UNCA Students Spend Summer Studying in Italy

UNCA Students in Italy

Eleven UNC Asheville students are living and studying in an ancient hilltop city in Italy this summer, experiencing first hand what many students only read about their textbooks. The students, who arrived in late May, are midway through UNCA's first Perugia Summer Program, a part of the university's study abroad offerings.

The students are taking a mix of for-credit UNCA classes -- digital imaging, the medieval and renaissance world, and Shakespeare's Italian plays. This is no lightweight vacation, but rather an intensive learning community experience, says Alan Hantz, the UNCA mass communications professor who is teaching two of the courses. Early morning walking tours of churches, museums and Roman ruins are usually followed by lunchtime discussions, afternoon photo shoots, more walking tours, and evening digital imaging critiques or Shakespeare. Students often cook their evening meals together. In between, there's lots of reading, polishing of traveler's Italian, and learning the fine points of grocery shopping and laundromats.

The unseasonably hot weather, with temperatures often reaching the upper 90s, and the many, many miles walked have not dampened the students' enthusiasm. "I'm hot, my feet are dirty, and I'm having the time of my life," said Elizabeth Poole, 19, a psychology major and Teaching Fellow from Morganton. "Learning and experiencing a new culture has changed my outlook on life. By looking through a new set of eyes, I'm learning more about myself and this world around me."

Zack Allen, 24, a senior mass communication major and 1997 Asheville High graduate, agrees. "Studying in Italy has helped me understand features of both European culture and American society. Little differences, like the idea of personal space and the use of land and resources, are very interesting.

Perugia, located in the heart of Umbria in central Italy, offers a great home base. Founded by Umbrian tribes, Perugia became a walled Etruscan city state in the fifth century B.C. and was later occupied by the Romans. "This medieval city, which is about the size of Asheville, is rich in art, architecture and history. The opportunity for students to raise their eyes from their texts and see and touch and discuss what they just read about creates a synergy that is unmatched in the regular classroom," Hantz said.

"For a history major, what could be more wonderful than living in an apartment next to a medieval wall, walking each morning through an Etruscan arch, and seeing the remains of past civilizations all around us," said Emily Collins, 19, a Teaching Fellow from Chapel Hill.

The group is also spending some time on the road, visiting the hill towns of Cortona, Assisi, Gubbio and Siena. The group went to Florence in mid-June and recently returned from a weekend in Rome, where they toured the Coliseum, the Capital Hill Museums, the Forum, and the Vatican.

"When we stepped into the Sistine Chapel in Rome I was so overwhelmed with the vastness and beauty that I started to cry, said Tara Barone, 22, a 2000 A.C. Reynolds High School graduate majoring in mass communication. "When people describe being moved by a work of art, now I understand what that means."

Media Contacts:

• UNCA Public Information, 828/251-6526