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Longtime friends Jean Telljohann (née Amabile) and Presley Schwinn (née Neithammer) met while studying at Syracuse Florence in the Fall of 1979. Jean was a comparative lit major from Princeton and Presley was an art history major from Sweet Briar College. Here are some of their reflections on that life-changing semester.

Syracuse Florence classes

Jean: I studied Italian language and literature, art history, and a wonderful English class on literature set in Italy.  I remember reading Hawthorne’s The Marble Faun, Henry James’s The Golden Bowl, and Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.  I wish I could remember the rest of the syllabus!  It was an excellent course.

Presley: The professors were marvelous, especially the opportunity to speak to the class in front of an important piece of art. The sweet fellow who had the café stand was essential, especially for Bacis.

The most vivid memory

Jean: When I began to dream in Italian.

The host family experience

Presley: My signora’s apartment was quite grand and centrally located. Unfortunately, she was quite difficult and so I eliminated meals.

The impact of studying in Florence

Presley: I continued to study art history and ended up being the senior grants writer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jean: Studying abroad in Florence helped me to develop fluency in Italian, which led to further travel throughout Italy, a love of singing and attending performances of Italian opera, and reading Dante and other Italian authors in the original.  I wish I could say that I am still fluent, but I do gather with friends to practice Italian conversation and see Italian films.  I am still in contact with several of my friends from our days in Florence.

A fieldtrip to Rome

Jean: I remember a day trip to Arezzo and a longer trip to Rome, where my friends and I saw The Graduate dubbed in Italian and then stayed to see it again.  It’s funny that that’s the memory that sticks!  One funny coincidence related to the field trips is that in 2000 I returned to Florence and met my friend Presley for lunch and a photo op outside the school at Piazza Savonarola.  Presley was traveling in Italy the same week I was.  When the driver I hired for the day saw the school, he recalled that he had been the bus driver who had taken us on the field trip to Rome!

Meeting the locals

Jean: In 1979, most of the students were girls.  Our group was invited by the Italian Air Force Academy to a dance.  They sent a bus to pick us up at the school and return us at the end of the evening.  We met a very nice group of Italian young men and palled around a bit with them on the weekends afterward.  We were all just friends, no romances, but I think that at least one person from our semester did marry a local Italian man.  The memories from that semester are very strong, so incredibly I can still remember the names of the young men we met, Giacinto, Filippo, Alfio, Pino.  They had come from all over Italy for their required military service.

Impressions of Florence on return trips

Presley: Florence upon return seemed much more crowded but still heavenly. Even found the best gelato store!

Jean: My Syracuse-Florence semester was my first trip to Italy, but I have returned several times since, including for Syracuse Florence’s 50th anniversary celebration.  I used the coincidence of my own 50th birthday as an excuse to attend. In general, Florence seemed busier, but the area near the Duomo, closed to auto traffic, was quieter.

Where they are now

Presley: I work part time at the Chanticleer garden in Wayne as I am passionate about gardening, the landscape, and environmental concerns.

Jean: I am retired from my second career as a museum administrator and am now busy with family, volunteer work, and travel. I also serve on Princeton University’s Advisory Council to the Department of French and Italian.

On May 16, drama history professor Eric Nicholson and communications professor Elia Nichols, both professional actors, performed two lovers’ debates from Isabella Andreini’s Lovers’ Debates for the Stage at the University of Verona.

The performance accompanied a book presentation of this text co-translated and co-edited by Dr. Nicholson with Pamela Allen Brown ​and Julie D. Campbell and published by the University of Chicago/ITER Press in 2023.

Isabella Andreini was a successful theater actress, writer and poet in the late 16th century, even performing with her husband for the 1589 wedding of Ferdinand I de Medici to Christina of Lorraine.

On May 10, the Villa Rossa’s historic aula magna was packed with study abroad professionals gathering to discuss the mental health of students, staff, and faculty. The event was co-organized by Syracuse Florence and the Forum on Education Abroad and the speakers covered everything from U.S. politics to coping strategies.

