Academic Focus
The Italian Language & Culture Program is designed for students of all language levels who are interested in acquiring and improving their language skills while gaining a thorough education in Italian culture. This distinctive program offers you the opportunity to compliment your intensive language learning with elective study in the liberal arts and social sciences.
You will enroll in two 3-credit language components. The first is a course focusing on oral comprehension and expression, listening comprehension and grammar components appropriate to your language level. The other course, Living Italy, is a special, ongoing tutorial consisting of multiple, experiential activities designed to reinforce your Italian skills by immersing you in a weekly sequence of personal and group projects based closely in expressions of Italian culture and society. Examples of such weekly activities include movies, games, sporting events, songs, public conferences, cultural visits, wine-tasting and pizza-making. This tutorial is open to students of all abilities, and is available both in English for absolute beginners, and in Italian for intermediate students. Students will be constantly monitored and assisted by their tutor as they write papers and make presentations to demonstrate their progress. In addition to your language course and the Living Italy tutorial, you will choose 2 or 3 electives from our full curriculum of courses focusing on Italian history, art history, cultural studies and political science.
The ideal location of the CEA GlobalCampus in Florence also helps frame the curriculum of this program. This means that all elective courses are designed to make use of Florence as the "classroom", presenting you with constant opportunities to actively develop your language skills and apply your understanding of Italian culture at its heart.
Whatever elective courses you choose from this program, you'll find that your studies are richly integrated. By offering varied ways of learning and understanding Italian language through studying both the past and the present of Italian culture and society, all of the elective courses have been designed to complement each other. Plus, if you're enrolled in Photography or Florence Sketchbook, you can even gain credit for creating portfolios of the visual expressions of the Italian culture around you.
All language courses and electives meet for a total of 45 contact hours and are generally worth 3 credits in the US semester system. If students enroll in 5 classes, they can earn up to 15 credits in the US semester system. However, it is up to the discretion of your academic advisor how much credit will be awarded.
Schedule Summary
Semester classes at the GlobalCampus meet one to three times per week for a total of 3 contact hours. Classes are typically held Monday through Thursday although study trips and other required fieldwork may occur on Fridays. Classes are offered at various times throughout the day. Class timetables will be released approximately three months before the program closure date, and your final course schedule will be posted to your MyCEA Account around two weeks before the program start date.
Course Registration
Students must register for courses prior to departure for Florence. A course preference form will be posted to your MyCEA Account when course timetables are released. This form should be completed upon submission of your confirmation deposit but no later than the program closure date. Classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis so it is in your best interest to submit your course preference form as soon as possible.
Course preferences for electives are considered final when submitted to CEA. For language courses, you will indicate an estimated level on your course preference form, but you will take a language placement exam onsite. Registration for your language course will then be adjusted as necessary to coincide with the results of your exam. To aid in the registration process, it is in your best interest to have courses, including alternates, approved by your academic advisor prior to submitting your course preference form.
