Summer in Urbino, Italy: Documenting a Community
Summer 2012: June 1 to June 30 (tentative dates)
Program Location
THE TOWN
Urbino is a picturesque Renaissance hill town and the capital of the Marche region of central Italy. Although Urbino was a Roman and medieval city, its peak came during the 15th century when Duke Federico da Montefeltro established one of Europe's most illustrious courts. Its impressive Ducal Palace houses one of the most important collections of Renaissance paintings in Italy. Urbino’s university is a center for maiolica ceramics, art, and culture. Urbino's historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
THE REGION:
Le Marche is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. It is located in the central area of the country, bordering Emilia-Romagna (the culinary capital of Italy) and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany to the north-west, Umbria to the west, Abruzzo and Lazio to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Except for river valleys and the often very narrow coastal strip, the land is hilly. Adriatic beaches are a mere 23 miles away. In the nineteenth century, a railway from Bologna to Brindisi linked the Marche along the coastline of the entire territory. Inland, the mountainous nature of the region, even today, allows little communication north and south, except by rough roads over the passes.
THE UNIVERSITY OF URBINO:
The university was founded in 1506, and currently has about 20,000 students, many of whom are from overseas. The university has no central campus as such, and instead occupies numerous buildings throughout the town and in the surrounding countryside. The University of Urbino has traditionally given precedence to studies in the humanities, and is especially renowned for its courses in Italian language.
Academic Program
Students will join a team of media professionals creating a web documentary on the town of Urbino, Italy. Students become immersed in a town and culture by developing a web documentary or webzine on local issues pertaining to culture, social issues and citizenship. During this four-week program, students learn
- How to write for the web
- How to take great digital photos
- How to shoot and edit quality video
- How to design sharp web pages
- The ins and outs of intercultural communication
- How to work as part of a production team
The program occurs in cooperation with The Institute for Education in International Media’s (ieiMedia) Urbino Program. As part of this program, the Institute provides basic language classes and interpreters for fieldwork. You'll work in assigned production teams, using computers, digital cameras, and video cameras. Students are required to bring their own laptop computers. JMU students participate with students from other institutions and are led by a JMU professor who coordinates their involvement during the four weeks. The JMU Summer in Urbino Program is open to all majors at JMU.
Instructional methods include lectures, guided tours, and field work. The experience will be a combination of lectures and field-based experiential learning. Students will participate in three learning modules; reporting, photography and videography. Each student will create a multimedia news feature story on some person or issue in the town of Urbino. Stories will contain text, photo slideshows and video segments. They will be assessed based on qualitative assessment of their work. Classes will be held in a University of Urbino classroom. University students will serve as interpreters. There will also be an Italian language and culture class, for no credit, taught by an instructor at the University of Urbino. The University of Urbino will also provide housing and meals.
Tentative course offerings:
- SMAD 305:
Web Documentary Production
(3)
Section 1: Multimedia Reporting
Students will study photography, international reporting and video skills and create an online magazine about the community.
Section 2: Magazine Production
Students will study magazine writing and create a magazine about the community.
Students in both sections will work on skills critical for successful
journalism, including the basics of finding and reporting compelling stories with words and images. Students will be coached by a Pulitzer Prize-winning staff in writing and photojournalism as well as online video. They will learn how to navigate as professional journalists in a foreign culture by working with interpreters and crafting ready-to-publish features and news stories.
Accommodations
Our classroom and lab set-up will be in the College Tridente. Students will be housed in resident halls/dormitories in single rooms with shared bathrooms. There is free wi-fi access in the residence hall. Three meals a day are included in the program price, and the cafeteria is adjacent to the residence. Program offices will be in the residence. Interpreters will be provided while doing fieldwork.
Program Costs
For the current projected costs for this program, please click on the following link to the Fees for JMU Study Abroad Programs page.
Application
For more detailed instructions and to download the application, please click on the following link to the Applications and Forms section for JMU Short-Term Programs.
A 2.0 minimum GPA is required to apply to the program.
For More Information
For additional information about the
Summer in Urbino, Italy: Documenting a Community program, please contact the program director:
Steven D. Anderson
SMAD Director/Professor
School of Media Arts and Design
Tel: 540-568-3032
E-mail: anderssd@jmu.edu
|
