A group of 12 students from the Universidad de las Americas (UDLA) in Ecuador are spending three weeks at Framingham State University taking an intensive course on the Art of Music Video Production offered in cooperation with the Communication Arts Department.

For many of the students, it is their first opportunity to visit the United States.

“It’s been wonderful to experience the culture and have the opportunity to share my knowledge with my friends,” says senior Paola Herrera.

The intensive course runs for four hours a day, plus location shooting, and will culminate in the completion of a music video, according to Paulina Donoso, the director of the Multimedia and Visual Production Department at UDLA.

The video, Finger Poppin' Time, will feature the band Doo Wop Deville, who performed on campus last spring, and includes Art and Music Professor Lisa Burke and her husband. The students have been staying on campus in Linsley Hall during the visit and will be making day trips to Boston, Cape Cod, and New York City.

“Everything has been going really well,” Donoso says. “The students are having a great time and learning a lot.”

FSU President Javier Cevallos met Donoso when she was a master’s degree student at Kutztown University, where he previously served as president. The two kept in touch over the years and when Donoso reached out about bringing her students up to FSU, Cevallos was on board.

“Anytime you can bring international students onto your campus, it provides a wonderful learning experience for everyone involved,” says President Cevallos. “You not only get to exchange knowledge about the subject you are studying, but you also get to learn about one another’s cultures. As a native of Ecuador, this particular visit has special meaning to me.”

The class includes two local students, including Weston resident Janet Macy.

“It’s been great fun,” Macy says. “These are some of the dearest people I’ve ever met.”