As 15 St. Bonaventure University students immerse themselves in Italian culture through a five-week study abroad session in Sorrento, Italy, this month, they’ll also have the opportunity to explore and promote the Franciscan roots of a convent there.

The Bonnies abroad have been granted the opportunity to work with the Franciscan friars of Chiostro di San Francesco. The students are tasked with creating an innovative marketing campaign to drive visitor interest to the local convent in Sorrento – one that houses some of the oldest artifacts and documents known to the Franciscan order.

This is the fourth year of the Sorrento program, which allows students to live in apartments located across the city and engage in the Italian way of life along the sunny Amalfi Coast.

Thanks to a partnership between St. Bonaventure and Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento, students learn global business and strategic communication through a hands-on approach.

Flipping the traditional classroom upside down, students will be engaged in mobile learning excursions including a tour of the Caserta Royal Palace, meeting with the U.S. Consulate of Naples, and visiting the centuries-old city of Rome and ruins of Pompeii.

“Profound Franciscan community is the goal during this summer’s five-week service-learning experience in Sorrento,” said Anna Bulszewicz, director of the program and a lecturer in the university’s Jandoli School of Communication. “It will be a beautiful summer filled with opportunity for our Bonnies and we are so grateful to have them represent St. Bonaventure University.”

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).