Students will enroll in both a language course and a culture-based content course, each offering one Duke credit. No pass/fail option or auditing is permitted for either course. 

ITALIAN 213A
Accelerated Intermediate Italian
(FL, CZ) 1.0 Credit

Pre-requisite: Italian 102 or 112 (the equivalent of two semesters of college-level Italian), or have the consent of the Italian Language Director, Luciana Fellin.

This course is the equivalent of Italian 203 and 204 together. The course is project-based and fosters students’ speaking, reading, and writing abilities through immersion and exploration of the city. Bologna will be used as a classroom with which students engage to develop their linguistic and intercultural competencies.
 

SAMPLE CONTENT COURSE

ITALIAN 390A / CULANTH 290A / HISTORY 190A
Urban Space and the Politics of Everyday Life in Italy
(CZ, CCI) 1.0 Credit

Prerequisite: None

This course offers an introduction to Italian cities, exploring the complex relationship between urban space, everyday life, and social transformation. Throughout the semester we ask: What are the defining spaces of the Italian city? How do these spaces shape social practices? How do social practices in turn transform urban space? To answer these questions, we take an interdisciplinary approach that combines contemporary ethnographic research in Bologna and other cities, urban history, and analysis of Italian literature, art, and film about urban spaces. Through readings, discussion, and experiential learning, students will explore key phenomena of Italian urbanism, including the legacies of Roman architecture and the ideal urban planning of the Renaissance, the reorganization of space under the fascism, and contemporary resistance movements organized through occupied centro sociali. 

In the first part of the semester, we examine key theoretical frameworks for thinking about urban space and everyday life. We then apply these frameworks in ethnographic activities that immerse students in the specific social spaces of Bologna. We then contextualize our observations by exploring the historical phenomena that have shaped urban social spaces since the Roman era. Site visits to cities around Italy, such as Ferrara, Verona, and Firenze, serve as case studies for exploring these phenomena in greater depth. Finally, we explore how representations of the city in art, literature, and film attempt to reimagine Italian space in the context of globalization and environmental crisis.

As part of the program there will be several excursions within Italy to take advantage of Bologna’s location. Some possible destinations could include Florence, Rome, Venice, Verona, or Ravenna, but final itinerary will depend on the particular content of the courses being offered.

Given its central location in Europe and status as a travel hub, Bologna is a great base for further travel throughout Europe both by rail and by plane. Students typically take longer trips before or after the program, and shorter ones on some weekends during the session.

You'll be housed in apartments in central Bologna, with two or three students per apartment. Students will be responsible for their own meals, either purchasing food at grocery stores and markets and cooking in the apartment kitchens or frequenting restaurants and cafés.

Attendance is required at all classes, excursions, and group events. Given the intense nature of this program, late arrival and/or early departure is not permitted.

• Arrival: May 6, 2022
• Departure: June 17, 2022

Flights

You will make your own travel arrangements to and from the program site. You are expected to arrive on the arrival date cited above, which usually means departing the U.S. one day prior. Once you have a flight itinerary, log in to MyExperientialEd to update your travel registry.

Housing Before/After

You will need to make your own housing arrangements if you will be arriving before the program start date or leaving later than the program end date.