The Power of Leaving & Returning (Part II)

“Going back to Sarah Parker Remond, this city has a long history of what nowadays we call inclusion. At the time it was cosmopolitanism, right? This city is very, very open and welcoming and, you know, it has its challenges, but I would like to quote a student of mine who last week told me that, Florence is too big to be such a small city.” Lucia Ducci In this second part of my conversation with Lucia Ducci, Director of the College of the Holy Cross’s Florence Program, we continue to speak about Lucia’s journey to where she is right now, the work she is doing with Holy Cross undergraduates in Florence, her research interests, her take on the world today, and hopes for the future. We also take a deeper dive into the inspiring life and legacy of pioneer US expat in Italy Sarah Parker Remond and why her story is so important and relevant today. Biography Lucia Ducci is Director of the Florence Program for the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester Massachusetts, professor of Italian, and a translator. She holds a Ph.D from the University of Florence with a dissertation on the US perception of Italy during the first two decades of the 20th century. She is the author of a book, with Stefano Luconi and Matteo Pretelli, on the relations between Italy and the United States from the Risorgimento to the consequences of 9/11, and of a collection of letters of George Perkins Marsh, first US Ambassador to Italy and father of ecology. Over the last few years, she has focused her research on emancipation and women’s movements. Lucia is also a certified yogi and nlp (neurolinguistic programming) practitioner. She says that the best day of her life was meeting Gloria Steinem and conversing with her. linkedin.com/in/lucia-ducci-b4089b100 https://www.instagram.com/sunflowerfiel29/ Links College of the Holy Cross https://www.holycross.edu/ Holy Cross Program Florence https://www.holycross.edu/engaged-learning/study-abroad/italy/universit%C3%A0-di-firenze University of Florence https://www.unifi.it/vp-11335-welcome-to-unifi.html Sarah Parker Remond Biography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Parker_Remond Santa Maria Nuova Hospital https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_of_Santa_Maria_Nuova Santa Maria Nuova Foundation https://www.fondazionesantamarianuova.it/ Santa Maria Nuova Museum https://www.fondazionesantamarianuova.it/scopri-il-museo-di-santa-maria-nuova/