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Several Ole Miss students who participated in the School of Journalism and New Media study abroad to Italy gathered for a group photo in Florence. Photo by Mark Dolan
OXFORD, Miss. — Each night in his Florence apartment, Mark Dolan opens the shutters on the screenless windows and lets the cool air drift through the cobblestone streets as he falls asleep to the sound of people talking four stories above.
“Many of[them]left the bars, some laughing, others arguing, and even though I don’t speak much Italian, I understood a lot,” said the University of Mississippi professor. “Their voice rises on the roof of the roof.”
Experiencing the Rhythm of Italian Life Joined Dolan, three colleagues and 52 Ole Miss students on a study abroad trip to Italy this summer.
An instructor teaches Ole Miss journalism students about the region’s wine varieties during their stay in Florence. Photo by Mark Dolan
Dolan, an associate professor of multimedia journalism in the UM School of Journalism and New Media, taught an 8 a.m. photography class, “Smartphone Marketing,” about shooting and editing on iPhones and using overlay and overlay techniques to create journalistic images. Good art.
“It’s kind of diving into a place, and then you realize you’ve only scratched the surface,” Dolan said. “… After the first photo category, most of the challenge was to escape the clichés – wine glasses, motor scooters and espresso cups. …
“It was professionally rewarding to try this out in a visually rich country. … The cities we lived in became vast classrooms, these real ancient Renaissance cities—Florence, Venice, Rome.”
Dolan said he hopes the experience enriches the students.
“Being in college is the perfect age to stand on your own in a world that’s completely different from anything you’ve ever known — and to be accountable to yourself and to deadlines in what are often 12-hour days,” he says.
“You realize yourself by being outside of yourself, paradoxically. It’s an amazing experience of transformation, of becoming, of enormous potential.”
The group spent three weeks in Florence, with side trips including San Gimignano, Chianti, Pisa and Venice. After leaving Florence, they spent four days in Sorrento and the last week in Rome, stopping at Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.
RJ Morgan, associate assistant professor of journalism and integrated marketing communications, who taught a course called “Writing in Voice,” marveled at how the students expressed their sights, sounds and emotions when first exposed to so many strange-but-beautiful settings.
It’s near the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, where Ole Miss students attend classes during summer study abroad programs organized by the School of Journalism and New Media. Photo by Mark Dolan
“Having the ability to slow down enough to the world around you and focus enough to write about it is a valuable skill both professionally and personally,” he said. “The more you are trained to notice and observe, the more vivid and lasting those memories will be.”
IMC Teaching Associate Professor Christina Sparks taught “Branding and Communication Strategies.” Students learned how to register and sell trademarks in different countries.
“They’ve got new brands as well as existing products,” Sparks said. “One example is Nutella. It’s an Italian brand that’s built well in Europe but sells differently in America.”
Students considered the cultural connections of global brands and presented their research to the class.
“You get to know them as they explore different cultures and develop a broader mindset, and you get a chance to be a part of their broadening perspective and deeper learning experience,” she says.
Jason Kane, Interim IMC Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, taught a class called “Global Communication Systems.” He enjoyed witnessing students go to Rome.
“It’s a huge city built in and on top of a very old city,” Cain said. “Many students find it very stressful, and many never recover from culture shock.
But, many of them do, and for the last couple of days, they’ve dug themselves into what I believe is one of the most beautiful cities on earth.
Ole Miss student Ben Johnson (right) in the Journalism and New Media School shares a meal with classmates during a trip abroad to Italy this summer. Photo by Mark Dolan
Cain hopes that students will understand that people are both different and similar, which creates opportunities and complexities in international communication. He hopes that students grow from stepping outside of their own experiences and that the trip leaves them excited and hungry for more adventures.
“There’s no doubt about the opportunity to travel around the world,” he said. “I’m constantly trying to find ways to make it more accessible to more students because I think when you’re in a place where you’re in a place where you can be more than just a tourist, it changes you.”
Cain says traveling abroad has changed him, and he’s seen similar growth in students.
“I hope at the end of the day, they better understand that in all these places around the world there are people who are no different than them, who have their own hopes, dreams and fears,” he said.
In fact, one Sunday in Rome, Dolan attended Mass with Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica. In line with a Wichita family, he realized he needed a ticket. So a South Korean priest generously gave him the extra dolan he had removed from his wallet.
“The family took my place and I ended up in the last row,” Dolan said. “There was a floor made up of small mosaic tiles from the 1600s – no wheels, no folding chairs – and I was listening to a living pope. so cool.”
Visit https://omjabroad.squarespace.com/about to learn more about this study abroad trip, courses offered, and future experiences at the School of Journalism and New Media.
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