September 20, 2012
Like a growing number of St. John’s students, Alexander Johnson
’15TCB enrolled in Discover Italy: Rome Semester last spring for
one reason — to spend the term learning Italian language and
culture at the University’s residential campus in the
Eternal City.
Johnson knew the semester would include the program's first side
trip to Istanbul, the
largest city in Turkey. But he was not terribly excited by the
thought of visiting the metropolis. “I really wanted to study in
Rome,” he said. “Turkey just wasn’t a place I’d ever thought about
visiting.”
The
six-day trip changed his mind. “Istanbul is magnificent,” said
Johnson, a business management major from Milwaukee, WI. “The
sights and sounds were breathtaking — the bazaar, the mosques — but
it’s totally modern. I’d like to go again.”
Spring 2012 was the first time that St. John’s students were
able to experience Istanbul as well as Italy’s capital through
the University’s popular Rome Semester. The expanded program
continues this term, allowing another group to study Italian
language, history and culture before concluding with a five-day
visit to Turkey. The opportunity will be available again in Spring
2013.
Exploring Istanbul emphasizes the historic links between
Christian Europe and Turkey — a modern, stable Islamic democracy,
home to people of many nations and faiths. “The excursion exposes
students to an ancient crossroad between East and West,” said
Matthew Pucciarelli, Associate Vice President for
Global Studies. “Look at the history of Istanbul — Greek,
Roman; Christian, Muslim. It’s had an enormous influence on
Europe.”
“It’s the perfect complement to a semester in Rome,” said Erin
Nester, Assistant Director of St. John’s Rome campus. “They’re both
modern cities built upon layer after layer of antiquity.”
The program reflects St. John’s focus on using Study Abroad to
provide “a comparative education,” said Pucciarelli. “It’s the
notion that you have a better sense of a place when you use another
as a point of reference,” he explained. The Office of Global
Studies also applied the approach this fall by adding several days
in Morocco to its Discover France semester in Paris.
For Giuseppe Ferraro ’14TCB, last spring’s program was a chance
to experience a culture dramatically different from any he had ever
known. “It was like something out of a movie,” said Ferraro, an
accounting major from Levittown, NY. “The mosques are so beautiful,
very different from anything I’d ever known. If it wasn’t for this
program, I never would have seen it.”
Students interested in seeing Istanbul may
apply now for a seat in this spring’s expanded Discover Italy:
Rome Semester.