From the Director

Hello! It has been a while since anything has been posted here; end-of-semester stuff plus some personal health issues have gotten in the way. However, in the run-up to the departure of the second session on June 23rd, our director Todd Harper has sent out the first of some general e-mails to help you prepare.

Ciao, Studenti,

We have exactly one month to go before we board a plane to Italy.

While four weeks might seem like a long time, you will be amazed by how quickly the time will fly before you suddenly find yourself in a bus as it turns a sharp corner and you see the Renaissance walls and old stone buildings, many built on ancient Etruscan sites, of Montepulciano rising high above wheat fields, vineyards, and olive groves. (It is absolutely breath taking.)

Over the next few weeks, I will send information about the program and preparing for the program. Feel free to respond to these emails with questions, and we (Emily, the Italy faculty, and I) will try to answer them to the best of our knowledge.

Right now, you should be doing four things to prepare for the program.

First, you should be preparing for your classes. Several of the faculty (most likely, all) have assigned you readings and exercises that need to be accomplished before leaving. DO THOSE NOW!!! This is the best time to get as much of your work done. When you are on the plane, you will find it difficult to concentrate, and when you are in Italy, you will want to be exploring Montepulciano and the rest of Italy as much as possible. Now is the best time to do as much work as possible.

Remember, first and foremost, this is a college program, and we expect you to do the work and to engage in the material like a college student.

Second, you should be preparing for the strenuous exercise. There are really only two directions in these beautiful Tuscan towns, up and down. And, if you go one way in Montepulciano, one of the steeper Tuscan hill towns, you have to return the other. In other words, you cannot avoid "up."

My advice is this: regularly hike steep hillsides and/or mountains. If you do not have hills or mountains, then work out daily on a stair stepper. Moreover, brace yourself for the heat. It will be hot and somewhat humid when we arrive in Montepulciano.

Third, you should begin packing. Although I will send out a list in the following weeks, I would like to remind you to pack as lightly as possible. Some of the cobbled streets are difficult to maneuver and almost all of the rooms in these old stone apartments are tight. In short, you do not want to be lugging heavy suitcases around Montepulciano or trying to squeeze them between two beds in your apartment. My best advice is to pack for no more than two weeks. There are enough inexpensive laundries as well as washers within the apartments to wash your clothes on a regular basis.

Fourth, check out books on Tuscany, Florence, and Rome. Montepulciano is in south-central Tuscany and reflects both the culture and history of this important region. Florence, where we will take at least three field trips, is the capital of Tuscany and, in a manner of speaking, the place where the Renaissance was born. When not fighting Sienna, Pisa, or any other of the regional Tuscan and Umbrian towns, it was often at odds with Rome and the papal state. We will travel to Rome at least three times to experience this very different side of Italy.

In short, by studying Tuscany, you will learn about the region where you will live for five weeks in the same way that a student moving to KSU, GCSU, UGA, or Georgia Southern might read about the South and southern culture. By studying Florence, you will be reading about Tuscany's "Atlanta." And, by studying Rome, you will be reading about modern Italy's "Washington, D.C." --Not a perfect analogy, but one that might help those who are unfamiliar with Italy to understand a little of the place he or she will be staying for five weeks.

One final note: I will send out roommate lists as soon as Heike, one of our contacts in Italy, finalizes the apartments.

In the meantime, feel free to email me, Emily, or one of your professors.

Dr. Harper