News

The newly established Syracuse Florence book club, hosted in the charming Villino Library and led by the delightful British-born April Child, recently had the honor of welcoming a very special guest. Syracuse alumna and acclaimed YA author Charlotte Balogh graced one of their meetings, bringing with her a wave of excitement and inspiration.

Charlotte, whose much-anticipated book Kill the Lax Bro is set to be released next summer by Delacorte Press and Penguin Random House, shared her fascinating journey with the book club members. Over tea and ‘biscuits’, she delved into her experiences breaking into Hollywood writer’s rooms, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and triumphs she faced along the way.

The discussion was not just about her past achievements. Charlotte also gave a sneak peek into her upcoming project, a unique blend of memoir, novel, and fairytale, which she is currently crafting in the serene libraries and bustling coffeeshops of Florence. Her passion for storytelling and her dedication to her craft were evident.

Nor was the gathering a one-sided affair. Charlotte was genuinely curious about the reading habits of the book club members. She engaged them in a lively conversation about how they select their books, their reading preferences, and their use of modern reading apps like Kindle and BookTok.

The meeting was a perfect blend of inspiration and interaction, leaving everyone with a renewed love for literature and a deeper understanding of the writing world. The Syracuse Florence book club, under April Child’s enthusiastic leadership, is a beacon for book lovers, fostering a community of readers and writers who inspire each other.

On Wednesday, December 11, the Syracuse Florence campus was abuzz with excitement as students, faculty, and guests gathered for the Final Art and Architecture Show. The event showcased the incredible talent and hard work of our students, who have spent the semester creating a diverse array of artistic and architectural pieces.

The exhibition featured a stunning variety of works, from beautiful handmade metal jewelry to intricate architectural sketches. One of the highlights was a wall fresco, crafted using traditional techniques. The creativity and dedication of our students were evident in every piece on display.

This event was also a poignant moment for the Syracuse Florence community as we bid farewell to our beloved restoration professors, Diane Kunzelman and Ezio Buzzegoli. Both have made significant contributions to our program, and their retirement marks the end of an era. Director Sasha Perugini shared heartfelt comments, expressing gratitude for their years of dedication and impact on countless students.

Adding to the evening’s significance, renowned art collector Christian Levitt attended the show, engaging with students and discussing their work before the exhibition opened to the public. His presence was a great honor and provided valuable insights and encouragement to our budding artists.

The turnout was fantastic, with attendees marveling at the brilliant work on display. The atmosphere was filled with pride and celebration, a fitting end to a semester of hard work and creativity. For more photos capturing the essence of the evening, be sure to check out the stunning images taken by our talented staff photographer, Francesco Guazzelli.

We look forward to seeing what our students will create next and wish Diane and Ezio all the best in their retirement. Thank you to everyone who made this event a memorable success!

On December 6, Syracuse Florence hosted the 38^th 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 14^th-century frescoes in Assisi to the relationship between time and magic in Salvator Rosa’s early 17^th-century depictions of witchcraft.

Because 2024 marks the 60^th 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. 

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.

Pheonix, Arizona native Puja Pradhan, who is currently studying at Syracuse Florence, recently travelled back to the US to present at a conference in Houston, Texas. The Northwestern biology major tells us about the experience and how it came about.

This past weekend,  I had the honor of presenting my research poster at the Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO) conference. This poster is a summary of all the work I’ve been doing in the lab in the past two years. Our lab studies an aggressive brain tumor called glioblastoma and we’re trying to understand the mechanisms behind its radioresistance and recurrence after radiation. My project specifically focuses on understanding what cell subpopulation is primarily responsible for tumor recurrence. 

I began working in the lab in 2023 and have been contributing to experiments, research papers, and discussions ever since. My Principal Investigator (PI), a renowned neuropathologist and regular attendee of the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) conference, recognized my contributions and invited me to present my work this year! 

Last week our students had the pleasure of chatting informally with Lorenzo Zazzeri, who won silver for Italy at the 2020 Summer Olympics and bronze this past summer in Paris.

Lorenzo spoke about the ups and downs of his exciting career as a pro swimmer, as well as his work as a painter and the book he recently published, Laurearsi Campioni (“Graduating as Champions”).

The students in the Italian class of Professor Francesca Bea, who organized the event along with Italian Department Coordinator Loredana Tarini, had this to say about it:

Many of us in that room would have never imagined that we would get the opportunity to be able to meet and talk with an Olympic athlete, especially as part of learning Italian. This is one of the unique experiences of studying abroad and becoming immersed in the culture and achievements of a country. It helped us realize that we could understand more than we thought and the open Q&A helped break the hesitation of having a normal conversation in Italian. Even in a more advanced conversation, practicing using context clues to piece together certain parts of the lecture was highly beneficial. I don’t think we could have gotten a better immersive experience as we got to know about the life of an Italian athlete and how it differs from the US.

