A Taste of Florence in New Orleans

written by Valerie Tiscareno & Amber Roldan for Special Project: Experiential Learning in Journalism

FUA select staff and administration traveled from Florence to New Orleans for the 2024 NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo. According to the NAFSA website, this yearly conference highlights diverse learning and celebrates “international education and global leadership.”

To kick off the first day of festivities, FUA hosted affiliate university partners for an early morning discussion and cooking class. This event titled, History, Inclusion, and Equity Walks: Words and Images, invited participants to make bread from scratch while examining the words and wisdom of Florentine poet Emanuel Carnevali. The writer moved to America at age 16 prior to World War I. Here, he spent the remainder of his adolescence working tedious, lower-income jobs. Emerging into the literary realm amid the Chicago Renaissance, Carnevali’s poetry juxtaposed his immigrant identity with the feeling of displacement.

Carnevali often linked bread with the concepts of home, belonging, and nourishment. To highlight these ideas, Tuesday’s participants baked Tuscan bread after a brief lecture contextualizing Carnevali’s impact in both Italy and the United States. This hands-on experience incorporated the central theme of Carnevali while epitomizing the experiential learning and cultural immersion that FUA students receive. 

“The themes he explores are that of the condition of the migrants and the hunger that the migrant feels upon moving to a different place,” FUA Academic Adviser, Sofia Galli said.

Nowadays, students exploring a new host city can often struggle with feelings of isolation when navigating culture shock. FUA understands that this can hinder self growth and exploration when abroad and takes proactive measures to mitigate potential ramifications. Carnevali expressed similar feelings through his poetry.

I am an emigrant and I have left my home, I am homeless and I want a home, wrote Carnevali. Discussing Carnevali while learning to bake Tuscan bread highlighted FUA’s excellence and commitment to experiential learning. The juxtaposition of poetry and baking further illustrated the University’s ability to bridge different areas of knowledge to provide students with a well rounded educational experience.

On this note, to support students with these struggles, FUA offers a variety of mental health resources and counseling services. These resources support FUA’s overarching mission to provide students with experiential learning, cultural immersion, and community engagement. With the campus spread across the city center, students have the opportunity to interact with locals on a daily basis. Additionally, FUA offers mentorship programs and organizes weekly activities to promote building friendships and stepping out of one’s comfort zone.

“The bottom line is that we want students to go back home and feel like they've lived an authentic experience rather than a Disneyland, ‘Disney-fied’ one, where everything is created just for the sake of romanticizing,” Galli said.

Ensuring students receive an authentic study abroad experience remains a top priority for FUA. Sharing this sentiment over cooking and conversation created the perfect way to begin this year’s NAFSA conference. Attending this conference and hosting events allowed FUA to not only share their philosophy, but also to learn from other leaders in international education.