See Italy through the eyes of 12 college students and two professors in a photo exhibition titled “IN-SITU: In the Place. - Italy Summer Study Abroad 2008” on display Aug. 12 through Aug. 28.
This Bosque Gallery exhibition features the photographic journeys of Lone Star College-CyFair’s first summer abroad trip in southern Italy, where students were immersed in a new culture for a month while earning college credit. Proceeds for the sale of their work will go toward a Lone Star College-CyFair Study Abroad Scholarship Fund.
Professor Rob Coyle taught his Western Civilizations History class as part of a “Learning Community” with Professor Buck Buchanan’s World Geography class. Approximately half of the time was spent in classrooms at the Vesuvian Institute of the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation in Castellammare di Stabia, with the other half spent bringing coursework to life as they explored ancient Roman culture and Europe’s most famous volcanoes.
The professors and students kept a blog of experiences as they worked on one of the Stabian villa archeology projects, visited Pompeii, Herculaneum, various sites and museums in Naples, Capri, Amalfi, Paestum, Mount Vesuvius, Monte Faito and Sorrento; and took trips to the Vatican, the Roman Fora and Tuscolo.
One of Coyle’s blogs describes a typical class as similar to teaching at home with a digital projector, presentation slides and classroom discussions, but “the really neat part is being able to run to the windows and show students something that relates to the material. This morning, while discussing agriculture in ancient Greece, I pointed out several small farms which are visible on the hillside next to the Institute. A few minutes ago, while discussing climate, Buck sent students to the window to describe the clouds atop Vesuvius.”
One of Buchanan’s blogs describes a lesson on volocanology, plate tectonics, continental drift theory, plate boundaries and more from the crater rim of Mount Vesuvius where they “gazed upon the ruined towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, peered into the depths of its crater, and watched wonder and curiosity converge in an experience that they will never forget.
There is no better laboratory to study this than atop the rim of Mount Vesuvius … This is experiential learning at its best.”
LSC-CyFair student Belsis Romero’s blog describes learning in a different way for the first time in which her “school supplies were my senses, which allowed me to embrace the new academic material. I cannot physically take home with me the nature, people, Villas, and all the wonderful things of Castellammare, but I can take the experiences with me. They are my prized treasure I have gotten here in Italy. Everyone speaks about the greatness of this Study Abroad in Italy, because it truly is great. It changes your perspective of life in so many ways, that you can never be the same.”
Other students blog their experiences of practicing their Italian; seeing the beauty of the Athena Temple in person, a colossal structure only previously seen in books; living a dream with a mini-internship in a pastry shop and getting Italian recipes; walking the streets of Roma (even with a knee injury) and seeing the sites where so many people have tread before her, Cicero, Nero, Caesar and so much more.
Meet the professors and student photographers to hear their stories in person at a closing reception set for 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28 in the lobby of the Center for the Arts on the Barker Cypress campus at 9191 Barker Cypress.
For information on this Italy Study Abroad trip, the study abroad scholarship or to check out more on the professor and student blogs, go to CyFair.LoneStar.edu/italy.
For information on the Bosque Gallery, call 832-482-1038 or go online to CyFair.LoneStar.edu/bosquegallery.