Course Name: ANTH 48889/58889 FACES:  Human Head Anatomy with a Forensic Art Focus

Description: Our course begins with studying works by Renaissance artist/anatomists to gain an appreciation for how well they understood human anatomy. We also visit La Specola Anatomical Collection (exquisite wax models copied from real corpses during the 17th century). In the classroom students study human skulls and learn the form and function of the muscles of facial expression and mastication. We pay close attention to features of the skull that ultimately give each face its unique qualities and study the areas that indicate age and sex of the individual. Each student will sculpt the facial bones of a skull, using an exact replica cast as a model. Students learn the techniques of two-dimensional forensic facial reconstruction. Using knowledge of head anatomy, and tissue depth data from the literature, each student will prepare detailed sketches (one man, one woman) based on photographs of the skulls. We also learn how to age-progress images of young adults.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites:  None

Course Name: ARTH 42045 Italian Art from Giotto to Bernini 

Description: This course will explore the development of art and architecture in Italy from the late Middle Ages to the Roman Baroque period. Through an in- depth analysis of the art and history of these periods, we shall develop an understanding of Italy’s role in the overall development of Western civilization. Particular emphasis will be given to Florentine Art. Florence exhibits to this day a particularly well-integrated conception of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Taking advantage of this, we will use the city as our classroom in order to examine the development of Florentine art and architecture in context. In addition to “on-site” lectures, classroom lectures will focus on the art produced in other major Italian cities.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Course Name:  BSCI 30789 Feasts and Plagues: the Science of Italian Food, Wine and Disease

Course Description: This course explores the microbial mechanisms responsible for plagues such as the Black Death as well as for their positive roles in food and wine production. These costs and benefits are explored in Florence, Italy since each is ingrained in the city's history, culture, art, and biology. Course activities include food and wine tastings and field trips to historical sites and museums in Florence and Siena. This course is designed to appeal to students with a wide array of interests in human health and society. Students will analyze genomes of microbes responsible for human disease, discuss ecological and biological factors associated with disease transmission, construct cemetery life tables, discuss the impacts of disease on Italian art, architecture, and culture, master knowledge of the fermentation process, and compare and contrast the microbiomes and environments of vineyards in Tuscany vs. California.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Course Name:  BSCI 40195 Beauty and the Brain: Exploring Florence Through the Senses

Course Description: This is an introductory sensory neuroscience course for undergraduate students from varied academic backgrounds. By exploring the sensory richness of Florence, students will delve into the biology of their sensory systems. Through a combination of fieldtrips, laboratory exercises, and lectures students will learn how sensory systems function to change diverse environmental signals into information that can be interpreted by the brain. Fieldtrips will be used to highlight specific sensory systems and laboratories/lectures will provide the conceptual framework. Together these experiences will lay the foundation for students’ understanding of vision, taste, smell, touch, and hearing in the unique environment of Florence, Italy.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Course Name: BUS 30234 International Business

Description: This course provides an introduction to different environments, theories and practices of international business. This course is designed for all students interested in international business, regardless of their principal academic discipline. Topics covered include globalization; international companies; sustainability; the impact and importance of culture; economic, financial, social, political environments; global strategies and structures; international marketing and entry modes. In order to facilitate these goals, students are expected to prepare, present their views, and actively participate in classroom discussions. The course provides a broad survey of the theoretical and practical aspects of management practice in Europe, introducing you the major financial, economic and socio – economic, physical, socio – cultural political, labor, competitive and distributive forces that characterize business in Europe. The course will help you to develop an increased awareness of the differences between European and North American business practices, and a better grasp of the impact of differences in business practices on the conduct of business internationally. The emphasis in this course is both on understanding and applying one’s knowledge of different management practices, using national cultures as an aid to understanding the evolution of various management practices.
We begin by analyzing the international business environment that connects the phenomenon of globalization with the national and cultural differences that characterize the countries in this economy. Next we will analyze, how to first define a strategy to enter foreign markets, select then a global company structure, and define a global marketing and pricing strategies. We will delve into some strategic and functional issues that characterize the management of organizations in the global marketplace.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: ECON 22060 or ECON 22061

Open to all students with prerequisites.

Course Name: CCI 40095 From Ideas to Stories: Storytelling in Tuscany

Description: Ideas are the backbone to all types of content creation: video, still image, writing, advocacy, campaigns, or advertising. Where do ideas come from? How do you turn ideas into pitches, products for clients, or personal projects? Through exploration of the unique resources in and around Florence, Italy, this course will help students develop their ability to generate ideas for media and create action plans to turn those ideas into appealing content. The course uses the city of Florence and its vast large narrative potential for stimulating students’ creativity and storytelling capability pushing them to detect and develop worth-telling stories. Students will explore and learn from experts about different topics that are relevant for the city such as arts, history, food, fashion etc. At the same time, through different projections, they will be exposed to different forms of storytelling they will be able to apply to different media such as video, photography, journalism, advertising, and communication campaigns. Students will enrich their knowledge and competences as content creators and storytellers while experiencing and appreciating a foreign culture.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Course Name: CCI 40289 Italian Cinema

Description: The course introduces the student to the world of Italian Cinema. In the first part the class will be analyzing Neorealism, a cinematic phenomenon that deeply influenced the ideological and aesthetic rules of film art. In the second part we will concentrate on the films that mark the decline of Neorealism and the talent of ‘new’ auteurs such as Fellini and Antonioni. The last part of the course will be devoted to the cinema from 1970s to the present in order to pay attention to the latest developments of the Italian industry. The course is a general analysis of post-war cinema and a parallel social history of this period using films as ‘decoded historical evidence’. Together with masterpieces such as Open City the screenings will include films of the Italian directors of  the ‘cinema d’autore’ such as Life is Beautiful and the 2004 candidate for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, I Am Not Scared. The class will also analyze the different aspects of filmmaking both in Italian and the U.S. industry where I had the pleasure to work for many years in the editing department on films such as Dead Poets Society and The Godfather: Part III. The films in DVD format are dubbed in English or sub-titled.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Open to all students.

