2024 Florence Graduate Symposium presenters with their faculty members

On December 6, Syracuse Florence hosted the 38th edition of the annual Florence Graduate Symposium in Italian Renaissance Art History. Six art history Master’s candidates presented their individual capstone research projects to a standing-room-only audience in Villa Rossa Room 13 on topics that ranged from the impact of French manuscript illuminations on Simone Martini’s 14th-century frescoes in Assisi to the relationship between time and magic in Salvator Rosa’s early 17th-century depictions of witchcraft.

Florence MA Program alumni assembled with the graduating cohort of 2024

Because 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of Syracuse University’s Florence Graduate Program, we were honored to have a number of special guests with us to celebrate that milestone, including Dr. Behzad Mortazavi, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and Dr. Erika Wilkens, Assistant Provost and Executive Director of Syracuse Abroad. In addition, nearly thirty program alumni attended the event, including program supporters Nicole Squires Marca (’90) and Peter Weller (’01), both of whom traveled from the West coast to be there. 

Watch the full event on YouTube

In January 2025 we will welcome a record-breaking new cohort of 12 MA candidates to the Villa Rossa, yet another sign that our prestigious graduate program is alive and well.