Important Notice
Please note this program will not be running in Summer 2021. View available options >>
Study Abroad in Florence: Courses
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A minimum of 10 students must enroll for classes to be offered. Classes are taught Monday through Thursday with some mandatory course-related field trips on Fridays and/or Saturdays.
Please note that for all courses with field trips and on-site visits students must pay a supplement of approximately 50 euros per course upon arrival in Italy.
Traditional Academic Program
3-Week Session
Choose one course from the list below. Please note that all courses are taught in English.
The program fee includes one 3 credit course chosen from those listed. For a supplemental fee of approximately $825 you can take two courses for a total of 6 credits (two subject courses or a Italian language course and a subject course). Bear in mind that taking two courses in 3 weeks is a heavy workload should you be considering this option. Courses taken for transfer credit should be approved by your advisor or appropriate person at your home school prior to registration.
Italian Language Courses (Taught in Italian)
ITAL 101 (3) | Elementary Italian I
A thorough introduction to the Italian language for absolute beginners or students with little previous experience, the course teaches essential vocabulary and grammar and develops students’ ability to communicate in an authentic linguistic context.
ITAL 201 (3) | Intermediate Italian I
In this course students develop their ability to communicate effectively and accurately, making use of expanded vocabulary. Students practice conversation and improve listening and oral production skills in an authentic Italian context. The course covers cultural elements of the Italian society and lifestyle. Reading and writing exercises improve skills in understanding prose and writing letters and messages with appropriate vocabulary.
Content Courses
AHST 362 (3) | Museums of Florence
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the city of Florence and its renowned museums. Students are trained to comprehend the uniqueness of the artistic heritage of the city known as ‘the cradle of the Renaissance’. They will have the extraordinary opportunity to experience art in its location, often churches, as the original viewers did and their creators intended, and in museums through the visits to the major cultural highlights of Florence such as Uffizi, Accademia, Bargello, Santa Croce, Opera del Duomo.
PHOT 370 (3) | Street Photography
Aims to capture everyday life in public places and create realistic images focusing on the way people act and interact with each other and with the environment. Students learn how to use visual intelligence, skills and strategies to create meaningful images that reflect different multicultural realities. The works of the masters in this genre from its origin to Henri Cartier-Bresson, Helen Levitt, and Robert Frank will be analyzed and provide a source of inspiration. The course has a strong on –site component and students will be guided to identify meaningful ‘local ‘subjects and acquire confidence in photographing people on the streets and in a variety of different situations.
COMM 340 (3) | Fashion Communication
Fashion in itself is a form of communication both with tangible and intangible elements; often its’ visual and esthetic value is greater than its functionality. This course sets out to explore the key developments of communication within the fashion industry, from the early and iconic fashion magazines with their role as promoters of both new images and identity, through the importance of fashion photography to new and developing social media platforms and digital technologies. The means of communication used by fashions firms, brands and companies to communicate their identity will be discussed and seen in light of challenges and opportunities the fashion business faces, such as sustainability, gender identity and the importance of fashion influencers as new key communicators.
HIST 360 (3) | Food Culture in Italy
In exploring the history of Italian food, a myriad of aspects of Italy’s culture and history unfold. Through the medium of food, this course aims to uncover various changes and trends in Italian history and society. The most striking factor that emerges is the important role gastronomic traditions have had in shaping Italian national and regional identities. Food as nourishment of body and spirit, as a social divider or unifier, as a means of communication and ultimately as a promoter of power takes us through history up until the contemporary rediscovery of ‘authentic’ and ‘traditional’ foods; a response to ongoing globalizing processes and a way to construct new social identities. An ultimate expression of this is the Slow Food Revolution, a?movement initiated in Italy that has now worldwide following.
SOCI 360 (3) | Italian People, Symbols and Traditions
This course aims at discovering some of the key elements of the great social changes and cultural issues that came about in Italy during the post-war period. From the early 1950s onwards a sense of new beginning and the birth of what later would be known world-wide as the Italian Style, would characterize most spheres of productive and cultural life such as fashion, design, film and music. The coexistence of tradition and innovation has been a main feature in contemporary Italy; this course will focus on Italian cultural expressions like foodways, Italian cuisine and wine, and the impact of change in relation to new dynamics in family life and gender roles, in popular beliefs and superstition.