The students in Antonella Salvia’s advanced language class wrote their comments about Lorenzo’s talk in Italian:

Penso che sia stato generoso da parte di Lorenzo condividere la sua esperienza con noi…Sono rimasto stupito dall’umiltà di Lorenzo. Si presentava come una persona umile e amichevole. Non c’era arroganza o freddezza in lui.

Robert Salvato

La cosa che mi ha colpito durante questo incontro sono stati i commenti di lorenzo sulla salute mentale nello sport. ….Ho imparato che la famiglia e la comunità sono molto importanti nello sport e nella vita. Penso che sia importante avere un’attività diversa da una professione. Per Lorenzo, questa è l’arte.

Alexandra Meier

Alla mia domanda “come gestisci lo stress quando hai una gara”, ha risposto che usa la tecnica della visualizzazione, dove immagini ogni parte della gara che va perfettamente. Voglio provare a utilizzare questa tecnica nella mia vita.

Lucas Catilina-Rebucci

Mi piace come Lorenzo usa l’arte per calmare la mente. Penso che l’equilibrio mentale sia una parte importante del successo nello sport. Lorenzo è un uomo intelligente.

Robby Cooney

“It’s a dinosaur!” says Syracuse Florence gardener Gelso Sassonia. The city of Florence has officially registered our beloved, centuries-old pino, which has towered over generations of U.S. students from the back of the Villa Rossa Garden, as a monumental tree.

That means, among other things, it is now a crime to damage it, with a fine of up to 100,000 Euro. It also means we cannot make any changes to it with approval from the Florence municipality.

A plaque has now been placed beneath the tree, which reads:

On April 10, 2024, this specimen was designated as a monumental domestic Pinus Pinea – Pino.

Written by Giorgia Sartorio and translated by Michelle Tarnopolsky

On November 14, 2023, my class and I did a cultural exchange activity at Syracuse University in Florence. The American university offers the possibility of spending a semester abroad, and one of the locations offered is Florence. These semesters are intended to prepare students for a world shaped by globalization by attending various courses including one in Italian.

This is how we came to meet students from a completely different reality from ours, one that we were ready to learn about and appreciate, in the same way American students would appreciate ours. The project, which involved an initial division of my class into pairs, involved starting a dialogue between an American student and a couple of us Italian students. The dialogue took place half in English and half in Italian so we could practice the foreign language on both sides and discover the differences between our culture and that of America.

What made this experience so important to me was the discovery of the various and different points of view with which one can analyze a concept or a habit. The girl with whom I interfaced had a totally different conception of aspects and lifestyles such as the relationship with her parents and the concepts of fun and leisure. Starting from these simple examples, I managed to expand this perspectivism to all fields of my life, even more so when I started studying the philosopher Nietzsche.

Another aspect, which for me was the most important, was the possibility of establishing a conversation with an unknown person who would not judge me. In fact, I have always had a kind of fear in relating to unknown people, even more so in English. This problem, which I call the “fear of making mistakes,” started in my first year of high school, a period of new friendships where the only thing I wanted was to be perfect.

I only managed to overcome this harmful desire in my last year, both because I understood that it was impossible, but also thanks to this project. By establishing a dialogue with a person who, like me, had to learn, she helped me understand how all my paranoia was imaginary: how she did not judge my mistakes, and I did not judge hers. So, I consider this experience essential. Beyond the growth to which it led, it was a pleasant day with my classmates, with whom I lived the most beautiful years of my life.

Professor Tulia Gattone, who teaches Globalization, Development and the Environment, has co-authored an article on cereal production in the BRICS countries. BRICS (which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the original member countries) is an intergovernmental organization of the world’s leading emerging economies.

The paper analyzes how innovations and better land management boost sustainable food production in BRICS countries. It was co-written with Cosimo Magazzino, Muhammad Usman, and Donatella Valente and published in the journal Ecological Indicators, which is part of ScienceDirect, a leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature.

Professor Stefania Berutti, who teaches classes in classical mythology and pre-Roman history, has won the prestigious Zeus Award for the podcast she produces with fellow archeologist Giovina Caldorola. The international prize is awarded to scholars and professionals who help spread the word about Italy’s archeological heritage.

The prize was awarded for the following reasons:

The collaboration between Dr. Giovina Caldorola and Dr. Stefania Berutti resulted in the podcast project FAN- Figlie di un’archeologia narrata (“Daughters of a Narrated Archeology”), a dialogue between two archeologist friends. FAN is a way to discuss books, events, exhibitions and whatever else makes us fans of archaeological news and information. Each episode is dedicated to a topic that they discuss with male and female cultural leaders.

