(by Carol)
The title of the course I’m teaching is “Adoption & Adaptation: Florence Feminism and English Literature and Film“. It is cross-listed as both an English course and a Women’s Studies course. Curiously, none of the students registered for it as a Women’s Studies course; it’s curious because only one is an actual English major. (Note to Self: ask them why.) I have six students. They let me take their picture, and so here they are:
My Creative Students: Mariah, Jordan, Zoe, Lindsey, Jonathan, Aron
Initially, when I first proposed this special topics course, I argued, “Florence has long been a haven for British and American feminist discourse and debate over questions ranging from gender roles to sexuality, from anti-feminism and anti-anti-feminism to male-centricity and womansim.” That’s not quite true. That is: Italy as a country has been such a haven, and Florence is just one Italian city that has fueled it. Nevertheless, several points of history and fiction are set in Florence. For example, Renaissance humanist 
Giovanni Boccaccio (16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375), who devoted much of his writing to women, and who was from Florence, set the beginning of The Decameron inside the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. The course covers several works by both women and men (some feminists, some not)—from Italy, from England, and from the United States—from the late Middle Ages of England to the present, including The Little Hours, which is an improvisational film loosely based upon The Decameron‘s first and second stories of Day Three.
The class is located in an old building (are there any new buildings in Florence?), down the street from the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze (Academy of Florence Art Gallery). Students, faculty and staff have access to the building 24/7 (with a key card), which is nice. The building partially surrounds and has access (via several French doors) to a little courtyard where people can sit at tables and work or relax. Kent State University’s logo is all over the place (inside and out).
Kent State University Florence Institute Courtyard
Indeed, one day Pam and I were about to enter the building, and an American tourist shouted to her husband, “Look! Kent State University!” While the building definitely has a rustic, slightly decaying, aura about it, it also surrounds the visitor with antiquity and beauty. Just inside from the courtyard, through a choice of two sets of French doors, one enters a study that features some tables, a piano, and two couches.
Part of the ceiling of the study just inside from the courtyard.
More of the same ceiling (further away from the center and including two walls).
There is another lounge of sorts on the second floor, as well as several computer stations and a Reading Room — plenty of places for students to plop down and study or relax.
I am excited about teaching this class. These students seem to be very bright, eager, creative, and fun!