SUF Italian department launches video contest for students to describe their experience abroad

The Syracuse University in Florence Italian department is curious to see what images and emotions students feel best represent their experience of full immersion in local life and culture. How do they see Italy? What images are prevalent in their minds? To this end, the department has challenged students to participate in a contest to make a short video that transmits the essence of their experience abroad.

The contest, titled “Frammenti: Video fragments of your life in Florence,” is the first of its kind offered at SUF. “This project was born from the idea that culture can be understood through images and that images define a culture,” says Loredana Tarini, coordinator of the SUF Italian department.

While in Italy, students visit a variety of sites—historical places such as the Uffizi, the Colosseum or a medieval casa torre, as well as arenas of contemporary Italy, such as an Italian high school, a modern home or a typical neighborhood market. Notes Tarini, “Even if they know little about Italian culture upon their arrival, they inevitably perceive some sense of Italy through these elements of ordinary life in Italy.”

Tarini and the other professors in the Italian department are convinced that interesting class discussions, in Italian, will result from such a project. “Seeing what captures the students’ imagination can inspire us in return because images not only document emotions, stories and impressions—they can inspire new viewpoints and ideas, changing how we interact with our students,” Tarini says.

Students must sign up to participate by Monday, Feb. 8, while the deadline for entries is Thursday, April 1. A jury of SUF faculty and staff members will announce the winner on Thursday, April 8. The winning video will be featured on the SUF website.