The Miami University class I am teaching in Florence, Italy, this summer - Journalism 350 Reporting on European Culture and Travel - already has had its share of extraordinary speakers.
Nick Verreos, the L.A.-based principal of the Nikolaki design house and a beloved Project Runway reality TV contestant, visited for two days earlier this month.
The feisty Verreos accompanied the 22 students to the Polimoda International Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing for an insider look at the role of fashion in Italian business and culture. Then he inspired them with a talk about his own life and business.
The following week, Noah Charney, an expert on global art crime, talked to Miami students about organized crime's role in the theft and trafficking of art pieces. He's been the subject of two New York Times pieces; find a profile here.
Now comes word that Rachel Donadio has accepted an invitation to speak to Miami journalism students here. Donadio is the Rome-based New York Times/International Herald Tribune correspondent. The class already has reveled in her reporting on media mogul cum Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his alleged sex scandals, especially a recent piece when Libyan leader Muammar el-Quaddafi came to visit.
And in the days before she visits, journalism students will get an insider view of the Catholic church's role in present Italian society from local religious figures.
Wish I could take credit for these incredible visitors to an already unusual journalism class. But most of this was brainstormed by Miami Florence Program Director Mark Bernheim, who conceived and has run this summer workshop for many years.
Bravo, Mark Bernheim! Would that all journalists could rub elbows with such interesting figures in a six-week span. This journalist has rarely had such luck.
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