Jeffrey DuBlois of Exeter, N.H., has received two scholarships to attend the Lorenzo de Medici Art Institute of Florence (Italy) for the Fall 2005 semester. DuBlois, a senior humanities major at Plymouth State University, was awarded a scholarship of more than $6,000 by Study Abroad Italy (SAI) and the Lorenzo de Medici Art Institute. According to Susan Dunphy Mall of SAI, the scholarship decision was based on DuBlois’ grades, family income, recommendations and personal statement. The Barbara Willey ’37 Endowment for International Study Scholarship from Plymouth State provides a stipend that will cover his air fare and other travel expenses.
“I tend to focus on art history and philosophy,” DuBlois says. “But I try to stay very well rounded in the humanities.” The PSU humanities major is an interdisciplinary program that includes the study of seven academic disciplines: art history, foreign languages, history, literature, music, philosophy and theatre. For his studies in Florence, DuBlois will be earning three credits each of philosophy and English, and six credits of history toward his major.
The trip has been in the works for a year. Last September, at a gathering of humanities professors and students, conversation arose about what new experiences DuBlois should pursue. “DuBlois is a French name, so everyone assumed I would want to go to France,” DuBlois recalls. “But that’s really my brother’s thing—he’s a French teacher. I wanted to do something of my own.”
Plymouth State University has a preferred partnership agreement with SAI, administered through PSU’s office of international programs in the Bagley Center. Two other students, Miranda Chaput and Lindsay Parisi, both junior graphic design majors, also received small scholarships toward study at Lorenzo de Medici Art Institute this fall. SAI also offers programs through John Cabot University in Rome and the Mediterranean Center for the Arts and Sciences in Syracusa, Sicily.
Stephen Lambert, director of the Bagley Center, notes, “As is the case with all our study abroad sites, someone has visited each of the sites, attended classes, inspected housing and audited the program for student services. We’ve had 10 students thus far at their various programs and many more in the works.”
“Studying art in Italy is like living in an art gallery, surrounded every day by both the old and new in Italian art and beauty,” says Lambert. “PSU is proud of our relationship with Study Abroad Italy and the fine academic settings offered to our students.”
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