News from The Mahurin Honors College
Lindsey McIntosh Captures Culture and Perspective in Italy
- Nina Marijanovic
- Monday, August 25th, 2025

For Lindsey McIntosh, a WKU photojournalism major from Hebron, Kentucky, the decision to study abroad was years in the making. “I always wanted to do a study abroad,” she said. “I’d gone abroad before college, and I knew I wanted to do it again in college too.”
Lindsey spent four weeks in Italy through the KIIS program, with two weeks in Florence followed by two in Rome. Her classes—a design course and a writing-intensive English class—weren’t tied directly to her photojournalism major, but still offered creative opportunities. “In the English class, we wrote stories on our experience and included some of our photos,” she said. “We had to write a travel narrative. That was really neat.”
Though the program wasn’t tailored to her major, she found value in how it allowed her to blend observation, storytelling, and visual documentation. “Anywhere I could go, I can document it,” she noted.
She learned about the KIIS program at the Global Learning Fair hosted by WKU Global and chose it not only for the destination, but for its affordability and recommendation from a friend. “I received two scholarships for the trip, which helped immensely,” she said.
Rather than traditional lectures, the courses emphasized experiential learning. “Something I enjoyed about the classes was that they emphasized us being out there—not in a classroom setting as much. We’d go to museums, or even visit other cities. One of our professors said, ‘The city should be your teacher,’ and I really appreciated that.”
Lindsey stayed in hotels just outside the city centers, enjoying the pace of Italian daily life. “There were piazzas close by that were really cute. I found enjoyment getting photos there. I met people from all over—China, India, England. Everyone’s touring Italy. It was wild seeing all these different people in one little square.”
She also observed cultural contrasts—particularly in how Italians approach time and hospitality. “They like to linger longer in restaurants. It’s more relaxed. Here, we’re always on time for everything. Over there, it’s slower. But they were really friendly—especially the hotel staff. They were so hospitable. They just wanted to make sure your food tasted good, and you were having a good time.”
As a photographer, Lindsey also had to navigate language barriers in order to connect with people. “Asking to get photos of people who didn’t speak English was a challenge. But I think it’ll benefit me down the road—having that experience of speaking with people who don’t understand me, and still trying to tell their stories.”
She recalled one encounter with a motorcycle shop owner: “He had a Google Translate app, and I asked if I could get photos. He was perfectly fine with it. I asked him a couple questions, and he told me his dad had started the shop. I really enjoyed that experience.”
Photography, for Lindsey, started with travel. “When I was 11, we went on a three-week vacation out west and saw 17 national parks. I had my phone and just started taking tons of pictures. That’s when I started to fall in love with it.” She later discovered photojournalism through a high school teacher’s recommendation and was drawn to the storytelling element. “It’s about going into communities and documenting real people’s stories.”
Back at WKU, Lindsey works with student publications and will be the upcoming photo editor for the Talisman magazine. “That’s the biggest organization I’m involved with on campus.”
As she thinks about life post-WKU, Lindsey is still processing how this recent experience might shape her path. “Because it was so hard for me to communicate with people who speak a foreign language, especially in the journalism field I’m in, it made me think—‘Is this something I’d be comfortable with down the line?’ It’s something I’ll need to keep thinking about.”
But even that uncertainty feels like part of the learning. “There’s a paradigm, I guess, as an American—you don’t always realize what other cultures do. But when you go out there, it kind of breaks your reality a little bit. You have culture shock—but that’s okay. It’s important. It’s the beauty of traveling abroad.”
If you are interested in exploring your study abroad opportunities, connect with WKU Global by attending a “Go Global First Steps Session”.
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