The seminar was a great success with participants making invaluable connections with counterparts in their industry and gaining helpful insight into challenges facing study abroad professionals.

This spring, students in upper-level Italian classes took part in a special tandem language exchange, which is a required part of their course: their partners were Italians enrolled in university courses as part of their ‘third act’.

Italians use the expression terza età (“third age”) to refer to people 65+, and there are many options for those who want to make higher learning part of their golden age. There is even an association for Italian terza età universities (Associazione Nazionale delle Università della Terza Età). In their mission statement here, they explain that volunteer instructors make it all possible, donating their teaching time in the spirit of the medieval universitas and the belief that learning is a gift.

The terza età learners who came to converse with our students were enrolled in a L2-level English class at the Università della terza età in the coastal Tuscan town of Livorno.

This is what some of our students had to say about the experience:

During the class, Hollen and I spoke with five elderly women who attend a third-generation university. They explained their school to us and the courses they find intriguing. … One of the ladies mentioned it was her dream to visit New York.

We all share a love for music and movies—we were especially connected through our enjoyment of the movie A Star Is Born, featuring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. We agreed that the soundtrack is incredible and that Bradley Cooper is very handsome. The experience was very heart-warming for us because it bridged a gap between language and age. Seeing these elderly women driven to acquire new knowledge and be involved in a community that fosters connection was incredible.

Hollen Spain, Kelly Troop, Bridget Gardella (ITA325)

I really enjoyed the conversation I had with the two women. They’re from Livorno and we talked about their experiences living there, as well as doing a comparison between life in Livorno and life in New York City, which is where I am from. Afterwards, we spoke about the differences between Italian food and American food. One of them is vegetarian and we spoke about life without eating meat. She told me that there are many elderly Italians that don’t eat meat. I said that I can’t live without eating meat.

Afterwards we spoke about Giorgia Meloni and Donald Trump. I learned a lot about Italian politics. They told me that they don’t support Meloni and I told them that I’m not a fan of Trump either. Then we talked about American politics. They told me that they’re worried about a scenario in which Trump wins and they hope that he doesn’t.

We then spoke about why they chose to learn English. They told me that they did it to stay busy in old age. They then asked why I chose to study Italian. I told them that I took an introduction to Italian when I was a freshman in college out of interest, and I really enjoyed it. I decided to continue my studies in Italian. This was a great experience for me and I would like to do it again sometime soon.

Oliver Polsky (ITA325)

Last week, my Italian class talked to women who go to a free-age university. This experience was very interesting because we don’t have these universities in the United States. My friend and I talked to two women who were learning English! We talked about their courses and the university in general. They were from Pisa, where their university is. During this conversation, one woman told us that she was a nurse which interested us because my friend and I want to become doctors! So, we talked about the differences between medicine in the United States and in Italy. It was a great conversation and their English skills completely surprised me! I am so happy that I had this opportunity to speak with these women!

Kay Di Salvo (ITA325)

During this event, we had the opportunity to have conversations with people of the third age who attend the University of the Free Age and practice our Italian language, and for them to practice their English. We talked about many aspects of our lives such as what plans we have for our future careers and what career they did when they were young. One of them when she was young was a nurse who studied in the city of Pisa, Italy. Before that she studied at the University of Bologna Psychology. The other older woman was a teacher for students in the intermediate school, she was an Archeologist teacher. Still, when she has time she gives lessons to students through Zoom and online. Their English was very good, they said that they had been studying English for 2-5 years and also explained to us that the reason for them studying a language and taking courses such as Art History in English was because it was better learning something new than being at home and doing nothing. For them doing this was a “hobby” that they always looked forward to doing during the week. They were nice people to have conversations with and were very patient with us when it came to talking in Italian. I think that was a nice idea to have this event and I hope this event remains in our university for future students from this course.

