Florence Summer Program

 

a partnership with Studio Art Centers International.

Apply now for our new and expanded 6-credit program.

Dates: May 21 to June 19 (4+ weeks)

A 6-credit Program - Two 3-credit courses run concurrently:

1. Florentine Art & Culture, Museum and Library Research and Documentation now in its 6th year and

2. Cultural Heritage Conservation - taught by SACI faculty, the leading Italian conservators - Roberta Lapucci and Nora Marosi. The course focuses on paper conservation for rare books and manuscripts - see course description below.

Program Costs:

Tuition: $2,700 for each 3-credit course
International fee: $350
Application fee: $50 for non-Pratt students only.
Housing: $1,470 SACI Florence Apartment for duration of program - about 4 weeks, double occupancy.
Air fare: about $800, Students make their own travel arrangements.

Application: Download the application form, fill-out, and email completed form as well as materials indicated on the form to:
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Financial Aid and Scholarships: As a 6-credit program, students accepted are eligible to apply for financial aid. Two Twining Fellowships: Florence will be awarded on a competitive basis.

Florence courses apply to the following programs:

Museum Libraries Certificate
Archives Certificate
Rare Books and Special Collections
Art Librarianship
Dual-degree with History of Art

Course Information

Florentine Art & Culture, Museum and Library Research and Documentation 

This 3-credit course is part of our new 6-credit Florence program with SACI.  Experience life at the intersection of art, architecture and information. Immerse yourself in Florentine culture through its museums and libraries. Develop your knowledge and skills attending lectures and demonstrations and carrying out research.  Whether you aspire to being a librarian or art historian, this course will enrich your understanding, placing you at the heart of your profession. 

When the museums, libraries and cultural sites of Florence become your workplace - research becomes your passion. Subito - a real leaning experience occurs. With visits to the great churches, museums, archaeological sites, libraries, and parks of Florence, students document their research with photographs, drawings, and notations to be included in an extensive visual diary from which they identify a research theme illustrating a collection of related artifacts.
LIS students produce a museum exhibition catalog drawn from thier daily research and experiences.

This course builds upon SILS nationally acclaimed program in "cultural informatics" and also its successful seven-year track record as a  partner for LIS education with NYPL Research Libraries (HSSL and Performing Arts) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  As an interdisciplinary program with architecture, it brings together the study of art, architecture, museum and library research and digital technology.  Importantly, it responds to student interest in international programs in the arts and the need for students to bring broad cultural perspectives and cultural experiences to their studies.  This course supports SILS Museum Library Certificate.

Course Project: Drawing upon the city's rich cultural resources, students develop topics for exploration and research selecting a representative group of art objects from museums and cultural sites using Florentine libraries to document and explore their topics. Based on their research, students will produce an exhibition catalog.

 
Global Contexts: Today, museums and libraries live at the intersection of arts and technology.  It is at this point of convergence, that we define the field of "cultural informatics" and where archives, special collections, and media collections become accessible to a broader public.  The arts and information science depend increasingly on global cooperation and understanding to support international projects and research.  This program will help prepare students to work in these new global cultural environments.

View the Course Syllabus

Schedule

(consult syllabus for daily schedule)
Summer 09 expanded schedule to be added soon!
Below is summer 08:
Dates: May 21 -June  12  Plan to arrive the Thursday or Friday before the program begins on Monday May 25.
Students have the option of arriving earlier but must make sure that they have made housing arrangments.
Florentine Art & Culture meets: Mon., Wed. and Fri.
Cultural Heritage Preservation meets: Tues. and Thurs.
May 21, Thursday - Arrive in Florence.  Participate in the SACI orientation program.
May 25, Monday -  A walking architectural tour of Florence guided by Prof. Caradonna.
Institute Schedule: Three weeks, Monday, Wednesday and Friday (approx. 9AM-5PM), times may vary by day depending on library and museum schedules.
Week 1-2: Lectures/demonstrations by curators and librarians at museums, libraries and archives in Florence enriched by seminar sessions.  Students learn not only about Florentine art, but the resources and documentation for its study, as well as Italian perspectives on art and information. By the end of the first week's activities, students should identify their topic/ theme of interest on which their course project will be based. 
Week 3: Students do research at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, the Uffizi Library and other art libraries on topics based on the art and culture of Florence and the library's collections.  Each student produces a final project in the form of a research and exhibition catalog based on the student's topic/ theme.

Class Visits

Fiesole - Morning visit to Casalini Libri and afternoon visit to Villa I Tatti.
Sienna - Guided by guided by Professor Anthony Caradonna, students will study the art and architecture of this magnificent medieval town.
Rome - Cultural Heritage Conservation class visits Rome. Students may also choose to spend a weekend in Rome. Among the many site students visit are the Vatican, and the Villa Medici.

Research Sites

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Fienze - Reading Room (Students obtain library cards for regular study at the BNCF.

Uffizi Library - is part of IRIS- Consortiumof art history and humanities libraries in Florence.  Established since 1993, it is composed of the Berenson Library; the library of the Dutch University Institute for Art History in Florence; the library of the Uffizi; the library of the Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell'Arte R. Longhi; the library of the Instituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento; the library of the Officio delle Pietre Dure; and the library of the Università Internazionale dell'Arte. 

