and l inked tocontemporary men’s fashion. ”

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inals week at Syracuse University Flo-rence—a time when the reality of thesemester kicks in. With students ac-

cepting sadly that their time abroad was comingto an end and the stress of final papers, proj-ects and exams, they were primed for a nicepick me up with a few good, shared laughs. Andthat’s exactly what they got with SUF’s produc-tion of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors.

Students in Professor Eric Nicholson’s Comedyin Italy class plus those looking to add acting totheir extracurricular activities put on a specialproduction of the Comedy of Errors with amodern, SUF-related twist on the original ver-sion. The student thespians spent weekspreparing for the production, spending hoursafter classes at rehearsal, memorizing their linescomposed in iambic pentameter, and studdingComedia dell’arte—a type of theater productionthat involves fiscal comedy and wearing masksto differentiate between and identify charac-ters. On opening night, with a full house of stu-

dents, teachers and staff laughing until it hurt, itwas evident that their hard work had paid off.

George Brown, a junior studying at SUF this se-mester, was a member of the cast with a leadrole as one of the twin brothers. Interested inpursuing a career as an actor George had takenmany acting classes, but before coming to Flo-rence had not had the chance to work with Co-media dell’arte. SUF provides endlessopportunities for students to learn about and

explore new areas of interest, and the produc-tion of the Comedy of Errors was the perfectopportunity for George and other students likehim to dip their feet into something new andget out of their comfort zone.

Along with the experience to develop his skillsas an actor, one of George’s favorite parts ofthe production was collaborating with otherstudents in the program and the friendshipsgained along the way. George recognized thefact that through individual effort and team-work, they were able to produce something to-gether that would have been impossible to doon their own – and both actors and audiencemembers reaped the benefits.

As professor and play director Eric Nicholsonsaid beautifully, “Comedy takes away cares andlightens life”. I think all who attended the suc-cessful show would agree that it was the per-fect way to wrap up an unforgettable semester.

“ The product ion of the Comedyof Errors was the perfect oppor-tuni ty for students to dip theirfe et into something new and getout of their comfort zone. ”

by Sara Schleicher (Syracuse University)

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A TEAM EFFORTPUTTING ON A PRODUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDY OF ERRORS

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pazio Conversazione is a fun andunique opportunity for students to im-prove their skills in the Italian language

and gain greater insight into their hostculture. Every week, Italian and American stu-dents gather at the Villa Rossa to converse inEnglish and Italian, joke around, and learn abouteach other. This type of genuine cultural ex-change is what makes the study abroad experi-ence so personally rewarding andlife-changing for our students. Throughout thesemester we host fun and informative events—organized by interns from the Università diFirenze together with the Italian DepartmentFaculty—such as our wine tasting night, whichtaught students how to distinguish a wine byits color, origin, taste, and quality rating. Evenbeyond cultural exchange, Spazio Conver-sazione provides an outlet for friendships toblossom. In fact, many participants swap num-bers and meet up outside of the Spazio pro-gram to deepen their relationships. Here’swhat the interns and former Syracuse Stu-dents have to say:

“One of my favorite programsthat Spazio Conversazione sponsoredwas called ‘Firenze per bene.’ Three Syracusestudents, who interned with UNESCO this se-mester, created an original video that in-formed students about how to behaverespectfully in a city with so much history. Thestudents interviewed their peers about theirexperiences, asking questions about how tobe considerate and respectful members of theFlorentine community during their time here.”– Fabiana Bolignano, Italian Department In-tern, Spring 2016

“Spazio Conversazione has been one ofthe most beneficial aspects of my studyabroad experience. Not only was I able toimprove my Italian, but also I made friend-ships with both American and Italian stu-dents that I would not have otherwisebeen able to make. I learned about and en-gaged with a new culture directly, and itwas fun to meet college-aged Italian peo-ple. Overall, I will miss how Spazio Conver-sazione improved my ability to speak Italianand allowed me to connect with peoplefrom the Italian culture that surrounds us.”– Jackson Springer, Spring 2016

by Loredana Tarini(Italian Language Coordinator)

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MAKING SPACE FORCONVERSATIONLANGUAGE EXCHANGE AT SUF

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Italian students show SUF students how to play a game from Livorno.