The podcast is a brilliant example of innovation in academic communication. They use engaging, effective language, turning complex topics into applicable, exciting content that brings the public closer to the world of history and archaeology.

Berutti has worked with the National Archeological Museum in Florence and taught archeology to elementary school students. Her popular blog about archeology Memorie dal Mediterraneo is an homage to the book Memory and the Mediterranean by renowned historian Fernand Braudel.

Matthew Barone was a mass communications major from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, when he came to study in Florence 30 years ago. Fieldtrips to Etruscan sites that he took while he was here ignited a passion that ultimately led him to return this past summer and take part in an archeological dig.

You had a very positive experience with your host family, the Romanelli’s. Please tell us more about that.

Nara and Nello were long-time host families with SU and their students. While they spoke no English, I was really looking to improve my Italian and what better way to do that than by speaking it at dinner and in general conversation. I learned so much, from the foods we ate to the TV shows we watched at night. And living in the Oltrarno gave me a truly residential experience with no tourists to be found. I actually enjoyed getting on a bus and finding my way around the city as a true commuter. Eventually I upgraded to a bike which was a lot of fun.

Everything in the Romanelli household revolved around food. Nara woke very early – maybe 6:30am – to head out to the markets and begin to prepare a spectacular feast. I could not have gotten this experience in a dorm, nor the wonderful relationship we had until her death a few years ago. We kept in touch every year. Today her son [famous food critic] Leonardo is a foodie walking in his mother’s footsteps.

What did you like about the Syracuse Florence program?

I really enjoyed getting to know the students who came from other university programs from across the country. They had such diverse interests and something about Florence brought us together. The flexibility for long weekends gave us a chance to explore the region. I went to Innsbruck, Austria, with a number of new friends where we skied and dined on German food. We traveled east to Prague and then Budapest which still felt dark with its very recent separation from the USSR. A group of us American students decided to experience the carnival in Viareggio prior to Lent – a big education and beautiful beaches.

And when the exploring was done I returned for classes with some dedicated faculty – one in particular that I remember taught us British or American literature. [Professor Dorothea Barrett]. She pointed out how this experience would be life-changing and that if we didn’t write it down in journals we ran the risk of losing it forever. I shared some great stories with my class that semester: one about learning the etiquette of riding the local busses the hard way; and another about having a picnic with good friend and SU program peer Katie Vaile at Forte Belvedere where a beautiful dog ambitiously tried – but failed – to chase a frisbee off the tall walls and instead fell into the Boboli Gardens.

Please tell us more about how our fieldtrip program led to you return to Italy

Most weekends SU had organized fieldtrips going all over the region. Not only was it an incredible way to learn more about a subject outside my comfort zone but it forced me to meet a new group of students and bond with them. I loved these trips so much. In particular I was deeply fascinated by the Etruscan Field Trip Series offered by Prof. Judith Barragli.

I went to Tarquinia, Vulci, and other fascinating locations and soaked up knowledge and history far outside my usual studies back home. One time we had to pretend we were graduate students in archeology to get special permission to walk down into the Etruscan tombs.

Being exposed to this pre-Roman civilization inspired my lifelong learning of the subject. This summer I returned through the organization Earthwatch to join an archeological team digging nearby along the coastline in Populonia. The learning just never ends and I loved coming full circle with the discovery of a passion on a field trip, never forgetting it, and finding a way to return and contribute to a modern dig. Both experiences were once-in-a-lifetime.

How does today’s Florence compare to when you were here as a student?

I think today’s Florence is much cleaner thanks to new technology in cars and mopeds along with some stricter environmental laws. The Duomo was actually white marble, and when I was a student it was a black, tar-like color, and I recall always having to blow my nose. The city in most ways has stayed the same. I found many of the same restaurants still bustling with patrons, and the quality of the food was never an issue.

Seeing the Villa Rossa again was a special treat because the building itself felt the same. Dozens of memories rushed through my head, and the garden area was expanded, but it was the same beautiful space I’d remembered as a lost American student leaving home for the first time and finding myself and my own identity after the program ended.

What advice would you have for current students?

The best advice I got previously was to document your experience for the future. I still have my beautiful journal of memories to remind me of my youth, naivete, and yearning to explore. The other would be to never stay in your room except to sleep. Study outdoors in a café, or a piazza…go on fieldtrips with people you don’t know and explore subjects like I did that had no impact on my career but forever warmed my soul. In addition you may just meet friends for life. I’ve been lucky to keep in touch with several friends from this program and am a better person for it.