study away

Starting in Fall 2017, College of Communication and Information (CCI) students can spend a semester studying in a truly international environment for what they would spend on the Kent Campus – while taking journalism courses that will apply to their degree programs and other relevant electives that are important for all communication majors.

In a new partnership with the Anglo American University in Prague, Czech Republic, CCI students will take classes with students from more than 70 other nationalities. The largest proportion of students come from the United States (22%), the Czech Republic (20%) and Russia (12%), as well as many from the various post-Soviet nations such as, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Belarus.

Why Study at AAU?

This program offers a number of promising curriculum opportunities for communication, media and information majors. For example, student journalists and students of public, global and advocacy communication can take courses focusing on:

• International perspectives on reporting
• Reporting on social movements and social change in Europe
• Political systems and their impact on freedom of the press
• Reporting on culture and the arts
• Reporting on travel and leisure.

Why Study Abroad in Prague?

• AAU-Prague is the Czech Republic’s oldest private university and is accredited both there and in the U.S. All credits transfer back to the Kent State program.
• All classes are conducted in English, though your classmates will be from Russia, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, Vietnam and South Korean. Faculty members come from 20 countries. This is a fully immersive international experience.
• Prague is an affordable, accessible and iconic European capitol. Students live in university-approved residential apartments, fully furnished and in various parts of the city. Housing costs are comparable to housing costs on/near the Kent Campus, and round-trip airfare costs approximately $1,200. Scholarships and financial aid will apply.
• AAU-Prague, is housed in the 17^th Century Thurn - Taxis Palace in the heart of Prague, refurbished to include labs, classrooms – some with chandeliers – cafeteria and a courtyard that opens into a park with peacocks.
• Lennon Wall, the student magazine, welcomes writers, photographers and designers willing to join the staff. This provides an important opportunity to supplement your portfolios with international reporting and storytelling experience in a location where an independent press, journalistic freedom and civil liberties are fundamental values.
• A JMC faculty member who taught for a semester at AAU and co-sponsored a two-week summer trip there with CCI students will offer orientation about navigating the university and the City of 100 Spires.

For more information about this program, attend the upcoming information session from 3 to 4 p.m. on March 16 in Rm. 314 Franklin Hall. Interested students can also contact Candace Perkins Bowen, cbowen@kent.edu. For more information on AAU-Prague, see the Office of Global Education website.

Anglo-American University, Prague, Czech Republic

Spend a semester studying in a truly international environment for what you would spend on the Kent Campus – while taking journalism courses that will apply to your degree program and other relevant electives that are important for all communication majors.

Why Study at AAU?

This program offers a number of promising curriculum opportunities for communication, media and information majors. For example, student journalists and students of public, global and advocacy communication can take courses focusing on:

• International perspectives on reporting
• Reporting on social movements and social change in Europe
• Political systems and their impact on freedom of the press
• Reporting on culture and the arts
• Reporting on travel and leisure.

Why Study Abroad in Prague?

• AAU-Prague is the Czech Republic’s oldest private university and is accredited both there and in the U.S. All credits transfer back to the Kent State program.
• All classes are conducted in English, though your classmates will be from Russia, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, Vietnam and South Korean. In fact, more than 70 nationalities, including others from the United States, attend AAU. Faculty members come from 20 countries. This is a fully immersive international experience.
• Prague is an affordable, accessible and iconic European capitol. Students live in university-approved residential apartments, fully furnished and in various parts of the city. Housing costs are comparable to housing costs on/near the Kent Campus, and round-trip airfare costs approximately $1,200. Scholarships and financial aid will apply.
• AAU-Prague, is housed in the 17^th Century Thurn - Taxis Palace in the heart of Prague, refurbished to include labs, classrooms – some with chandeliers – cafeteria and a courtyard that opens into a park with peacocks.
• Lennon Wall, the student magazine, welcomes writers, photographers and designers willing to join the staff. This provides an important opportunity to supplement your portfolios with international reporting and storytelling experience in a location where an independent press, journalistic freedom and civil liberties are fundamental values.
• A JMC faculty member who taught for a semester at AAU and co-sponsored a two-week summer trip there with CCI students will offer orientation about navigating the university and the City of 100 Spires.

For more information about how this program can benefit your professional interests, contact CCI Explore at cciexplore@kent.edu or more information on AAU-Prague, see the Office of Global Education website.