A GLOBAL LEGENDA VISIT TO THE PIAGGIO MUSEUM

n 2016, the world renowned and leg-endary Vespa moped celebrated its70th anniversary, having been launched

by the Piaggio Factory in Pontedera, a town nearPisa, in 1946. On October 21, 2016 SUF stu-dents enrolled in the University of Florencecourse PSC 380.3 Politics of Economic Global-ization, taught by Professor Luciano Segreto, hadthe opportunity to visit the Piaggio Museum andlearn about the history and the legacy of the cel-ebrated scooter, and of the Italian factory thatproduced it, as part of their academic program.The museum’s main attraction was the uniqueVespa collection that brings visitors to Pontederafrom around the world. Students were able toadmire the prototype of this timeless vehicle de-signed by Corradino d’Ascanio in the 1940s andits successful developments over the decades.Guided by Professor Segreto, they also learnedabout the relationship between the Vespa andvarious forms of art, especially contemporary artand cinema, which have played a vital role inbuilding the brand’s legend. They were also ableto watch some of the most memorable moviescenes in which the Vespa had a starring rolesuch as those in Roman Holiday (1953) andFellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960).

I

by Antonella Francini(Direct Placement Coordinator)

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didn’t know what to expect whenI began my journey to Florence,but I knew that I needed to make

it count. Having studied the Italian languagefor many years prior, I decided to enroll inSUF’s Intensive Language Program, in orderto improve my skills and immerse myself asmuch as possible in the Italian culture.During my four-month stay in Florence, Iwas privileged to have the opportunity tostudy at the Università di Firenze’s Centrodi Cultura per Stranieri. Five days a week,from 9 am until 12 pm, I crossed PiazzaSavonarola and entered the world of inten-sive language, encountering students fromall over the world. Though we all came fromwildly diverse backgrounds, speaking a myr-iad of languages, Italian became our mainmode of communication. Classes weretaught completely in Italian, which wasoverwhelming at first, but something I cameto miss dearly in my Syracuse classes oncethe course was over. I am perhaps most grateful to the Centroadvanced language course for pulling mefurther away from the infamous “studyabroad bubble.” It is easy for us Americanstudents to fall into the trap of staying inour own cultural comfort zone, but beingface to face with the diverse reality thattruly does exist within the fiorentine streetswas an eye-opening experience. Studentsattend the Centro for a multitude of rea-sons, from any form of study abroad tohoping to gain a language advantage whilesearching for a job in Italy. However, we allhave one common objective: to profoundlyimprove our knowledge of Italian. And thatis enough to form a warm, welcoming com-munity among us.Overall, my experience at the Centro wasby far my favorite part of my time studyingabroad. It is an opportunity that I wouldrecommend to anyone searching for a chal-lenging and rewarding stay in Florence.

“ I am perhaps most grateful tothe Centro advanced lan-guage course for pul l ing mefurther away from the infa-mous ‘study abroad bubble. ’ ”

by Sara Krevoy (USC)

CENTERING LANGUAGEMY EXPERIENCE AT THE CENTRO DI CULTURA PER STRANIERI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE

I

More about the Centroby Kaylah Grant andKatie Babbione in twovideos on SUF YouTube

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Katie Babione (University of Vermont) & Claire Svedberg (George Washington University)

Kaylah Grant (Syracuse University) Author Sara Krevoy (USC)

BLAST FROM THE PASTA FORMER STUDENT THANKS AN INFLUENTIAL TEACHER

Dear Professor Kliemann,I hope this email finds you well!  I was a student of yours in the Spring of 1990.I still remember every film from the course, from “Ossessione” to “Down byLaw”.  The latter was my introduction to Roberto Benigni, whom I ran into in thestreets of Florence that summer and introduced myself in Italian as one of hisfew (at that time) American fans. He said, “Very nice!” (one of the few Englishexpressions he knew back then), we took a photo together, and said our farewells.A perfect end to my semester in Florence.When I graduated from college a year later, the Italian company Penta Pictures (ajoint venture between Vittorio Cecchi Gori and Silvio Berlusconi) had recentlyopened an American office. I interviewed, they hired me, and this began a 13-yearcareer in Italian cinema, where I had the pleasure and honor of working withsuch filmmakers as Gabriele Salvatores, Massimo Troisi, Giuseppe Tornatore, FrancoZeffirelli, and of course, Roberto Benigni. I concluded my Italian film career in2004 as head of the US Office of Medusa Film, and I am now an executive atThe Walt Disney Company covering various projects.I visited the Villa Rossa this summer for the first time since 1990, and I waspleased to hear that you are still teaching there. While I have no doubt thatyou have inspired a love of Italian cinema and other film genres in many of yourstudents, it occurred to me that I am likely one of your only American students

who went on to have a lengthy career in the Italian film industry (another beingJosh Berman, a student of yours in the spring of 1995, whom I hired at Medusain 1997, and who is now a film and TV executive at Cattleya in Rome).I’ll take the opportunity to thank you for instilling a love of Italian cinema in meand for helping inspire my career. I wish you the very best.Cari saluti,Marc Zachary

You never know where your semester abroad might lead you, what kinds of doors it may open or new paths it mayforge in your life. It can lead some to pick up and move to Italy, like so many members of the SUF staff and faculty.It can also represent the first step down an unexpected career path, as in the case of this letter writer.

