Friday, July 13, 2012

Berry College students report on Jewish experience in Italy

FLORENCE, Italy - Seven Berry students majoring in Communication traveled to
Italy this summer to learn multimedia journalism in an intercultural,
international context.

The students developed more than a dozen stories across multiple media to
tell the story of the Jews of Florence, a minority presence that dates back
in this Renaissance Catholic city to the mid-15th century.

The students' work is published online at Viking Fusion, the department of
Communication's multimedia website
(http://vikingfusion.berry.edu/news/feature-stories/project-florence/).
Story topics include how Jewish Florentines negotiate their religious and
national identity in a predominantly Catholic country, a story on kosher
Italian cooking, a photo tour of the city's only synagogue, and the
heart-wrenching story of World War II survivor Fortunata Franchetti Treves.

"We had so much help from so many good people in Florence," said Dr. Brian
Carroll, Florence project director and associate professor of Communication
at Berry. "The kindness of Florentines in opening up their homes and giving
of their time was overwhelming and an inspiration."

The Berry students learned international journalism at the grassroots level,
working as foreign correspondents as part of a larger, intense immersion
experience. Students received instruction in the field and gained experience
in a wide range of areas, including multimedia, photography, videography,
photo and video editing, writing and reporting, and web publishing.

"To be honest, I was intimidated by the converged media nature of our
project, especially video," said Chardonnay Copeland, a junior communication
major from Hamilton, Ga. "But I found out I could rise to a challenge, and I
learned how to do journalism in any medium, in all media."

Publishing the coverage from Florence on VikingFusion began July 12 and will
continue throughout the month.x

Joining Carroll as instructors for the project were Berry faculty members
Kevin Kleine, lecturer of Communication and student publications advisor,
and Curt Hersey, instructor of Communication.

Participating students were Bethany McDaniel, Chardonnay Copeland, Kirstie
Broadwell, Kelly Dickerson, Kayla Sanner, Rachel Shin and Mary Claire
Stewart.

The Florence multimedia reporting practicum is offered by Berry every two
years.

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