TOMMASO BERNABEI

Tommaso Bernabei is a writer-director for film, television and theatre, with an MA in film making, and international recognition for his work both as a writer and a director. He has worked as a freelance director for the past 12 years with many international production companies and television networks. He is now based in Milan, after years spent in the USA and in London, where he works as a creative director, copywriter and screenwriter. His writings are often inspired by true stories, which he develops mainly following the paths of comedy and satire. Prof. Bernabei has been teaching European Documentaries analysis and production since January 2013, producing with the students, a variety of short length documentaries. He has an inquisitive mind and lives to share his passion towards people and the world with like-minded individuals.
Education: M.A. in Film making at the London Film School and Metropolitan University
Expertise: Film directing, copywriting, screenwriting

FABIO CORSINI

Fabio Corsini, Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Research, is the local coordinator of the CCI Communication Program in Florence. He is adjunct professor at Kent State University Florence since 2010 where he now teaches Intercultural Communication and Multimedia Experiential Learning for the CCI Program and Fashion in the Media for the Fashion Program. He studied Political Sciences and Communication Studies at the University of Florence and Sociology and Social Research at the University of Molise. He teaches both at Italian and American universities and he has been active member of national and international research units about media production and consumption practices as well as media and diversity issues. Currently is also research fellow at the University of Urbino where he investigates the topic of ‘made in italy’ from a brand communication perspective through quantitative and qualitative research. As sociologist and media analyst he is interested in the relationship between media (international flows of media production and consumption) and culture (local/national and global/international). He has published various articles focused on mediated representations of diversity minority groups, media consumption practices, brand communication and television narratives. Actually he is working on a book on Italian Contemporary Pop Culture that will be published in the Kent State University European Studies Series.
Education: Undergraduate Degree in Political Sciences, University of Florence; Postgraduate Degree in Communication Studies, University of Florence; Ph.D. Sociology and Social Research, University of Molise
Expertise: Intercultural Communication; Italian Media and Culture; Fashion and Media; Brand Communication

TINA FALLANI 

Tina Fallani earned her degree in Film Editing, Video and Film at the Scuola del Cinema, Regione Lombardia RAI, Italian Radio and Television Network. She earned her diploma in Script Writing with Tonino Guerra at Evviva Il Cinema, Repubblica di San Marino and studied Law at the University of Florence. She started teaching History of Italian Cinema in 1992 in Florence and currently teaches for Georgetown University Villa le Balze, Studio Art Centers International and Santa Reparata. Since 2013 Prof. Fallani has taught Italian Cinema at Kent State University Florence. She has worked on many feature films, including: first assistant film editor, The Secret Garden, directed by Agnieszka Holland; assistant film editor, Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola; first assistant film editor, The Godfather Trilogy, directed by Francis Ford Coppola; assistant film editor, Godfather III, directed by Francis Ford Coppola; assistant film editor, Henry and June, directed by Phil Kaufman; film and sound editor, The Neon Empire, directed by Larry Penn; sound editor, Mountains of the Moon, directed by Bob Rafelson; assistant sound editor, Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir; film and sound editor for post-production, Best Shot, Fantasy Film Ltd.; translation consultant on Willow, directed by George Lucas; film and sound editor, Of Men and Angels, directed by William Farley; and worked on The Unbearable Lightness of Being, directed by Phil Kaufman. She has been a jury member at the San Francisco International Film Festival and a coordinator of the Florence Film Festival.
Education: Attended Law School, University of Florence; Degree in Film Editing, Scuola del Cinema RAI (Italian Radio and Television Network); Diploma in Script Writing, Evviva il Cinema, Repubblica di San Marino
Expertise: History of Italian Cinema, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Italian Food and Culture

