This content was published: April 10, 2006. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Tringali guides students to a cultural renaissance
Photos and story by James Hill
PCC students in Rome, Italy
Susanne Tringali, art history and studio art instructor at Portland Community College, wants students to experience a cultural renaissance that will change their life. She is leading a group of PCC students to Florence, Italy this fall term to study the pristine architecture and artwork of the country’s most culturally significant city.
“I understand what art is out there and how great it all is,” said Tringali, a native of Germany. “I do get a little excited. Students say that I really love doing this and yes I really do.”
And who better to lead this trip than Tringali? She has traveled all over Europe, Turkey and Egypt.
“I have been very fortunate to travel extensively,” she said. “If they go, it will change the students’ world views. They’ll learn that people are not strange, they’re just different. There is something magical in that difference.”
For Tringali, the study abroad trips serves as an important tool. She found it hard to make students connect with the historic art she discussed in her classes at PCC. This issue was the berth of the study abroad program to Italy.
“About five years ago, my students said they wanted to personally see the art I talked about,” Tringali said. “They said, ‘Why not take us there?’ When it’s not coming from a book it makes my teaching more credible. They go, ‘Wow, she knows it and has seen it.”
While in Florence students will experience the special Italian life with field trips around the city. Florence is in the heart of Tuscany and offers a chance for students of art, history and literature to explore a wealth of museums, churches and culture in this most walkable of European cities.
“They will definitely experience Italian culture,” Tringali said. “Florence is the greatest city of the Italian Renaissance. Some of the people I talk to who went on these trips in the past, still go back because they had made friends, close friends, and found a second family. It’s a life changing experience for them.”
Florence, Italy isn’t the only study abroad opportunity for PCC students. PCC, in cooperation with the American Institute for Foreign Study, Center for Academic Programs Abroad and the Oregon International Education Consortium, offer study abroad travel to London, England as well. PCC also has programs for short-term trips to Barcelona, Spain, Nagasaki, Japan, Oaxaca, Mexico and Alajuela, Costa Rica. Nothing matches the experience of traveling to historic cities to study, according to Tringali.
“It’s great because whatever we talk about, it’s going to be right there, 500 feet away from us,” Tringali said. “So, to illustrate why this thing is magnificent, we can go and see it in person.”
The Florence Study Abroad Program will happen during fall term, from Sept. 24 through Dec. 7. It is open to students over 18 who have earned at least 12 college units with a GPA of 2.5 or higher. It features low-cost flights and living accommodations. Students will earn 12-15 credits, which are transferable for bachelor’s degree credit.
For more information about signing up for this trip, call the Study Abroad Office at 503-614-7150, or visit the Web site at www.pcc.edu/studyabroad.
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About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »