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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2002)
E BATlAn >ar with f 0r i iikes on the ; of the lu ities. n Nook to; 1 this jobasi ral Rudder. ' 1 a non-act nd basicalh' ' Universin made thei iatory, i till keeping in place! I be done.ai s ee if Icaij is that I Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Thursday, A ugust 1, t with wkl has degree' d William Universin rved as the ie George ovemmen from 1999 udents st> student u Jency. is relative e will be ssions with dammond it interest o!: art. I doni: rquires gtx tudents experienceHialian culture while participating in the stiidy abroad program dential $e; the meetir he three mi ■nee in all®: »ing Univenj •itten about:? lis seledio- ; on improi. and researdi research exce eriences in thi cQe^tysMd 1 ie has tki ised tl ms. ' or gradua to each loci campuses ti. Kingsvl ently offer hool, SRf dents, Dors come straif •ogram, wlrj with 15 to. id. “The J mid-60s. tude! 7650 By Vanessa Gill THE BATTALION An array of study abroad programs are acces- ible for students each semester. One increasing ly popular program at Texas A&M is the sum mer trip to Italy. Seventy Aggies embarked on a study abroad ourney to Italy during the first summer school session, beginning May 24 and concluding on July 3. The students, with an eclectic mix of majors ranging from architecture to internation- ■ al studies to journalism, lost their specific major inhibitions and thrived when given the opportu nity to study Italian music, art, archeology and politics in their most pure settings in the quaint medieval town of Castiglion Fiorentino. Students were given a choice of three classes: a music history class that allowed them to see an opera in Verona, a rock art dating class that pro vided a trip to see a prehistoric iceman in Bolzano, or a political science class that con trasted the differences between Italian and American politics and brought in guest lecturers for the students. The students were also required to take a mandatory art history class that would take them to famous churches and museums. The students did most of their art research on day trips to various surrounding cities as well as spending mornings in the on-site classrooms at Santa Chiara. According to Sharon Jones, program coordi nator at Santa Chiara, the program has been giv ing study abroad students an innovative cultural and learning experience since June 1989, when A&M opened the Santa Chiara Study Center. However, professor Paolo Barucchieri has pro vided art history classes for A&M in Italy since 1%2. Barucchieri is also the director of Santa Chiara and Italart, the non-profit cultural organ- fZStion that administers services and activities at thz study center. The center’s other event coordinators. Garnet Gott and Amanda Ross, put together a packed program, sending students to Florence, Rome, Siena, Assisi, Perugia and Venice. Students were able to view the actual “David” by Michaelangelo, and had an opportu nity to gaze at the Sistine Chapel while visiting the Vatican Museum. The group saw several churches and museums adorned in art only pre viously seen in books. Most weekends were left free for students to plan their own adventures. According to Katie Manship, a junior education major, those free weekends had many students fleeing for the beaches of the Italian Riviera. Others endured a long train ride followed by a ming ferry and a bus ride up a winding hill to see the shores of the breathtaking island of Capri. Throughout the overwhelm ing experience, the students kept journals of the places they vis ited and the art they wit nessed. Farah Chavez, a sen ior international stud ies major, found out the Pope was speak ing on theday the class would be at the Vatican museum in Rome and organized an alternative class trip for those interested. While all the learning was being recorded in school journals, other expe riences were being record ed in personal journal entries. “I am sitting in St. Peters Square in the Vatican City waiting to see the Pope,” Chavez wrote in her journal. “We got here around 9:15 and actu ally got seats up close. We didn’t have to buy tick ets or anything.” Chavez, an art enthusiast, said she was learn ing many interesting things about Italian art and the different time periods, having so much fun during school it seemed like a vacation. Since students were in class or on day trips in the morning, they would find themselves with free time to relax and enjoy the beauty of the Italian countryside or to take advantage of the chance for a siesta. Also during down time, many students would surrender to the solace and simply update their journals of that day’s sights and stories. Nicole Ajutala, a senior computer science major, recalls some of her most memorable moments. “I went to a small town called Padova all by myself after our class trip to Venice,” Ajutala said. It was there she recalls there was no shop ping, which many students sought on their free weekends. Ajutala just wanted to take in the scenery of the Italian college town that had not yet been tainted by tourists. “I was giddy there,” Ajutala said. “I could feel the romanticism.” She remembers there being no cars and the feel of the extremely laid-back atmosphere. She also took a trip to the Giotto Scrovegni Chapel while in Padova, on her own time, and saw the famous frescoes by the Italian painter, Giotto. “I walked in and saw the painting of ‘The Last Judgement’ in front and a painting of Jesus and God above and that was it — the chapel was stripped of everything else.” She also visited Bo Palace, the sec ond oldest college in Italy. It is also the alma mater of the first woman doctor. Although she wasn’t ready to be back in College Station yet, Ajutala did appreciate returning home. Upon arriv- ing back in the LUKE CARNEVALE • THE BATTALION States, stu dents shared their stories and pictures with friends and family. Although their once in a lifetime experiences have concluded, they are still able to re-live the memories in their journals and reminisce on the relaxed atmosphere in Italy. “It is nice to know stores and businesses are always open here in America, but part of me was really beginning to get used to just loung ing in a cafe on the Italian coun tryside in the lazy afternoons,” Chavez said. OPEN mmm m MTUEMY NOW OPEN! 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