News & Events

Sunshine and reflections from the nearby lake of Lugano embraced the participants in Franklin College’s 40th Commencement ceremony, creating a festive and light-hearted atmosphere for the 85 students graduating—the largest number in the history of the College. On Sunday, May 16, Franklin President Erik Nielsen welcomed members of the senior class—representing 31 different countries—their parents and friends, faculty and members of the Franklin community to graduation at the Palazzo dei Congressi in downtown Lugano.

Franklin College takes yet another step to amalgamate with its Ticinese community. Fascinated by alluring academic travels and easy access to the European front which Franklin College Switzerland offers its students, it can be easy to neglect the rich and abundant Swiss Italian culture of the canton of Ticino where the college is located. As a means of mitigating this neglect, the Italian Department with the support of Dean Sara Steinert Borella, has initiated an Italian Immersion Program which will commence this upcoming Fall 2010.

On Thursday, October 1, Franklin alumna Esra'a Al Shafei '08 delivered an impassioned message to the Franklin community with a presentation straight from her heart. She spoke to a packed auditorium, filled with members of the Franklin community and guests from the greater Lugano area, about her heroic fight for human rights in the Middle East. Her work has brought her many accolades, including the Berkman Award from Harvard University, a TED Fellowship and an Echoing Green Fellowship, among others. While Esra’a is grateful for the awards, to her they are just one more way she and her colleagues are able to attain recognition for their ongoing fight for basic freedoms in the Middle East.

The Bollettino della Società Ticinese di Scienze Naturali recently published the results of a five-month research project developed by Professor Brack Hale, assistant professor of Biology and Environmental Science, about the status of the water quality of the Laghetto di Muzzano. Two Franklin students, Megan Richardson and Kyle Hartman, along with a former student of Professor Hale’s from Duke University, assisted with the sampling project. The study was performed in collaboration with Pro Natura Ticino, a Swiss ecological protection and conservation organization and owner of the Laghetto di Muzzano area since 1945.

The Franklin Drama Society's recent fall production, under the direction of Sheryl Granville, proved to be another outstanding success.

Sustainability efforts on the rise at Franklin College Switzerland.

Sunshine enhanced Franklin College's 39th Commencement, which was held at the Palazzo dei Congressi in downtown Lugano on May 17. President Erik Nielsen's welcome to the 65 graduating seniors from 25 different countries with their friends and families, members of the faculty, honored guests and the many other members of the audience was followed by Chairman of the Board Paul Lowerre's opening remarks.

From April 2-4, 2009, Franklin College Switzerland basked in the light of the Caribbean as it hosted the fourth biennial Conference of Caribbean Literature and Culture. The 2009 edition of the Conference, entitled The Caribbean Unbound IV—Reconceiving Hispaniola, was held in Sorengo (Lugano) on the Kaletsch campus of the College and open to students and the general public.

Friday evening, November 21, 2008, witnessed the debut performance of the Franklin College Drama Society’s production of The Complete History of America (Abridged).

The National Art Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria, recently hosted a one-person exhibition of the sculpture of Penelope Margaret Mackworth-Praed, better known to the Franklin community as Margaret Glass, professor of sculpture in the department of visual and communication arts.

Esra’a Al Shafei, Franklin 2008 graduate, receives prestigious award for human rights and global advocacy.

Franklin College student volunteers continue their collaboration with Pro Natura Ticino to restore the natural habitat of the Laghetto di Muzzano.

Franklin College Switzerland announces the appointment of Dr. Kris Bulcroft to the newly created position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

A full day of campus events celebrates the past accomplishments and future possibilities of college life.

Franklin College recently entered into an agreement with the Graduate School of International Policy Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) of California.

Franklin Honors students volunteer to teach English to children of the elementary school in Sorengo.

Group sits in on Dalai Lama’s public speech on inner peace for world harmony.

The Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) First Year Seminar donates a water buffalo to a Filipino family.

Students reunite with Pro Natura Ticino for the cleanup of the Laghetto di Muzzano.

The Baobab initiative organizes another successful event to support the Zambian village.

In November of 2006, the Board of Trustees voted unamiously to create the Ursula Gentile Lowerre Outstanding Service Award.

Professor Ajit Singh from Queens' College, Cambridge discusses globalization and industrial revolutions in India and China.

The world premiere concert of “Corale II per Margaret, per quartetto d’archi e orchestra d’archi” composed by Professor Paul Glass will be performed by the Stradivari-Quartette with orchestra and conducted by Christof Escher in Zurich, September 18, 2007.

The collaboration of Franklin College with two Lugano Institutes for the Study of Anthropology announced June 13, 2007.

New Graphic Design Center Dedicated on North Campus

New Library on North Campus

Commemoration Ceremony on May 12, 2007

Franklin students make news while protecting the local environment.

Ten students chosen

Lugano March 29-31,2007

WorldCat is the largest, most accessible library catalog on earth.

Dr. Willem Peppler, Franklin trustee, funds new program.

Comprised of over 137 artifacts, the exhibition represents the largest collection of the site’s materials to be displayed outside of Italy.

Franklin Professors Caroline Weidmer and Sara Steinert Borella of the Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies area became intrigued when a petition brought before Swiss Parliament concluded that child custody regulations discriminated against men.

In 2004, while Dr. Ahron Bregman interviewed a former Israeli Prime Minister for BBC, the Prime Minister got an idea. “The tapes were still rolling, and the Prime Minister stopped, he said, ‘I need you,’” describes Dr. Bregman. “He noticed that I remembered what he did not. I could fill in the blanks. When you do a documentary for BBC, you have to know the story. By the time I spoke with the Prime Minister, I had spoken to all of his aids and watched many hours of relevant footage. He could see I really knew his story,” he explains, “and so he asked me to help him with his book.”

Professor Christopher Matthews is nominated again for the prestigious Pushcart Prize in Poetry.