FRANCESCA PASSERI

Francesca Passeri earned her degree in Law, her MA in Communication and Media, and her PhD in Information Communication Technology and Information Society at the University of Florence. Between 1998 and 2006 she worked in the communication & marketing field in publishing, fashion and tourism industries. In 1999 she spent one year at the College of the Holy Cross (MA, USA) for a specialization course in Media and Communication. Between 2007 and 2011 she was Professor of Communication and Public Speaking at MA European Program in Media and Communication, University of Florence. Since 2012 Francesca Passeri has been Professor of Comparative Media Systems at Kent State University in Florence. She currently teaches Principles of Marketing and Food and Wine Culture in Italy at James Madison University, Psychology of fashion and luxury goods at Richmond University, and Intercultural Communication at the International Studies Institute (ISI) Florence. She is founder and member of the cultural association FLICK Factory for Learning International Culture and Cross Creative Knowledge. Her study interests focus on: new media; communication and branding strategies in the Italian fashion system; civic media and convergence culture; comparative study of media systems between the USA and Italy; Made in Italy as a brand. Her publications include her PhD final dissertation: E-participation, I contributi delle tecnologie dell'informazione nella partecipazione dei cittadini ai processi di policy-making; and essays and chapters, among which include Social Network e diritti di libertà; Open Data per una Pubblica Amministrazione trasparente; and Internet Better Governance.
Education: Undergraduate degree at the School of Law, University of Florence; Postgraduate degree in Communication and Media, University of Florence; PhD in ICT and Information Society, University of Florence.
Expertise: New media and political participation; social media marketing; Made in Italy studies, in particular luxury brands analysis, and food and wine culture in Italy.

FABRIZIO RICCIARDELLI

Fabrizio Ricciardelli earned his undergraduate degree in Medieval History at the University of Florence and his Ph.D. at the University of Warwick in England. Since 2004 he has been professor of "Renaissance History” at Georgetown University. Between 2010-2012 he was Academic Director of the Georgetown University program in Florence. In 2010 he became the chairman of the scientific committee "Villa Le Balze Studies”. In 2012 he was appointed Director of the Kent State University program in Florence. Ricciardelli worked for the National Geographic on The Secrets of Florence (2009) and for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation on Giorgio Vasari and the Italian Renaissance (2010). His academic experience includes journal articles, conference presentations, and several reviews. He has authored and co-authored numerous books on institutional and political history. His main field of study is Italian city-states in the social, economic, political, and cultural landscape of Medieval Europe. Some of his publications are: The Politics of Exclusion in Early Renaissance Italy (2007); I luoghi del sacro. Il sacro e la città tra Medioevo ed Età moderna (2008); The Culture of Violence in Renaissance Italy (2012); Umanesimo e università in Toscana (1400-1600) (2012); Late Medieval and Early Modern Ritual. Studies in Italian Urban Culture (2013), and Emotions, Passions, and Power in Renaissance Italy (2015). His latest work is The Myth of Republicanism in Renaissance Italy has been published by Brepols in 2015. Ricciardelli has recently embarked upon the study of the relationship between emotions and passions as forms of political persuasion in Renaissance Italy. He has recently embarked upon the study of The Emotional Language of Justice in Renaissance Europe to investigate the separation between legal and moral norms, between crime and sin. Ricciardelli worked for National Geographic on The Secrets of Florence (2009) and for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation on Giorgio Vasari and the Italian Renaissance (2010). In 2015 Ricciardelli was appointed Co-Secretary Treasurer of AACUPI, the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy.
Education: Undergraduate degree in Medieval History at the University of Florence; Ph.D. at the University of Warwick, England
Expertise: History, Medieval History, History of Florence, Renaissance

THE CAMPUS

Palazzo Vettori is a prestigious and ancient building located in the heart of Florence, at the corner of Via Cavour and Via Alfani, next to Piazza del Duomo. According to historian Guido Carocci, the fabric of the building started at the beginning of the 15th century. Its façade proclaims the new ideas of Renaissance architecture based on the use of rustication. Starting January 2016, Palazzo Vettori is the new home to the Kent State University Florence program.

ACADEMICS

You'll select 2 courses from those offered, earning 6 or 7 credits depending on your choices. All courses are taught in English and meet Monday through Thursday. Academic credit is awarded by Kent State University so if you are Kent State student, there is no need to transfer credits.  If you are not a Kent State student, the credits can be easily transferred. Be sure to meet with your academic advisor to discuss which courses best fit your program requirements so this experience will help you progress toward your degree.

Course offerings are subject to change and may vary each summer.  The following classes are open to all students.  Most classes have no prerequisites, but check the catalog or talk with an advisor for details.  Be sure to meet with your academic advisor to discuss which courses are best fit with the requirements for your major.

Learn More About the Kent State Florence Summer Institute

Apply to the Kent State Florence Summer Institute