SU Florence celebrates ‘100 years’ of academic excellence in graduate studies

SU Florence celebrates ‘100 years’ of academic excellence in graduate studiesDecember 13, 2007Daeya Malboeufdmking04@syr.edu

A series of unique anniversaries recognizing the programs and faculty at Syracuse University Florence (SUF) will be combined for the two-day “Celebration of Excellence: 100 Years of Scholarship,” beginning Thursday, Dec. 13, in Florence. The 100-year figure comprises a combination of inter-related dates: 43 years of the graduate program in Florence, 36 years of professor Robert Hatfield’s tenure, and 21 years of the graduate symposium held each year.

The SUF campus is gearing up for a community-wide celebration, kicking off Thursday with a reception for more than 70 art history graduate alumni who have returned to Florence for the festivities, marking 43 years of the Fine Arts Graduate Program. Since 1964, SU’s Department of Fine Arts has conducted a special Master of Arts program devoted to the study of Renaissance art in Florence. It is the only Master of Arts art history program accredited in the United States in which most of the study — two of the three semesters — is conducted in Italy.

The evening event continues with a book presentation honoring SUF professor Rab Hatfield. Hatfield’s graduate students will present to him the book “Italian Art, Society and Politics: A Festschrift in Honor of Rab Hatfield,” on the occasion of his 70th birthday and also recognizing his 36-year tenure at SUF. The presentation will be made at the feet of Michelangelo’s David in the Galleria dell’Accademia. The Festschrift is the third book to be published in SUF’s Villa Rossa Series.

The third event in the celebration will take place, Friday, Dec. 14, at the Villa Rossa, the academic heart of the Florence campus, when the 2007 FIA graduate students present their theses at the public symposium “Processions and Pageantry in Renaissance Italy,” marking the 21st anniversary of the annual Florence Symposium.

“The Syracuse University Fine Arts Graduate Program is one of the most prestigious of its kind in the United States, and the possibility to study for one year in Italy makes it particularly appealing and different,” says SUF Director Barbara Deimling, who co-teaches a class to the fine arts graduate students. “The students’ experience serves as a point of departure for employment in the art world or continued studies in the most important Ph.D. programs. I am happy that we are able to celebrate this special program, as well as the academic achievements of its students and faculty.”

Joining the celebration are Jon Booth, executive director of SU Abroad; Gary Radke, professor of fine arts and director of SU’s Florence art history graduate program; Cathryn Newton, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences; and 75 SUF graduate alumni with their guests.