Jorge Parada (ITA325)

On Sunday, May 12, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella gave the commencement speech at Syracuse University. In addition to mentioning great Italian writers like Dante and Calvino he encouraged the graduating class to “be like the Mud Angels” (the foreign students who helped Florence recover from the terrible flood of 1966). He also stressed the importance of listening and paying attention to your surroundings, and of being passionate and compassionate in the pursuit of your dreams.

The mayor’s invitation to serve as the 2024 Syracuse commencement speaker drives home the special relationship that has developed between Florence and Syracuse since our program was founded in 1959. As Nardella told Syracuse University News here, “thanks to the relentless commitment of its leadership, the Florence program has been able to convey a deep understanding of our cultural heritage so that students can make the values it embodies their own.”

“His emphasis on peace and community engagement left a lasting impact,” remarked Syracuse Florence Director Sasha Perugini, who joined the mayor on the home campus for the exciting event. You can watch Mayor Nardella’s commencement speech here.

Last summer, Lisa Evans (Spring 1982) revisited Syracuse Florence with her son and recounted seeing the funeral of Countess Bona Gigliucci, the daughter of Count Mario Gigliucci who designed the Villa Rossa for his family, in Piazza Savonarola (seen behind her in the photo above). Lisa kindly shared some photos and memories with us.

On Returning to the Villa Rossa

For decades a return visit was interrupted by a busy life. In August I finally made a trip to Florence, along with my son. I was excited to share the city that my semester at Syracuse taught me so much about. On our last day in Florence, we visited Villa Rossa. When I walked into the building, I was transported back 40 years. Much has changed, but the feeling of being in that beautiful building was so familiar. In one room I recalled my Italian Literature class, and reading Dante’s Inferno.

The wooden mailboxes are still hanging on the wall in the foyer! Before email and text, finding a letter addressed to you in your slot, was a great day. Lastly, the spiral staircase holds a memory. When we arrived for the semester, we were assigned a local family to live with. We all lined the spiral staircase and looked down upon the families, waiting for our name to be called , and a family to go home with. It was so stressful and exciting. Standing at the top of the stairs and looking down, I was taken right back to that time. 

On the Funeral of Countess Gigliucci

I don’t ever recall being introduced to the director, or of running into him at the school. So when I was sitting in the piazza in front of the school, and I saw him walking solemnly behind a group of what obviously were mourners, I knew that something important was happening. The event really stuck out to me ( I can remember it 22 years later). Here were about 20 people, dressed in black, walking in a group very slowly in the road around the entire piazza. No one talked to each other, and there was no music of any kind, which I remember struck me because the group all seemed to be in step with each other. They were gone and out of sight as somberly as they arrived. 

On Italian Class in the Garden

As soon as the weather warmed up that winter ’82 semester, we all spent a lot of time in the back garden. Lunch picnics were daily. I found the photo of our beloved Italian language teacher (this was a required class, and no one complained. We all wanted to be able to speak Italian in our “adopted” country). I don’t remember her name, sadly. She was beautiful, fun and taught us very enthusiastically! She would hold class outside in the garden as much as she could. I had forgotten about the beautiful bougainvillea!

On Field Trips

The other photo [below] is of classmates enjoying a rest stop, during a school day trip. We all loved the school organized trips, either day or overnight. No one would think of skipping one. We had some amazing experiences, which we got to share together as new friends, and learn from the professors who organized the itinerary.

This was Jesse Shapiro’s term project for Professor Dorothea Barrett’s class Sex, Politics and Religion in Italian Literature.

The assignment is very open. You can do anything you like, so long as it is an original analytical engagement with something we read. Jesse’s project was about postmodernism. He writes in the style of Italo Calvino in If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, using the second person. The script is a reworking of the postmodern film Being John Malkovich, which I used as an example of postmodernism when explaining it to the class. In the film, people line up by a little Alice-in-Wonderland-type door. The door leads to a slide; you go down the slide and end up in the mind of the American film star John Malkovich. Malkovich may be doing anything at the time you enter his mind – making love, eating a sandwich, you name it. Fifteen minutes later (and this is my favorite bit), you are ejected from the mind of John Malkovich and dumped on the hard shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike. Jesse wrote a scene that wasn’t in the film but could have been.