Uffizi Gallery- The Uffizi Gallery, founded in Florence in 1581 by the De Medici family, is one of the oldest museums in the world containing many important works of Italian and other schools dating from between the 14th and 18th centuries, including the largest existing collection of Tuscan Renaissance paintings.  Virtual Uffizi, the complete catalog - http://www.arca.net/uffizi/

Archivo di Stato Di Firenze

Cultural Visits

During the first 2 weeks of the Institute, we visit important museums and art libraries and of Florence, dividing our time between the study of art and artifacts, cultural landscape, art documentation and bibliographic resources.
Libraries, a sampling
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale
Uffizi Library
Biblioteca Laurenziana
Villa Berenson /I Tatti (Harvard University)
Fondazione Roberto Longhi
Biblioteca dell’Universita degli Studi di Firenze
Monuments, a sampling
Santa Croce / Cappella dei Pazzi
Santa Maria Novella / Chiostri
Santa Maria del Fiore / Campanile di Giotto
Battistero di San Giovanni
Cappelle Medicee / Chiesa di San Lorenzo
Orsanmichele
San Miniato al Mont

People

Tula Giannini, PhD, MLS, MM. Dean Pratt-SILS.  Coordinator,  Pratt-SILS International Programs.

Course Instructor: 
Professor Anthony Caradonna, Associate Professor
Pratt School of Architecture; email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Professor Caradonna is a graduate of Pratt Institute and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is a partner in his own firm OPUS X LLC, a recipient this year of an ID Magazine furniture award. He has taught at Parsons School of Design, Columbia University, Cornell University and since 1993 Pratt Institute where he served as Undergraduate Chair of the Department of Architecture and was the Rome Program's coordinator and is currently a member of the Rome faculty. 
Professor Caradonna's design firm founded 1997 is an interdisciplinary firm specializing in architecture, interiors, lighting, and furniture, textile, and object design.  His in-depth knowledge of Italian art, design and architecture as both a practitioner, artist and researcher, makes him ideally positioned to teach this interdisciplinary course so that it speaks to both students of art, architecture and information from buildings and monuments of Florence to its museums and libraries.

 

 

Application

The Institute is open to students enrolled in graduate programs or holding graduate degrees in library and information science, the arts and humanities, interested in research in the Art and Culture of Florence.  We encourage students to apply as early as possible as a maximum of 16 students will be accepted to the program.  Fill out the application form and include a resume indicating undergraduate degree, graduate study and or graduate degree(s), related work experience and a statement on professional goals and your interest in the Florence program.Your full name, address, e-mail and telephone number. Send application and materials to: Florence Program: Pratt Institute, School of Information & Library Science, 144 West 14th Street - 6th floor, New York, NY 10011.

Contact

For further information or questions - email the Pratt-SILS office: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 212-647-7682.

Cost

Application fee: Non Pratt students should include a $50 application fee.

International fee: all students pay a $375 international fee which applies to student activities, dinners and events.

Tuition for the course is that of a 3-credit course  = $2,850.

Deposit - Once a student is notified of acceptance, a $400 deposit will be required to hold a place in the course.  The deposit will be applied toward the course tuition.

Full Payment - Payment in full is due by April 15.

Course Registration

SILS students register for LIS 697- Florentine Art & Culture: Museum and Library Research & Documentation.

Send application forms and payments to:
Florence Program, School of Information & Library Science, Pratt Institute 144 West 14th Street  6ht floor,
New York, NY 10011.                             

RT Airfare to Florence:  Students make their own arrangements for travel to Florence to accommodate  individual travel needs, departure cities and return dates. Students are encouraged to book early and to use agencies that offer student fares or other special rates. 
Estimated RT airfare New York/ Florence - $750.

Two Twining Fellowships

Each $3,600 fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis - one to an LIS student and one  to an architecture student.  Fellowship students are required to carry out a research project focused on the Medici of Florence.

Resources

Several weeks before the course begins, we will post readings, online resources and course daily schedule of events, visits and lectures.  The course will be taught in English; however, reading ability in Italian is helpful.

Accommodations

We recommend that Florence students stay at the SACI apartments. The cost for a double occupancy room is $1,470 for the length of the program - May 21 to June 19.  For an additional $500 students may select a single room.  For other accommodations see course syllabus under "practical matters."

Cultural Heritage Conservation

Students learn about the conservation of paper artifacts including art on paper, archival materials and books. Students consider conservation from the perspective of both theory and practice and learn, for example, about developing preservation strategies, undertaking interventive conservation such as repair or chemical treatments, working with museum professionals and being advocates for conservation to the wider community. Students learn about conservation methods and techniques in the context of today's diverse cultural environments and carry out some basic conservation treatments to paper objects with sensitivity to key issues and values of the conservation field and its importance in the world of libraries, museums and archives.
Click here for Course syllabus general outline..

Contact

Please address your questions to:
Quinn Lai, Research and Academic Assistant
School of Information and Library Science
Pratt Institute
144 West 14th St.  6th. fl.
New York, NY 10011
email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)