By Mary Jester
Asst. Campus Editor

A modernized 15th-16th century building with a courtyard and a terrace overlooking the Arno River in Italy will be the class setting for students studying abroad in Florence.

These students will have the opportunity to speak Italian and draw sites in Florence during this six week long visit, which begins June 19. Students will attend classes from 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. four days a week.

Anthony Tamburri, professor of Italian, said students from different backgrounds, interests and majors have participated in the program. It began in 1995 with four students and increased to 19 in 1999. Purdue is teamed with Arizona State University and Dominican University. Last year, there were approximately 100 students from the three schools combined.

Purdue students can earn six credits by taking two of the ten classes offered. Six of the classes are Italian language courses and the beginning level is offered for students who have not had Italian. Tamburri said some of the classes, such as Art and Culture in Renaissance Florence, offered in this program are not available at Purdue at this time.

One advantage to having these classes in Florence instead of at Purdue is the related experiences that are available in the city. Tamburri said students can practice speaking Italian while buying coffee or can go to art exhibits in museums instead of looking at slides.

Negin Almassi, a junior in the Schools of Science and Liberal Arts and participant of last summer's program, said students in the art history class are able to go to museums and see the art they are learning about in class. She said it makes students feel like they have more sources to look to because the buildings have an aesthetic value different from buildings here.

Courses are taught by Tamburri, Ben Lawton, professor of foreign language and literature here at Purdue and instructors from Arizona State and Dominican universities. The courses are taught in English. One course focuses on the influence of Italian on English literature and another focuses on masterpieces of Italian cinema.

The Art and Culture in Renaissance Florence is an interdisciplinary course where lessons on literature and art involve visits to museums. A drawing course is available to students regardless of whether they are beginners or advanced students. They will travel around Florence and visit museums to draw.

Almassi said she took the drawing class last summer as a beginner. She said having advanced art students in the class helped her learn how to go about doing a drawing. They used soft pastels and went to cathedrals and bridges to draw their assignments.

Tamburri said some students choose to go to Florence because they are interested in the Renaissance. "Some of it is personal background," he said in regard to students who have Italian heritage.

The two main museums in Florence are the Uffizi and the Accademia. Students will be able to see Botticcelli paintings and artwork by Michangelo and Leonardo DaVinci. Michelangelo's sculpture of David is in the Accademia.

Some other places that display famous art are the Duomo, a cathedral in Florence, the church of Santa Croce, the Medici chapel and Boboli Gardens.

The program includes two excursions, one of which is to the town of Siena and one is to the Tuscan countryside.

"Siena is very much preserved in medieval architecture," said Tamburri. The city hall in Siena is an example of medieval architecture and it has frescoes on its walls. Siena is a "walking" town with very little traffic.

In Tuscan, students will tour a local winery and eat at a nearby restaurant. Students will most likely be shown the facility from the stage where the grapes are squashed to the bottling. However, the harvest of the grapes is in the fall and the processing takes place in the winter, so students will see the facility but will not see the process actually taking place.

Almassi said she traveled during the program and had the opportunity to visit Sardinia, an island off the west coast of Italy, which was unique because of its unusual rocks and terrain.

Other students traveled to Sicily. Almassi said she took a gondola ride in Venice and got to see Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii.

For more information on the Florence, Italy, program or any other study abroad program, contact Jean Tyner, summer programs coordinator of Study Abroad, at 494-4994. Applications are due Feb. 1 and are available in the Study Abroad office.