I consider myself a product of study abroad, as I spent long time in the U.K. and France during my university years as an English/French double major. My career choices were strongly informed by my experience abroad and, as such, today I am a strong proponent of studying abroad and of helping students develop intercultural competence skills (see page on Intercultural Communication & Competence). At Smith I have been fortunate to find an Italian curriculum built around a rigorous Junior Year Abroad program, the oldest U.S. program in Florence and the second-oldest in Italy, which I directed in 2011/12.
One of the highlights of the Florence program was the yearlong (credit-bearing) internship in the early-childhood education school system in Pistoia, where some students actively worked alongside Italian maestre, shadowing and helping them once a week in the classroom. The video below shows students giving their final presentation and discussing challenges and rewards of their experience.
In 2009 I created a blog called “Smithaly” (which I managed until 2013) with the intention to establish a direct line of communication and exchange with students in Florence. At a time when Facebook had only been around for a couple of years and Instagram had not been launched yet, my hope was to inspire 1st/2nd-year students who were considering studying abroad by showing them the variety of learning opportunities the program in Italy offered, for example the annual charity run “Corri la vita“. The blog also became a place where information about events organized by the Smith Italian Club and others in the area could be advertised.
In 2014/’15 I returned to Florence for a 1-year appointment with CEA Study Abroad. In my capacity as Academic Director of the Florence center, I interviewed, hired, trained, managed and supervised a team of 12 faculty members teaching courses in a variety of subjects (Italian language, literature and culture, but also Art History, Sociology, Social History, Communication, Food Studies, Sports Studies, Economics, Marketing Management, etc.) and also maintaining working relationship with U.S. faculty members leading their custom programs inFlorence. I also served as Academic Dean for the 100+ students who attended the program each semester and, together with the Center Director, I worked on revamping and repackaging the entire course offerings, which are still advertised on the website (HERE).
Below is the video I created about the 2014 edition of “Corri la vita”. This was used by the CEA Marketing Department for promotional purposes.