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he volume Encountering the Renaissance: Celebrating Gary M. Radke and 50 Years of the SyracuseUniversity Graduate Program in Renaissance Art, co-edited by program alumni Molly Bourne andVictor Coonin, was presented to Gary Radke, SU professor emeritus and program director for

35 years until his retirement in 2015, on March 31, 2016 in Boston at the annual meeting of the Ren-aissance Society of America. The volume, published with support from SUF, SUA and the SU College ofArts and Sciences, contains over 30 original scholarly essays written by Professor Radke's former stu-dents, friends and colleagues. It was presented to him during the last of three sessions in his honor or-ganized by his successor, Prof Sally Cornelison, and attended by many of the volume's contributors.

T

CELEBRATING GARY M. RADKEAND THE SU GRADUATE PROGRAM IN RENAISSANCE ART

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n September 2016, nine SUFstudents were invited to be-come members of a committee

coordinated by Professor AntonellaFrancini with the assistance of StudentLife Advisor Melanie Honour. The pri-mary objective of this group, the first ofits kind at Syracuse Florence, was to re-design the format of the OutstandingStudent Award. Since 1999, SUF hassought to formally recognize studentswho have aspired to the highest levels

of integration and engagement into the Italian culture and the Florentine commu-nity and demonstrated academic excellence in their classes. The committee helpeddefine what cultural and academic excellence means in a study abroad programtoday and launched new guidelines for assessing and awarding three students atthe end of each semester. The members represented various programs or groups ofdisciplines offered at SUF, and became spokespeople for their classmates. Morespecifically, they redesigned the criteria for award eligibility, the selection of finalistsand winners and what the prize should be. They also took the awards ceremony it-self into their hands and ran the show so that the winners were announced andawarded by their friends and classmates

ICOMMITTED TO THE CAUSESYRACUSE FLORENCE FORMS ITS FIRST STUDENT COMMITTEE

Gary Radke (holding book) surrounded by the book's contributors.

S&FWATCH

STAFF & FACULTY WATCH

SARA MATTHEWS-GRIECO

In March-April 2016 Sara Matthews-Grieco presented a paper at the Re-naissance Society of America Annual meeting in Boston entitled "Engrav-ing Anteros: The Printed Picture as an Agent of Change inCounter-Reformation Italy" and scheduled as part of the three sessionsorganized by Sally J. Cornelison, "Encountering the Renaissance, HonoringGary Radke." As the Associate Organization Representative for the Societyfor the Study of Early Modern Women, Matthews-Grieco also recruitedfive sessions for the same conference that were awarded SSEMW spon-sorship to promote the study of women, gender and sexuality betweenthe 15th and 18th centuries in all disciplines.

MOLLY BOURNE

Molly Bourne presented a paper “Camilla Faà e le strategie di una damaalla corte di Ferdinando Gonzaga” at the international conference DonneGonzaga a Corte held 21-24 September 2016 at the AccademiaNazionale Virgiliana in Mantua, that will be published in the forthcomingconference proceedings. In May 2016 Molly Bourne took the baton fromSara Matthews-Grieco as RSA Associate Organization Representativefor the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women, and is responsiblefor recruiting sessions for the RSA annual meetings that receive SSEMWsponsorship, promoting the interdisciplinary study of women, genderand sexuality from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

ANTONELLA FRANCINI

An article by Antonella Francini, “Claudia Rankine’s American Lyrics”, waspublished in the RSA Journal (Rivista Studi Americani), and addressesAfrican American poet Rankine’s recent work in which she gives voice topolitical and social issues using video, among other mediums. Two jour-nalistic articles by Francini also appeared in the weekly newspaper Pag-ina99, one on the literary Village in NYC and the other on FinTecheconomist Daniel Nadler who recently made his debut as a poet.

LUCA SALVATORI

In 2016, Luca Salvatori published two pa-pers: "Two shape parametrizations forstructural optimization of triangular shells”in Computers and Structures (with MarinoE., Orlando M. and Borri C.); and “Displace-ment capacity of masonry piers: parametricnumerical analyses versus internationalbuilding codes,” in Bulletin of Earthquake En-gineering (with Orlando M., Spinelli P. andDe Stefano M.).

