This morning, when I looked out over the city of Florence in the crisp, early morning light, I remembered what makes studying abroad so great: this city, with all its history and beauty, is our classroom for the next month. There's no need to look at slides projected on the wall or tiny pictures printed in books. We are here, and we can see everything we are studying directly instead of settling for reproductions. I'm also reminded of this when I see students returning home after an exhilarating lesson, as I did last week when I spotted these photographers and their instructor Jenny. They didn't notice me at first, but I saw them, and it was clear that they had been laughing about something they had seen or done together. What a nice change of pace compared to traditional classrooms, where students are sometimes in a rush just to finish their lessons and get on with the day. Our students are eager to keep learning! Unsurprisingly, one of the students in Vieri's cooking class approached me with a rustic peach tart she had made outside of class. Her interest in cuisine didn't end when the class did! Sometimes students have assignments back in the classroom that allow them to draw inspiration from what they saw while walking around town. Our fashion design group is working on a series of mood boards inspired by Florence. One student told me about seeing a woman wearing a pastel outfit with lots of yellows, greens, and pale reds. Her mood board contained images pulled from magazines that were in this color scheme. Her personal voice came through in the images she chose, but it was also clear that she had been influenced by the city. And, of course, the studio art students benefit tremendously from being able to carry their sketchpads to the Piazza della Signoria or the Boboli Gardens and draw the sculptures, architecture, and foliage in these locations. Recently students learned about using white chalk to draw on black paper. The white chalk is the light, and everything left black remains a shadow. A lesson in light and shadow is always engaging, but how much more so when the subject is the Tuscan sun hitting the side of a Renaissance statue? In the coming weeks students in the studio art class will also study atmospheric perspective and linear perspective and see examples of these techniques in the Uffizi Galleries. Perhaps the benefits of being in Italy are most apparent, however, in the language classes, since students can walk to a local cafe and order a bottle of water or a coffee in Italian. For some students, this may be the first time they've ever spoken in Italian, but for others who have been studying for several years, the cafes are a place to have a longer conversation. At the end of the day students are exhausted, but I don't see their smiles fading just yet. Another walk around the city to see just a couple more things is often in order, and they head out in groups of three or four to spend another hour exploring. Then it's home again to rest for another full day of adventures.
-Rachel Van Wylen
2 Comments
Linda Colman
7/10/2017 03:56:55 pm
Life changing experience!!! I cannot wait for my granddaughters return and see what road this trip leads her down.
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Carol Barndollar
7/11/2017 10:58:40 am
Just love the blog. The photos of the group and the activities are wonderful. So happy for my granddaughter to have this experience in one of my favorite cities!
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