The First Ten Years
By Kristi Hubbard
This 4th of July, instead of watching fireworks and celebrating
America’s independence, a group of Emory faculty, staff
and students chose to spend the holiday in Siena, Italy dining
with colleagues, celebrating “Education, Collaboration,
Innovation” and the first ten years of the cooperation agreement
between Emory University and the Università degli Studi
di Siena (the University of Siena, a.k.a. “Unisi”).
The morning began with an official signing ceremony in which Emory
President James Wagner and Siena’s Vice Rector Professor
Vittorio Santoro reinforced the agreement already in place for
the past ten years and solidified a commitment for the future
exchange of students and faculty.
The day’s festivities continued with a series of presentations
from illustrious Emory and Siena representatives, including President
Wagner and Dr. Dennis Liotta from Emory’s Chemistry Department,
as well as Francesco Ricasoli, CEO of Barone Ricasoli Agricola
Spa, a vineyard in the Chianti region near Siena, and Dr. Rino
Rappuoli of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics in Siena.
The activities culminated with President Wagner’s visit
to the Emory Chemistry Studies summer study abroad program where
he heard from the students about their life-changing and scientifically
inspiring study abroad experience.
The History of the Partnership
Emory’s collaboration with the University of Siena began
well before Summer 2008. Today’s partnership grew out of
a relationship that spans more than a decade, between Judy Raggi
Moore from Emory’s Italian Studies, Luigi Marzilli from
Emory’s Chemistry Department, and Renzo Cini from the University
of Siena’s Chemistry Department. Since that time, numerous
other Emory faculty have been involved in the evolution of the
partnership, including Preetha Ram, Daphne Norton, Matthew Weinschenck,
Tracy Morkin, and Michael McCormick. The program would not be
where it is today without the extraordinary efforts of the Unisi
Chemistry faculty – namely, Renzo Cini, the driving force
behind Unisi’s involvement, and Gabriella Tamasi who has
been with the Emory summer program since its inception and who
was also an exchange student at Emory during Fall 2005. These
faculty and their colleagues have provided the energy, infrastructure
and academic support needed to take the partnership from its early
beginnings as a semester exchange program to its current summer
program configuration grounded in the study of Chemistry and scientific
inquiry.
The Study Abroad Programs
Emory’s Chemistry Studies summer program was created in
2004, stemming from the desire of Emory College and its Center
for International Programs Abroad (CIPA) to diversify the options
for study abroad students in general and to create offerings for
under-represented science students, since they typically do not
study abroad as often as humanities and social science majors.
While in Italy, the Emory students observe and conduct experiments
with Italian students and faculty in the Unisi laboratories and
also take field trips to places like Colle di Val d’Elsa
(best known for glass factories and crystal production), San Gimignano
(a medieval hill town in Tuscany) and Florence.
According to Nicholas Justice, this summer’s program assistant
and a 2006 program participant, “The summer program gives
Emory Chemistry students the opportunity to learn scientific concepts
not readily accessible to them at Emory, like the rigorous methods
of laboratory wine analysis or the techniques of restoring major
pieces of Italian Medieval and Renaissance artwork.”
CIPA also offers a longer study abroad experience for Chemistry
majors. This semester study abroad program offers qualified students
the opportunity to study Italian in an intensive one-month program
at the Università per Stranieri di Siena (“School
for Foreigners”), spend a month interning in the wine-making
industry at the Barone Ricasoli vineyard, and then study and research
chemistry in the Unisi laboratories, earning credits towards the
Emory degree.
“The semester program is an even more rigorous immersion
in the Italian scientific community and Italian culture in general.
I found that my experience really turned me onto the joys of being
a researcher and also opened my eyes to the importance of international
cooperation in science. It’s really exciting to share and
to learn about different approaches and methods, and in the end
the experience makes you a more autonomous, more independent,
and a more human scientist,” explained Justice.
Unisi at Emory
During late Summer 2008, Unisi Chemistry faculty Gabriella Tamasi
and Agnese Magnani led a group of six Unisi graduate students
to Atlanta for a three-week program. The Italian group was heartily
welcomed by the Emory Chemistry department whose faculty hosted
a series of scientific activities, lectures, and lab tours. Academic
field trips included tours of the CDC and Yerkes Primate Center,
FOB synthesis at Kennesaw State University, and demonstrations
in the labs of Coca-Cola. The Unisi students also had a taste
of Atlanta through excursions to a Braves game, Stone Mountain,
and Little Five Points.
Not only was the program of educational and cultural benefit to
the Unisi students, but it was also an opportunity for Emory faculty
and students who might never participate in a study abroad program
to have part of the experience brought to them. It was also a
great way for the Emory students who had been in Siena over the
summer to give back to their former hosts. A partnership that
already offered strong science opportunities for Emory students
has now evolved into a pioneering relationship, establishing Emory
as a study abroad destination for Italian students.
The Model Partnership
Why study science abroad? Why Siena? Preetha Ram, assistant dean
for Science in Emory College’s Office for Undergraduate
Education, states, “When students work in research labs
and interact with faculty and research groups abroad, they not
only learn new science skills but also return with new professional
networks that are sure to benefit them in their later professional
years. As we searched for strategies to encourage young scientists
to broaden their horizons and acquire an appreciation for different
cultures, in addition to learning about atoms and molecules, we
found a visionary partner in the University of Siena. Together
we designed the programs that present a rigorous and integrated
perspective of science and global cultures, and together we uncovered
obstacles and found strategies to bridge the gap of two educational
worlds.”
According to Philip Wainwright, CIPA’s executive director
and Emory College’s associate dean for International and
Continuing Education, the relationship between Emory and Unisi
is a true partnership between two world-class institutions. “Our
institutions can be justifiably proud of what has been created
by this partnership, and we look forward to a promising future
of collaborative programming that will build upon these strong
foundations.”
Kristi Hubbard is the director of the Center for International Programs
Abroad.
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