One thing that we love doing at FRIT is showing off our students’ work and achievements. Since the beginning of remote teaching, many final papers have turned into video essays and other creative virtual feats. Below are some of these amazing projects for you to enjoy!
Eco-Poem Post Pandemic
Students in Italian 4224 engaged in communal writing to create a class poem. Giuliano Migliori explained the project:
“In our unusual Fall 2020 semester, during the Covid-19 pandemic, my students in Italian 4224: Environmental Italy engaged in conversation with several novels, articles, and diaries in order to trace how many Italian culture(s) depicted ecological crisis, including effects of pandemics. We traced the origins of endemic fears in Boccaccio’s Decameron and the Early Modern histories of ‘Lazzaretti’ (public hospitals with infectious diseases departments), examined documentaries on toxic disasters in Seveso, Taranto, and Napoli, and read Paolo Giordano’s diary novel Nel Contagio (How Contagion Works, 2020). Students investigated these ‘natural worlds’ in alignment and/or contrast with urban communities in their social, political and economic developments. We also discovered ‘another Italy’ in the musical flash mobs from the balconies and in the words floating around empty public squares.
Our last day was dedicated to crafting our own wishful eco-poem to the Italian landscape. This was one of the most heartfelt experiments of creative communal writing I have experienced.”
Nella piazza della sofferenza
ho intravisto una resistenza
tra i balconi l’abbraccio di un’ amica
tornando a sentire un’aria pulita
ma ti vedo sei stanca,
(sì, sempre) della stessa mancanza (di vita).
Ma vivresti se avessi un pochino di fede,
o un po’ di speranza
passando il tempo con la famiglia
che ci è mancato
camminando tra le strade
e sentire la gente ridere.
La tecnologia è diventata la nostra salvatrice
la possibilità di nuove connessioni, forse
stiamo provando a trovare
il passato nell’ora.
Con le espressioni coperte da una maschera
indossiamo i nostri cuori sulle maniche,
stiamo cavalcando sulla stessa onda.
A glimpse of resilience
I saw in the midst of sorrow
Between the balconies a friend’s hug
Feeling fresh air anew
Yet I see that you are tired
(yes, as always) lacking the same sense (of life)
But you would live if you had just a little faith
Or a bit of hope
Spending time with your family
Something we all missed
Walking on the streets
Hearing people laughing
Technology has turned into our savior
With new opportunity to connect, perhaps
We are looking to find
The past in the Now
Our hearts are worn on our sleeves
With our expressions covered by a mask
Riding on the same wave - together.
On Themes from Italian 3051: Italian Romances
Students in Italian 3051, a GE course on Italian Romance taught by Professor Combs-Schilling, created some very cool final projects. Nathan Kudlapur used action figures to create an "untold" story from Ariosto's Orlando furioso, one of the main texts that the class read during the semester.
Carlie Shearer created this video that summarizes the major themes of the class and ties them in beautifully to our current experience of quarantine.
French Cuisine
Students of Professor Heller prepared very interesting French dishes for French 3403: La Cuisine Française: Gastronomic Culture, Language, and Expression.
Maddie Davis prepared and narrated an ambitions French meringue pastry known as "Le Concorde."
Kyle Yates prepared and discussed various chocolates, known as "Mousse au Chocolat" and "Chocolat Chantilly."
On Cats, in French
Miranda Rike turned her cats into movie starts in her final project for French 3103: French Conversation with Professor Marx-Scouras.
Italian Recipes
Students in Italian language program classes (Italian 1101-1103) had the opportunity to create extra credit projects where they explained and prepared their favorite Italian recipes. Check out this delicious compilation of their submissions, edited by FRIT’s work-study student Deja Russell.
On Camus
Emily Heiser created this final project French 5403: Albert Camus: A Writer for Our (All) Time(s) with Professor Marx-Scouras. It is a beautiful tribute to French, film studies, and Camus, and is also linked to current events.
Merci, Jacques Ferrandez
Author Jacques Ferrandez visited Professor Marx-Scouras’s French 5403 and 2101.01 Honors classes to discuss his work on Camus and his personal and artistic position “between two shores”. Students sent these responses to Ferrandez as a thank you. You can learn more about the visit at Avec Ferrandez.
