If you’re studying ancient Rome or the Etruscans, or Renaissance art and architecture, Italy will clearly expand your horizons. There again, students of modern Italian language, literature and film, will find plenty of reasons to visit this unique, boot-shaped country. For those with Italian ancestors, Italy is the mother country, the land of wine and olive oil from which grandparents or great-grandparents emigrated to America. But for all its glorious past and associations with la dolce vita (“the good life”), modern Italy is a fast-evolving, vibrant nation, an increasingly cosmopolitan part of the European experiment. In between studying, you’ll want to take your Italian skills on the road, or railway.

In the north of Italy, you can explore Venice, fashion-conscious Milan, alpine Turin, and the fishing villages of Cinque Terre. Moving south, there’s Bologna, Florence with its treasure house of art, the Uffizi Gallery, the vineyards of Tuscany, and the eternal city, Rome. And further down toward the toe of Italy you’ll find Naples, the extraordinary ruins of Pompeii, and Sicily. Whether you plan on spending a semester or a full year in Italy, you’re unlikely to exhaust its fascination, or its charms.

The city of Ferrara, in northern Italy, lies on a branch of the River Po some 30 miles from Bologna. The influence of the Renaissance can be seen in the architecture of the city, its broad streets, moated castle, cathedral, and palaces. A city of fewer than 140,000 people, Ferrara is still enclosed within five miles of medieval walls. During the Renaissance, it was an influential center for painters; more recently, film director Michelangelo Antonioni was born and raised here.

Today, Ferrara is known as a city of festivals, the most important being the Palio of St. George, the Buskers Festival, and a festival of hot-air balloons. It’s also known as the Citta della bicicletta – the Town of Bicycles as that’s how the natives get around town. The city is well-connected by rail to Mantua, Padua, Siena, Bologna, and Venice, and beyond.

Program Description

The program is ideal for students with little or no knowledge of Italian. Content courses are taught in English alongside intensive Italian-language classes. The classes, which are specifically designed for U.S. undergraduates, are held at the CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) Study Center. All CIEE students have access to the libraries, computers, canteen, and sports facilities of the University of Ferrara. Besides launching, or brushing up on your Italian, you’ll learn about Italy, both medieval and modern, visit the museums and palaces of Ferrara, enjoy local festivals, and explore nearby cities like Bologna and Siena. You might even opt for a class in Italian cooking! Buon appetito!

Information at a Glance

• Academics

• Academic Calendar

• Accommodations and Meals

• Excursions

• Program Costs

• Scholarships
  

• Travel Brochure

For more information about this program, please visit the CIEE website.