Harding University in Florence A New World; A New Perspective For centuries Italy has been recognized as a leader in the humanities. Great artists, musi~ cians, and thinkers have been born of Itali an blood, often con~ tributing more to our world than to their own sphere of ex istence. In these contributions ou r soc iety has been touched and molded. In t he mind of Harding was born a dream: to expose the actual remnants of those great im~ aginations to the inventive; to share far~off lands and travel with the adventurous; to build bridges across cu l tural dif204/Harding in Florence ferences; to open up the mind of the Christian . More than 100 Har~ ding students helped to make this dream come true. They stepped into a strange country, learn~ ed, grew, and returned to their native land more conscious of the diversified world they live in . . They were a part of Harding University in Florence. In the fall 32 eager students plus faculty members boarded a bus to begin the first stretch of the long trip to Florence, Italy. Teary goodbyes and hugs made an impressive prelud~ to the. _ Contr jbuted departure. Again in January farewells were exchanged and another group of students headed to Harding's foreign campus . When asked what she felt was . most beneficial about spending a semester in Florence, junior Caron Cassady, replied, " Growth in every aspect of your life . l iterally every aspect: spiritual , soc ial , academic. " Of course, the growth was obvious when t he HUF students returned to Searcy. Touched lives rejoined Harding's main campus w ith new ideas and new outlooks on life. Cassady went on to say, " Being in Italy made the scriptures just come to life." That was what she believed Harding was 'all about both in Searcy and in Florence. Florence offered several op~ portunities for cultural development. Besides its 42 art galleries and many other historical points of interest, c ities nearby attracted the adventurous spirits of weekend trave lers from the beau-tiful Harding villa in Scan- , dicci. Classes there were dismlss~ ed early on Thursday and stu~ dents took off to France, Ger~ many, or any where on the continent with their Eurail passes. Trips to Athens and Corinth highlighted each semester. These exciting opportunities were what LV. Pfeifer, assistant Bible professor and HUF faculty member, claimed as the most important part of being involved in the Florence program. " It is a br?ad~ - Contributed en ing experience of seeing dif~ ferent peoples and cultures and of witnessing the roots of our own culture. It's the best educational buy around." The travel was very educa~ tional; the close-knit ties of students and faculty became invaluable as well; the actual academic studies did not lose their importance amid the bustle of an exciting semester. Drs. Tom Howard and Don Shackleford conducted classes in the fall. When the spring semester rolled around, Dr. Carl Mitchell and Dr.
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