FRANCESCA PAROTTI

In October 2016, Francesca Parotti co-orga-nized and presented at a day-long confer-ence dedicated to bamboo and hosted atthe Masone Labyrinth in Fontanellato,Parma, which is the largest labyrinth in worldand is made entirely of bamboo.

MICHELLE TARNOPOLSKY

In 2016, Luxos travel magazine publishedtwo city guides and two articles by Michelle:“Mothers of Invention” on Florentinewomen artisans and “Riding the New Wave”on contemporary art in Florence. In Febru-ary 2017, her article “The Dark Heart ofMotherhood in Italy: Maternal Ambivalencein Contemporary Italian Film” was publishedby the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative.

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SANDRO CONTICELLI

In June 2016 the Accademia Nazionale deiLincei in Rome awarded Sandro Conticellithe international Luigi Tartufari prize for hisresearch in the field of geosciences.

ERIC NICHOLSON

Between early April and late June of 2016, Eric Nicholson gave threedifferent types of presentations at three international theatre and earlymodern studies conferences, in Boston, Verona, and Paris, including alive, fully rehearsed performance of his translation of a dramatic mono-logue by Isabella and Francesco Andreini, “The Madness of Valerio.”

JONATHAN NELSON

In 2016, when Jonathan Nelson returned to teach art history at SUF (aftersix years as Assistant Director at Villa I Tatti), he gave a number of scholarlytalks: in Tokyo and London he spoke about Botticelli and the Japanese scholarYukio Yashiro; in Ravenna, on a new drawing he attributes to Botticelli; in Flo-rence, on Filippino Lippi in the 19th century; and in Prato, on the represen-tation of breast cancer in Michelangelo’s Night.

MATTEO DUNI

Matteo Duni presented papers at two work-shops hosted by the Università di Firenze andthe Università La Sapienza of Rome, respec-tively: “I nomi del sabba: cultura d’élite o cul-tura popolare?” as part of Religione e culturapopolare nell’età moderna. Un dibattittoaperto on October 10, 2016; and “L’inven-zione della stregoneria: teologi, predicatori, in-quisitori (sec. XIV-XVI)” as part of Dalla magiaalla stregoneria on January 20, 2017. He alsopresented on “I manuali per la caccia allestreghe” at the international conference Con-templata aliis tradere: lo specchio letterario deiFrati Predicatori in Rome on January 25, 2017.Duni published an article on “Doubting Witch-craft: Theologians, Jurists, Inquisitors duringthe Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries” in thevolume Doubting Christianity: the Church andDoubt, edited by Frances Andrews (CambridgeUP). Another paper on “Law, Nature, Theologyand Witchcraft: Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio’s Delamiis (1511)” was published in the volumeContesting Orthodoxy in Medieval and EarlyModern Europe: Heresy, Magic and Witch-craft, edited by Louise Nyholm Kallestrup andRaisa Toivo (Palgrave Macmillan).

OLIVIER DE MARET

Olivier De Maret published a book entitled Of Mi-grants and Meanings. Italians and Their Food Busi-nesses in Brussels, 1876-1914 (Brussels: P.I.E. PeterLang, 2016) and contributed a chapter on Italianfood and migrants in Brussels before World War Ientitled "Les débits de boissons, restaurants etcommerces alimentaires italiens à Bruxelles avantla première guerre mondiale" in Anne Morelli, (ed.),Recherches nouvelles sur l'immigration italienne enBelgique (Brussels: Couleur Livres, 2016).

SASHA PERUGINI

In June 2016, Sasha Perugini presented the paper “The Educational Ben-efits of comparing the US higher Education System with non-US systemswhile studying abroad” at the annual AATI conference in Naples. In Oc-tober she gave a talk for the cultural association Consonanze on womenand leadership, a subject she also presented to students at the ScuolaScienze Aziendali in March 2017. Earlier that month she presented fora panel on “A Flipped Perspective on Pedagogy” at the annual Associa-tion of International Education Administrators conference in Washing-ton. In 2016 she also served as a mentor for a University of Leedsdoctoral candidate researching international education.

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DOROTHEA BARRETT

Dorothea Barrett's feminist reading of the novels of George Eliot,Vocation and Desire: George Eliot’s Heroines, was reissued on-line in 2016 in Routledge’s Historical Resources: History of Fem-inism. Her essay "Lions, Christians, and Gladiators: ColosseumImagery in Henry James's 'Daisy Miller' and Edith Wharton's'Roman Fever'," originally published online in 2014, will be reis-sued in a book of the papers of the Remember Henry James con-ference this fall.