Dr. Dorothea Barrett

Calvino’s “Being John Malkovich” not by Calvino, by Jesse Shapiro

If you chose to be here and not anywhere else at this specific moment in your life, I am very concerned for you. In fact, there might even be something wrong with you. You wonder what it is like to be someone else, which is normal. You never won an Oscar. You have never been on Broadway. People do not recognize you on the street. Odds are, you probably do not think you are “good enough” as it is. I mean, if you did, that would probably be a bad thing. People who think they are good enough are typically the worst kind of people.

Whatever the reason may be for your experience today, whether it be insecurity, desire, hatred, depression, sex, I will not judge you. If these feelings are common, I guess you are common as well. Is this bad? Well, that is not for me to say. I am simply the facilitator of questions. I am neither here nor there. Whatever you do, do not look at me like a salesman of any kind.

The fact of the matter is you are here right now. You are on the 7 and a ½ floor of an office building at a filing company, have waited in line for 8 hours with your head cranked to the side because the ceiling is 5 feet tall, and the time has arrived for you to step into the portal. The portal is a secret, but pretty much everyone knows about it. So, crouch down. Lower! Fling yourself inside the man that interests you more than you are interested in yourself. A sad thought truly.

To tell you the truth, which is a dangerous subject, most people waste their time there. 15 minutes. That is all you get. Baffles me that you are shocked that you got what you signed up for. You are inside the head of John Malkovich. He could be on the toilet, on the phone with his mother, having passionate sexual relations, or taking a nap. If you came without a plan, that is a waste of $250. Are you serious? Again, it baffles me. Maybe you will be different. This is what I tell myself. Most people are the same, though.

As I stare at you across the desk, I see someone who saw the ad to “Be John Malkovich for 15 Minutes” and thought to themselves, “wowwww, that sounds incredible.” Again, interesting. Most people do not even look at the ads in the newspaper. It is only out of some sort of desperation that they would take any sort of action.

To be John Malkovich is like being inside of a movie. Most of the people that come to my office claim to love movies. They love to talk about all the movies they have been planning to watch for ages, the movies they have been hunting for without success, the movies dealing with something they have been working on at the moment, the movies they want to own so they will be handy just in case, the movies they could put aside maybe to watch this summer, the movies they need to go with other movies, the movies that fill them with sudden, inexplicable curiosity, not easily justified.

Do people even get pleasure out of movies anymore? I find that all the movies today just get more and more and more screwed up in the head. Someone gets brutally murdered on screen and people laugh. Is this funny to you?

You look down and think that you do think that brutal murder is funny. Don’t you worry, it has already been established that you have a screw loose. Again, this is completely normal and there are no refunds here at the John Malkovich experience.

So you are looking at this portal that takes you into a man that has accomplished more than you have or will ever accomplish in your life. The wind shakes you to your core. The nervous energy is building up a little bit inside of you. Please do not be alarmed. Everyone experiences this feeling. You are not special. It almost feels like a slip and slide.

I see on the sign up sheet that you never wrote your name down, sir. “Why would I sign up? I mean, it seems like we are all the main attraction anyways.”

I ask the man again. “Sir, I need your name for tax purposes and in case you make a mad dash for it. We have a non-refundable policy.”

“My name… you want to know MY NAME!”

This man needs to calm down. You are always calm. “I am the art. I am the vision. I am the entertainment that everyone waits in line to see. You see, Craig, you really, really messed up.”

This guy is a classic lunatic that we get all the time at the John Malkovich Experience.

Nothing to worry about. Do not be alarmed in the slightest.

“I AM JOHN MALKOVICH,” says Mr. Malkovich.