Course Name: CLAS 21405 The Roman Achievement

Description: This course is an introduction to the history and culture of the Roman world, from the origins of Rome through its ascent to domination of the Mediterranean world, the troubled changes from Republic to Empire, and the flourishing of the city and its provinces during the Imperial period until its crisis and consequent fall during the 4th-5th centuries AD. Political and military organizations, religious beliefs towards life and death, social identity, entertainment, private life, familial relationships, sexuality and the changes of these assets and values throughout time are examined in this course by means of the most recent archaeological and historical approaches and debates. As we search together to unravel the historical, cultural and social significance of the Roman achievement, primary sources in translation will be used to provide a fresh look of how some political events were perceived, how Roman urban life and its agents were captured by the satirical descriptions of Juvenal and Martial, and how such a catastrophic event such as the eruption of the Vesuvius affected writers such as Pliny and Seneca.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Kent Core Humanities & Global Diversity 

Open to all students.

Course Name: COMM 35852 Intercultural Communication

Description: In the contemporary world characterized by globalization of goods, people and ideas, and by growing processes of internal diversification, intercultural competences are necessary requirements for every individual both for personal and professional life. Intercultural Communication deals with the relevance of difference (not only among cultures but also within a culture) that is approached both as a threat and as a resource. In our everyday experience the continuous reference to the ‘other’ (ethical, religious, political, gendered etc) is used to build up the very sense of our identities and in so doing dividing the world among ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘bad’ and ‘good’, ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’. Diversity compels us to reflect upon our values, and the taken-for-grantedness of the social world in which we live. This course will move from the social constructivist approach trying to combine together sociology, cultural anthropology, and media studies investigating the role that diversity plays in our every-day life and the importance to acquire an intercultural communication approach in order to be more effective in our processes of communication, to solve conflicts and to better understand the interactions among individuals, institutions and cultures. Theories, concepts and problems will be presented through lectures and audiovisual materials. Interaction is strongly required and will be stimulated. Students will be invited to take part in the classes commenting on the topics presented, offering opinions, surveying and practicing ‘problem solving’.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Open to all students.

Course Name: ECON 22061 Principles of Macroeconomics 

Description: Principles and policies affecting aggregate production, consumption, investment and government expenditures. Includes role of money, the banking system, inflation, unemployment and economic growth.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Course Name: ENG 34041 Fairy Tales

Description: For the foundation of this course, we will 1) discuss the definition of fairy tales as opposed to folk tales and other fictional genre; 2) explore various methods of literary, psychological, feminist, and other modes of interpretation; 3) study histories of fairy tales and their influence; read works from top scholars in the field such as Ruth Bottigheimer and Jack Zipes.  

For discussion, we will read, in English translation, Italian, French, and German versions of the “same” fairy tales comparatively. Then we will read English, Irish, and Scottish tales that reveal a different outlook than the continental tales. From there we will study Disney interpretations of the tales in the context of each tale’s history. Finally, we will look at post-modern fantasy fiction in print and film as it brings the world of the tales to life in new contexts. 

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: ENG 21011

Course Name: ARTH 42091/62095 Art Experiences in Italy

Description: This course is and introduction to the major artworks and monuments in the city of Florence, with the goal of giving the student a sense of the progression of styles from the Middle ages through the Renaissance to the Baroque.  Class participants will learn to understand some of the social, political and historical contexts that led to the formation of these styles. We will analyze and discuss the great works and monuments of the Florentine Renaissance directly on the spot in front of the actual works of art, and students will also be exposed to the diverse regional productions of the great cities of Rome and Venice and the Tuscan hill towns through museum visits and a field trip to Siena.  Readings from relevant scholarship will be found on the course Canvas page.  Class attendance, research papers and field trip journal required. 

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Course Name: ARTS 45089/55089 Studio Art in Florence: from Sketchbook to Portfolio

Description: Through a daily sketchbook practice in Florence students will observe and record their environment through drawing from observation at locations such as: gardens, museums, churches, the scenic landscapes, and the city views of Florence. By sketching, taking visual field notes (such as rubbings of textures), and using photography, students will create studio-based work that builds upon and distills their direct observations. Through this process students will develop a series of self-directed works-on-paper that translate those impressions into finished artworks. Depending on the student’s sensibility and interest, completed work will range from pictorial to abstract, as well completed works may be conceptually driven. Students will create a portfolio of artworks reflective of their experience living in Florence, using techniques and strategies that range from drawing and wet-media painting to image transfer, various low tech printmaking techniques, and collage. This studio-based class will be influenced by and will complement the numerous museum and historic site visits which are part of the Florence Summer Institute experience. The daily sketchbook practice will act as a travel-log/diary documenting students’ trips in the region, for example to Siena and the other destinations such as Rome and Venice. Students will be introduced to artists, illustrators and scientists that utilize the sketchbook and fieldnotes as way of seeing and understanding their environment.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: None