Professor Alice Cone, Department of English instructor, will be teaching the course Traveling and Writing at the Florence Summer Institute during the June session.
Professor Cone first started teaching at the Florence Summer Institute due to what felt like luck back in 2017. At the time, she didn鈥檛 know much about the program, until one of her colleagues from the Stark campus, who was supposed to teach Writing Across Borders at the Florence Summer Institute, was unable to go and Cone volunteered to teach the course in his place. Discovering a passion for the Florence Summer Institute program, Cone proposed the Traveling and Writing course when education abroad programs resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Traveling and Writing in Florence, Italy
The course Traveling and Writing is split up four ways, each week focusing on a different subject. Each year Professor Cone makes a large packet of readings students can pick from over the length of the course to read and discuss each week. The first week centers on writings that have to do with art, myth, and religion, since those topics are prominent in Florence. Two days a week, she takes her class on site visits in the city; the other two days they are in the classroom. On those days, students are supposed to pick a reading and respond to it in writing, then discuss their reading of choice as a class. The second half of the class is spent sharing writings they have done, such as a poem or a page or two of non-fiction. The other two days are spent visiting sites like The Hospital of the Innocents Museum, which used to be a foundling hospital in Florence that bankers supported. The class will also visit the Etruscan and Roman ruins in the hillside town of Fiesole, the English Cemetery, and Casa Guidi, home of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
The class allows students to write in any genre and explore writings from both Italians and English-speaking writers who have traveled to Italy.
Learn more about Professor Cone's course and other courses available during the Florence Summer Institute.
Professor Cone鈥檚 Goal With Traveling and Writing
Professor Cone has found that students who have taken Traveling and Writing are excited and engaged with the material. A large portion of the class is walking around Florence and visiting different landmarks, with the class stopping for gelato if the walk is long. Professor Cone hopes students leave the class with an understanding of how big the world is and the mindset to get outside of their comfort zone. Exploring Florence and learning about history and different people鈥檚 stories helps broaden the mind, she emphasized.
Professor Cone鈥檚 Favorite Part 91福利 Florence
Professor Cone鈥檚 favorite part about teaching in Florence each summer is taking her students to visit the caretaker of the English Cemetery, where students get to learn more about writers like Dante, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, other expat women in Florence during the time of the Italian Liberation, and more. Professor Cone is also currently writing a piece about the retired scholar who is the cemetery鈥檚 custodian and what it is like to live at the English Cemetery in Florence.
When Professor Cone takes her classes to the old Roman amphitheater, she asks if students want to get up on stage and read anything to the class. It is a good place to hang out, since hardly anyone else is there in the daytime. During the evening, the city of Fiesole will have concerts and performances there.
Learn more about opportunities to study abroad in Florence, Italy.
Recommendations for Students Studying Abroad in Florence, Italy
Professor Cone strongly recommended students try to visit museums and artwork that are not part of their course work. She encourages students to visit the Uffizi Art Gallery in Florence and see artworks like Botticelli鈥檚 The Birth of Venus and his Primavera and paintings by Raphael and others that can be found nowhere else. She also suggested students should try to watch the sunset from the bridges of the Arno River, and wander around the city in the evening with friends to hear street musicians.
In terms of food, Professor Cone recommends students try as much different food as possible, since there is so much good food in Italy. Her favorite restaurant from the past year is Il Pavone, which she and some of her colleagues stumbled upon randomly.
Advice For Education Abroad Students
Professor Cone advises students planning to study abroad to bring good walking shoes and sunscreen and to dress for the weather. She also said students should be open to trying new things, while also pacing themselves so they don鈥檛 get burnt out in the first week. There is much to see and experience while studying abroad.
Interested in the Florence Summer Institute? Head over to the Office of Global Education鈥檚 website for more information.