International Field Trips

PROGRAM CLOSED FOR 2011

Montclair Spring in Rome, Florence and Milan
Fashion Studies
March 10 – 20, 2011

Program Overview
This course includes a 10-day study abroad experience and seminars at MSU, with written assignments and readings. It will examine issues surrounding the transformation of the “Made in Italy” identity in the 21st century. Increasingly the Italian luxury apparel and accessory brands partially produce their goods in China and only finish them in Italy. Also, Chinese firms have moved into Prato, Italy’s apparel production center, and they manufacture and sell “pronto moda” (fast fashion) to vendors all over Europe. Thus the Made in Italy label now appears in lower quality goods made in Chinese owned, operated, and staffed factories.

Our study also includes attention to the historic dress of Italy. Not only is textile production important here, but Italy is home to historical forms of dress that influenced contemporary fashion. We will visit the National Etruscan Museum to understand the prehistoric people of the northwestern region who greatly influenced Roman dress and culture. Classical Roman culture will come to life through a visit to the Roman Coliseum and the National Museum of Rome. Also in Rome, we will walk the traditional antique and vintage clothing street markets and visit the Spanish Steps locale (Rome’s heart of luxury retail), as well as other retail districts.  A guided tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel will be a special highlight of Italian art and architecture.

In Florence, a city rich in Medieval and Renaissance architecture and art and home to many new and developing fashion artisans, we will visit emerging designer’s ateliers and the Silk Museum.  We will see stunning shoes in exhibitions­­––from the Renaissance to Salvatore Ferragamo. The Pitti Palace, home to the Museo della Costume, a world ranked collection, will reveal the historical depth of Italian fashions. A day-trip to Prato includes the Museo del Tessuto which treats the history of textile production in the region, a visit the pronto moda outlets, and the newly formed Prato Chinatown.

In Milan we will visit Via Montenapoleone, the Fashion District, and a day will be devoted to the great architecture of Milan.

Faculty
Dr. Abby Lillethun, Associate Professor in the Art & Design Department at Montclair State University, will be the faculty for this course. She has taken students to London and Paris three times previously. Her research interests include the geography of fashion, or the process of fashion change in relation to localized culture.

Academic Requirements
All students register for the following:

ARTX 345: Fashion Study Abroad: Italian Luxury Goods, Chinese Makers and Italian Cultural Heritage in Dress History, From Prehistory to the 21st Century: Textiles, Leather, Luxury
The course will meet for seminars prior to the trip as preparation for the site visits. Students will read texts providing background on the characteristics of environments fostering fashion change, scholarship on retail and environments, on the relationship between fashion and art on a historical arc, and in preparation for the museum exhibitions. Quizzes on the urban districts and fashionable spaces, key architectural settings, and the fashion process in these cities will take place before travel during the seminar classroom periods.  After travel each student is required to write a 5–8 page paper a fashion exhibition experienced during the travel portion. The paper will include background research on the exhibition topic, analysis of the topic in relation to the retail process, and both a critical response and a personal response to the exhibitions visited. Prerequisites for the course are ARTX 122 and ARTX 220.

Accommodations and Meals
Participants will stay in centrally located hotels in double or triple occupancy rooms with private bath. Breakfasts are included throughout.

Estimated Program Cost: Approximately $2,600
The program cost includes:

• Roundtrip airfare
• Local transportation in Italy
• Museum entrance fees
• Double or triple occupancy
• 3 star hotels with continental breakfast
  
• All lectures, workshops, and tours
• International student i.d. card
• Local cell phone with virtual US and local numbers

Program costs are based on 15 participants and current exchange rates and are subject to change.

Application Procedure and Payment Schedule:
The minimum GPA considered will be 2.75. All participants are required to have an interview with the faculty leader, Prof. Lillethun. Applications should include one reference form completed by a faculty member other than Prof. Lillethun, plus the $100 non-refundable deposit.
Once accepted into the program, the payment schedule for program costs is as follows:
            Non-Refundable Deposit:        $ 100
            Deposit by Nov. 15:                 $ 900
            Deposit by Dec. 15:                 $ To be confirmed
            Final Payment by Feb.1           $ To be confirmed
Make checks payable to "Montclair State University."

Forms
Pre-Enrollment Form

Faculty Led Short-Term Study Abroad Institutes Forms

For Further Information:
Contact the Global Education Center at 973-655-4185 or email simonW@mail.montclair.edu.
Contact Abby Lillethun at 973-763-5713, or lillethunA@mail.montclair.edu. 
Or visit us on the web at www.montclair.edu/globaled